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Handwriting help?


mo2
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My 5yo boy is having trouble with handwriting. He has never liked to draw, scribble, or color like my other kids. Even just holding a pencil seems unnatural and awkward for him. He doesn't form his letters correctly even when I sit with him and show him how to do it. Any tips?

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For some kids, it is very hard to process how to hold the pencil at the same time as how to form the letters. With my dd, I just handed her a pencil and a Kumon workbook, and she just did it. But ds held a pencil as if it were from another planet. I have had to go very slowly with him.

 

You need to start with large motor skills. Start with finger-tracing very large sandpaper letters. (I made mine the size of a standard sheet of paper.) Then have him write with his finger in the air to make sure he can do the motions without tracing. Once he can do that, you can move him to writing with his fingers in different media--salt box, shaving cream, finger paints, pudding. (I recently read an idea to put pudding in a ziploc bag and "write" on the outside--less mess.) Depending on the child, this can take a week or several months.

 

Once he is comfortable writing with his fingers, then you can add writing utensils. But keep the practice with large motor skills, such as chalkboard, whiteboard. Once he can write with a marker or chalk, then you can begin to transition to pencil and paper.

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My 5yo boy is having trouble with handwriting. He has never liked to draw, scribble, or color like my other kids. Even just holding a pencil seems unnatural and awkward for him. He doesn't form his letters correctly even when I sit with him and show him how to do it. Any tips?

 

The other suggestions are great... but I just suggest giving it some time.

You described my oldest DD to a "t." She never showed ANY interest in writing/drawing/coloring until 6 years + a few months (she turned 6 in June). Her letter formation was awkward (at best). We did try a pencil grip for a while, but not consistently. No formal handwriting program. Just time. (And what is she doing at this exact moment? Laying on the floor, carefully/meticulously drawing in her sketchbook. Her letter formation is pretty good, too!)

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