Pencil Grip Gurus--I need advice (photo heavy)

[TheAttachedMama]

I feel like I may have failed here when it comes to teaching my kids certain basics....like....um....how to hold a pencil and write!    :banghead:  :banghead:

 

I thought we had pencil grip sured up.  I swear at one point, they were both holding their pencils properly.   In fact, my oldest son even went to ot for a number of years and had professional help with his grip.   However,  I noticed recently that my daughter (just turned 8) was holding her pencil with her thumb tucked in and very little "c space" in her hand.    Is she too old to try to fix it?   If not, how do I fix it?   

 

Then, I noticed that my son (age 9) was also holding his pencil not with his thumb tip, but with his thumb pad.    Does that need to be fixed?   Is he too old??    

 

Both kids write slowly and tend to get very tired out with copywork.  

Both kids are probably not going to win any penmanship prizes at the moment.  

I am also attaching samples of their copywork so you can see what it looks like too.   

 

Is this perhaps something we can work on over summer break?   If so, what would be your "prescription" for our summer break? 

 

P.S.  Don't mind the dirt---they just came in from playing out in the woods.   (hahaha)

 

Daughter (age 8) just finished 2nd grade pencil grip:

Daughter (age 8) just finished 2nd grade pencil grip:

 

Daughter (age 8) copywork sample:

 

-------------------------------

 

Son (age 9) just finished 3rd grade pencil grip:

Son (age 9) just finished 3rd grade pencil grip:

Son (age 9) copywork sample:

 

 

 

[3 ladybugs]

Your daughter might benefit from a triangular griper. My son was like that and we went to a fountain pen, Pelikan Twist. It has eliminated all grip issues with him. She has pretty good handwriting though considering. If it wasn't for her fatigue, I would think twice about changing anything with her right now. However with the fatigue, I would see if you could change it sooner rather then later. 

 

Your son I don't see anything wrong with his grip. I would not change anything there with him. He might benefit from having to write slower. His handwriting seems rushed to me (but maybe it isn't??). If that is the case he could benefit from a fountain pen. My husband has his PhD and writes like it! He was told to get a fountain pen to slow down his writing, and now I can read his handwriting... provided he writes with his fountain pen. He is still a work in progress. 

 

I don't know if I am an expert at this sort of thing but I am a mom who has a son learning to write, and I was also a child who had to learn to write again when my teachers decided that my grip was wrong. It has taken me years to get better penmanship (which is a lot better then DH's). 

 

I hope I helped. 

[Syllieann]

These helped my DD stop wrapping her thumb. http://www.amazon.com/Pencil-Grip-Crossover-Ergonomic-TPG-17706/dp/B001SN8HPI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1464052980&sr=8-4&keywords=Pencil+grip

 

I don't see anything wrong with your son's grip either. His arm could be better-positioned, but it looks like he's just got it that way to hold the book open.

[FO4UR]

Go back to crayon nubs. Seriously. For summer.

 

Make it silly fun.  But, use crayon nubs, put on some music and just practice strokes to the steady beat of the music.

 

Make sure the paper is slanted properly on the table. The bottom of the page should be perpendicular with the arm. It looks like your ds is trying to copy a slanted cursive, but his own writing is vertical.  Either work on slant (with the strokes and crayon nubs) or switch to a font that is vertical.

 

Stetro grips are the only ones I like.

[Caviar]

I've almost come to the conclusion that no matter how hard I try to get my kids to hold their pencils correctly, they will just fall back into their old habits.  So, I'm not one to give advice, but, the only thing I can see with your ds is that his pencil is too straight up.  The eraser end should be slanted back toward the crook of the hand and resting more on the fleshy part between the thumb and first finger.  Sorry, I'm not techy enough to know how to get pictures on with my reply.

[mamamoose]

My kids were in public school until October. They both wrapped their thumbscrews 😡 When i sent them to school their grips were fine and then their teacher, who is a thumb wrapper, ruined their grips. Anyway, it is now May and they both happily hold their pencils correctly and they even prefer it. It was a matter of making h do it for 10-14 minutes every day and working up on the time requirement.

[BlsdMama]

Your son needed OT? Does he holds his pencil like that so that he can exert more control? To learn a good habit but then abandon it... No dysgraphia, yeah? Does he press hard when trying to write neatly?

Edited May 24, 2016 by BlsdMama

[momof4inco]

Go back to crayon nubs. Seriously. For summer.

 

We had a preschool teacher who would take all of the new crayons at the beginning of the school year, and have a crayon breaking party with the kids. I thought she was nuts, but it worked really well. Now I'm the only one with a screwed up grip in our house...

[SoCal_Bear]

I went a similar route as Syllieann. Went with these. http://www.amazon.com/Pencil-Grip-Universal-Ergonomic-TPG-11106/dp/B001SN8HOY

 

 

[maize]

I asked the OT at our local elementary school if I should try to fix dd8's thumb wrap grip and he said it really wasn't a big deal. Since then I've started paying attention and notice that a lot of adults write that way.

[TheAttachedMama]

These helped my DD stop wrapping her thumb. http://www.amazon.com/Pencil-Grip-Crossover-Ergonomic-TPG-17706/dp/B001SN8HPI/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1464052980&sr=8-4&keywords=Pencil+grip

 

I don't see anything wrong with your son's grip either. His arm could be better-positioned, but it looks like he's just got it that way to hold the book open.

 

 

No, he always does weird things with his non-dominant hand when writing or drawing.  That book lays flat on its own.     I am always having to remind him to even use his non-dominant hand when writing.   Many times he will use it to hold his head up instead of hold the paper.   I think he has weak core muscles?   For awhile I even had him doing core workouts as part of his schooling.   Maybe I need to go back to that???