I need some advice re: handwriting for my 5 yo son

[pehp]

My son, who is 5.5, is doing kindergarten work this year--very laid-back. :) He is doing just fine, but one thing I feel a little weak on, and need guidance on, is handwriting. He can form letters (we usually practice on lined paper--he just copies things I write). His handwriting is decent, IMO--not that I have a lot of experience. And he LOVES to draw/color--he's really, really into drawing/art. The thing that confuses me is that he doesn't use the correct grip consistently. I will gently correct him when I see him doing it wrong (wrong=the pencil in the fist, like a preschooler might), but invariably he tends to return at some point to the more immature grip. I wonder if I'm not teaching it correctly...or perhaps he's just not mature enough to hold the pencil properly....and I wonder if I'm overthinking this. Or under-thinking it, and should purchase a handwriting curriculum that will give me more guidance.

 

Any advice would be WELCOME!

[...................]

Keep correcting him- all the time, even when it's not school time.

 

The longer bad handwriting habits stick around, the harder they are to break. I started correcting my kids as early as i noticed on their crayon and pencil grip.

 

[Jay3fer]

Hmm... slightly different approach, I guess. I would correct his grip and letter formation during school time but if he was on his own, just let it be. Those little hands really do get tired and the babyish grip may just reflect that - it's quick and easy in the short term. Plus, if his handwriting is looking good during school time, he will probably notice sooner rather than later that his letters look better when he uses the more mature grip, and that is a powerful incentive. Nobody wants to have "baby" handwriting!

 

And finally, just to reassure you, I've never seen intellectually normal adults who got "stuck" with a babyish pencil grip. Eventually, everybody learns how to do it right. :-D

[jkwynn]

 

The Claw helped my kiddo. :)

[plmzk]

I don't think that a handwriting curriculum is going to correct his grip. Just do what you are doing and correct, correct, correct. I have a lefty that is only 4.5 and I started correcting her as soon as she showed interest in writing letters(around 3.5). If she was/is drawing I don't say anything, but when she writes I remind her to hold the pensil correctly. Now, she holds it just fine and even shows off a little to her younger (3 year old) sister! LOL

[pehp]

Thank you all. I just thought of this new question too--should I be an absolute STICKLER for teaching him the order of strokes in letters? I give him letters/words of mine to copy and he does a good job....but I also see his letter formation is different than mine. (For instance, he writes an N differently--it ends up looking about the same, just a bit messier ;), but he starts at a different spot; similarly with T and I.....does this really matter??)

[Incognito]

When I started teaching K with my DD last year I had the same question about letter formation. What do I emphasize? I spoke with a 1st grade teacher I knew and she said that the biggest thing was to remind the child to start the letters at the top. The rest wasn't as important, but if they get in the habit of starting in odd places it can be harder for them later.

 

HTH

[blondeviolin]

Does he have a quadropod grip? (See here: http://www.hwtears.com/hwtconnections/2011/oct/gripfeature ). My girls do and if I try to recorrect to a proper tripod grip, they will eventually move back to the quad. (Well, my 3yo sometimes still fists it...)

 

I'd make sure letter formation is always the same, though.

[FairProspects]

Yes, correct the grip and be a stickler about letter stroke formation. Even ds's laid-back, crunchy Montessori teacher agreed that these were essentials.

[Tanikit]

Good letter stroke formation leads to good hand movement and allows writing to flow more easily so in general letters start at the top and go down and also strokes move from left to right (explaining why a small D starts like an a and then has a longer up stroke) Also letter formation should be uniform - you can't have your child forming a letter one way one day and a different way the next day as this hampers writing too. For this reason I do ensure my DD forms all her letters correctly and correct anything I see not being formed correctly.

 

As for pencil grip: I saw a site that showed normal pencil grip for different ages:

http://beafunmum.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/pencil-grasps-1024x470.jpg

At 5 my DD was still using the modified tripod grasp and so I have started correcting it. It took a couple of months of constant reminders and a few different pencil grips, but now she is holding her pencil correctly and she no longer complains that her hand is sore and she has started writing a lot independently.

[...................]

personally I would correct grip all the time. It is so very very difficult to undo. especially since some kids spend hours drawing and coloring...

 

As for the stroke formation, during school time I would correct but not in his free time. I think that is not as difficult to undo. ... most five year olds don't spend hours writing letters so it won't get so ingrained like the grip issue.