Handwriting dawdlers

[SewingMom2many]

I am having some problems with handwriting for a couple of my kids. My first grader and kindergartner (both boys) absolutely hate it. We use workboxes and when they get to the one that has their handwriting book in it they get the book out and stare into space, have to go to the bathroom, are cold and need to go find a hoodie, etc. You get the idea. It's not a lot of handwriting, just one workbook page for each that is at their grade level but they could stretch it out to take a half hour or more. If they just did it, it would truly only take about 5-10 minutes. If I stand over them and continually nag they will say "ok, ok" and they will do one letter or word and then I have to say something again. That's absolutely not how I want things to go, I don't want to be an annoying nag.

 

I just don't know what to do. I want them to write legibly, we feel that is important. I'm afraid if I put it away for 6 months to a year that they will form bad handwriting habits and I'll regret doing that years later. I don't want them to think that just because they don't like something it means they don't have to do it. I try to make school fun for the most part but sometimes there are things they will need to do that aren't their favorite things. However, I don't want one workbox to take a half hour and I don't want them to end up hating anything to do with handwriting because I've pushed.

 

Help? Suggestions?

[Shmead]

It sounds to me that some of your frustration is because of your pretty arbitrary goal of how long it should take. Perhaps you could readjust your own expectations to the idea that it just takes a half hour? Then, just be cheerful and patient and persistent: they can drag it out, but nothing else happens until handwriting is done.

 

It's like someone who thinks they and the kids "should" be able to get out the door in 15 minutes, so they plan for that, but Every Single Time it takes longer, so they end up running late and getting mad at the kids. The kids don't know how to be faster/more efficient because kid brains don't work that way, so they resent mom for being mad at them and never improve. Better to just budget in half an hour and be pleasantly surprised if it all comes together more quickly.

[SewingMom2many]

Great suggestion! You're right, I do need to change my expectations for time. I think what I'm going to do on our next school day is split the handwriting page up into 2 parts and I'll put the first half in one of their first workboxes they do for the day and the second half somewhere later in the line. Maybe this will help them get through it a little more painlessly and I'll know that I've planned in a little more time for them to complete it. Thanks so much for the reply!

[sbgrace]

Backing off for a while, instead of making bad habits, just led to maturity and stamina with my two boys. I hope the change in amount expected will help. If it doesn't or if it still feels negative another idea is to try to switch things to shake up the attitudes around the handwriting box. I don't think it would hurt the progress to put some fun fine motor building stuff in the box for a while, at least on many days. Here are some good ideas and a few more ideas. On some days you could also have them do their handwriting workbook page practice in shaving cream, in sand in a pie plate, with bathtub crayons, with wiki stix, on an easel or on paper taped to the wall, etc. Actually, writing or coloring on a vertical surface is actually very good for building skill if they enjoy that. The other fine motor stuff, in addition to being fun, will build stamina though I can't tell if that's the issue or it's just attitudes. I think something different may help no matter which issue is the culprit.

[Reya]

Set a timer for this subject. If they run out of time, they have to go for a run to get their brains working again. Then they get to finish what they have left. :)

[Farrar]

See, I've almost had the opposite experience. One of my boys needed to know how long it really "should" take. He would see the page with the sentences and freak out and then go SOOOOOO SLOOOOW. I had to really enforce the idea that it does not take a full minute to write a three letter word. And I had to show him that even if he does it slowly, if he works consistently, he can finish in an expected time, or even beat that time. We would count words and talk about each one taking a certain amount of time and I'd show him that even if he wrote at his slowest, it should still be finished in less than 15 mins or 20 mins or whatever. It took a good bit of struggle for me to help him see that, but once he did, handwriting and copywork went much faster.

[duckens]

1) Read them books during writing practice.

 

You could have everyone do writing together, and read that stack of library books to them,

 

or

 

you could have them do writing individually, and pull out their requisite reading for history or science (killing two subjects...er...birds...with one stone.

 

Read one (or two) pages or paragraphs or whatever, and in that time, each boy must complete a certain amount of the page. It may be 3 or 5 letters, 3 words, one line, whatever; you know where your boys are at and where they need to be. If they haven't completed it, then reading stops while they focus on the writing. When their writing is done, they may draw or color or do legos or whatever while you finish the book.

 

Neatness counts. Don't feel like you have to cut your neatness standards in this case. It must be up to Mom's standards.

 

2) Circle the 3 words that are the neatest on the page (or on the line if it is letters repeated). Put a star in the circle that is the best on the page. This help them to self-evaluate what to be proud of.

[Mukmuk]

Oh I know the handwriting dawdler issue! It was bad at our home for a while, so I, gawp, just plain didn't do it with DS for a few years. It really was better than a daily battle. I don't recommend what I did - in hindsight, a compromise would have better, but it didn't seem possible at the time. He did write minimally for his favorite subjects, which was math and science, so I left it alone. I really believed that it would all kick in developmentally. Well, not! He's dysgraphic.

 

This year though (he's turning 10 in a bit), I found a really fun way to get him to write. I'd look (or ask him) for the funniest names in his favorite Asterix and Obelix comics, print it out using this worksheet maker, and get him to write it. The names would be like Caius Preposterous, Caius Fatuous, Jelly Babix. It isn't the most methodical, but I try to look for letters that he has to practice or had forgotten recently (he forgets these things). Just one name, one page a day for 10 mins (you can always lengthen it into a phrase that is particularly meaningful). We'd be laughing hysterically. I think some kids need a connection with the the words they're writing - whether it's a character in a book or something they find meaningful. I watch my son to make sure he forms his letters correctly because this is his particular issue, but I like what Duckens wrote above too - circle the neatest.

 

Good luck!