Anyone use ETC w/ child w/ poor handwriting skills?

[Hebrews3:13]

My son has very poor manual dexterity and so handwriting really tires him out and I think distracts him from what he is trying to accomplish in ETC book 1.

 

Will this be as effective if I work around it? There seem to be quite a few pages with exercises involving his writing something.

 

Anyone have this? Or anyone who used this think it will be OK with out doing all the writing?

 

Thanks!

[AudreyTN]

You could make letter tiles and have him use those instead of writing it all out.

[Guest 3msmom]

I have a son who has lots of fine motor delays. He does love ETC, but complains that his hand hurts if he writes too much. We get around that by having 5 minute sessions with writing, gradually trying to get longer, and using a magnetic letter board. He still gets "fine motor" practice by manipulating the letter tiles on the magnet board while spelling out the words he is working on in ETC. Granted, it does take a lot longer to get finished, but I do think he seems to retain his lesson better because it stays on his mind longer. Good luck!

[Homemama2]

Last year my ds5 was in K and handwriting was by far the hardest subject for him. His little hands could not have handled all that writing but he could do it as far as reading. I just had him tell me what letters to write (sometimes I'd write the wrong letter to see if he'd catch the mistakes etc.) For the pages where they have to "spell" the word we used the magnetic fridge letters. He loved it and was able to do ETC 1, 2 and 3 this way. Not a problem. :001_smile:

[melmac]

by someone (I want to say abbeyej ?) to use letter stamps with ink, always seemed like a great idea but I could never find any that wouldn't have been messy, I'm a neatnik though) We just did handwriting till ds tired of it and then did the rest orally, I'm doing the same right now ith younger ds.

 

HTH :)

[JeannineW]

This might still be too difficult for you ds but in the beginning, I ask the child what to write and then I write it in yellow magic marker. If they feel like it, they trace over it. I've done this with 2 dc and somewhere during book A and book C they took over the writing completely.

[Osaubi]

I use ETC more for the phonics aspect, and not for handwriting. We use something different for handwriting, so he is not required to write anything in ETC. His handwriting is not that advanced, and it frustrates him when I did make him. I do ask him to spell words while I write them in certain places. I think it helps him b/c he watches me while I write, and I will remind him how the letters are formed.

 

HTH

[Alenee]

I've used PP along with the beginning steps of SWR before handwriting became easy (just bought some ETC books to add to this) so one thing I've done is let my dds make the words out of playdough. We roll out a whole bunch of "snakes" then use them to form the letters. You could also let him do it with shaving cream or use a box full of salt to make the letters.

[Karen sn]

Out of curiosity how old is he?

I must brag about dd's perfect penmanship, but admit that we got serious about it when she was 10. She is now 11.

 

I only say that because I think in so many ways my dd needs schooling like a boy. They say (whoever they are) that some kids (most often boys) handle Kindergarten better at 6 than 5 and benifit greatly having that extra year at home. They say that boys have more writing issues....manual dexterity or something or other. (Not really sure what that means - but I know boys who can draw fabulous pictures til the cows come home, yet as soon as they are trying to write something prefabricated - they loose their ability to hold a pencil....or so it seems).

 

My dd seems to hold more tight to the pencil when working on serious handwriting - perhaps fatigue sets in and is the cause of that one.

 

But anyway - My dd was very easy to teach this most absolute perfect penmanship when she older. And I am just curious to know what is the average age around here that everyone else works on their children's print and cursive skills.

 

And what is ETC?

 

Signed,

Karen who is new to the curriculum board and liking it over here.

PS - i just reread your post. Do you break it up - the time and pages to be done - throughout the day?

[cupajoe]

Have you thought about ETC online? I'm using it for my dd(5, almost 6) and she seems to enjoy it. She is a wonderful reader, but a very reluctant writer. I'm limiting writing to copywork at this time.

The yearly subscription to ETC online is $35 right now through Homeschool Buyers Coop.

 

HTH

Erika