Pencil Grip... How Important is This?

[Plain_Jane]

I've posted a question before regarding penmanship in dd6 and really appreciated all the helpful responses! I have since noticed that dd's writing is sloppier for 2 reasons, one, she is spending more energy focusing on what she's writing and less on the letters themselves and two, honestly, she's just getting, umm, lazy... there I said it! Anyhoo... we're back to more copywork to try to remedy this. Some days it helps, others, oh my! I miss her beautiful letters from K!! :(

 

I taught her from the get-go how to hold her pencil properly. These last few months (since Oct) have been torture for both of us as each and every time she picks up her pencil, I have to remind her to hold it properly! It's tiring for me, because if she writes one word and has to erase or something, she's back to not holding it properly. She hates being nagged & I hate having to watch her like a hawk! This is also likely part of the reason her printing is sloppy but I dont' know how to make her hold her pencil properly without hounding her. Why does she resist me so much? What do I do? She has been writing since the beginning of K (18 mos or so) and pencil grip was not such an issue then as it is now.

[Beth in Central TX]

Well, I have boys, but after many years of trying to improve handwriting, I've let this battle go. The boys are going to hold their pencil how they hold their pencil. Their writing will not be like my writing. Actually, it's like their dad's writing, so I really can't complain because it appears to be a genetic defect that they inherited.

 

It was a constant battle and source of frustration for me. All of my remedial work did no good, and I think it made matters worse. My only requirement now is that the work they turn in must be legible. In math, if I can't tell a 6 from a 0, then it's wrong, and the problem has to be redone. If I'm trying to read a story, and I can't follow the storyline because the writing is illegible, then it's rewritten. These consequences have helped with the legibility requirement because no one wants to do their work over. I've loosened my expectations, and they've started giving their best effort in writing. It's been a win-win situation.