handwriting with 12 year old boy....what should I do?

[ProudGrandma]

my 12 year old has nice handwriting when it's his handwriting assignment. But otherwise it's terrible. I am not sure what to do. I mean, yes, I know i should expect that the rest of his handwriting be as nice....and maybe starting a new year I will be better at that....

 

should I still do "handwriting" as a subject? or can I use that as a motivator...."no handwriting assignments if your handwriting in other subjects is readable." ?

 

is that what you would do or not?

 

Oh, he has slight sensory issues...tends to hold his pencil tightly and over time that hurts his hand. He can go slow for "handwriting"...but then I am not sure if it's a real issue or laziness (or both) for everything else. And I am not really sure how to make that decision.

 

So any and all thoughts are welcomed!!

 

thanks.

[wapiti]

If he already writes in cursive (or his own personal hybrid cursive, etc.) extensively, then I would allow (require?) all lengthy assignments to be typed. If he doesn't already write in cursive, I would teach cursive and probably split assignments between typed and cursive so that he is well-experienced with both. By the time he is in high school, I would expect all writing assignments to be typed.

 

Eta, and no, it's not about laziness but rather reducing the motor processing bottleneck for getting thoughts on paper.

 

If the handwriting isn't legible, then whatever is illegible doesn't count (i.e., if you can't read it, it isn't there)

[City Mouse]

If he can nicely some of the time, I would pick one thing that he has to write with his best handwriting such as spelling words. For the rest I would let him type.

[Walking-Iris]

Maybe it's not to late to look into occupational therapy, but other than that, I would drop handwriting as a subject and expect legible writing with everything else. Let him decide to write in print or cursive for the majority of his writing. If cursive is important to you then save spelling or dictation for cursive practice. And work on typing proficiency. 

 

If his handwriting is so messy as to be unreadable most of the time, I'd continue to work on it. 

[MEmama]

Fwiw, switching to mechanical pencils worked wonders for my boy with small motor issues.

 

I don't press for perfect handwriting all the time. I do ask for it for spelling, but otherwise...well, writing is hard enough for him without that extra stressor. He CAN write nicely when it matters, so that's good enough for me. :)