Can your 8 yo print neatly on wide-ruled paper...

[Ali in OR]

...or is it too small? Are you still using the bigger "handwriting" paper?

 

Fine motor is definitely not dd's strength. I would love to use wide rule just because it's so readily available--we have a big pack of those Target notebooks. This is the first year she's doing much significant writing (Writing Tales) and she enjoys composing. But she just doesn't seem to be able to write that small yet and I was wondering if that's typical of 3rd grade.

[JudoMom]

I've got one who could (the oldest was born with better fine motor skills than I have) and one who cannot (fine motor skills are not his strength). So it's been a 50/50 split here :001_smile:.

[Melissa B]

Could she use every two lines as a line?

 

You could even take a ruler and pen of some color to mark the base lines for her (every third line, so there would also be a space between lines.)

 

Note - This is an untried suggestion. :) We use unlined paper for all ages.

[dhudson]

My Kids have always found smaller lines easier than wider lines.

 

Perhaps we're just odd...

[K&Rs Mom]

My Kids have always found smaller lines easier than wider lines.

 

Perhaps we're just odd...

 

Same here. My 6yo has never really been able to make her letters as big as the beginning handwriting paper, so I let her make half-size. I mentioned it to my sister, because her ds and my dd are very close in age, and she looked at me like I was nuts. Apparently my nephew couldn't write small enough to stay in the lines. My point is, it has nothing to do with age. I give my dd's the regular notebooks, and they use them as they want, not always on the lines or every line - I am hoping that will come as they get older - for now, I just love that they want to get their ideas on paper and try to encourage it. I do give them some handwriting practice, with the special lines, but anything outside of that they can do their own way.

[yvonne]

My almost 6 yod and both my 8 yo boys find the wide-ruled paper much easier to use and to print neatly on than the penmanship paper with dotted lines. It was a relief to them to move to the wide-ruled paper. Maybe you could just try it for a while with your child?

 

yvonne

[cillakat]

my 9.5 yo dd can't write on regular paper....that is, if I would like to read it:) She just can't figure out a baseline.....all the letters end up scrunched in the middle of the line with no taller letters (t, l) and no 'hanging letters' (g, p, q).....they're all suspended between lines.

 

so we stick wtih handwriting paper. I use getty-dubay 5 mm and have a master copy with every other line covered in white tape. makes it visually easier for her to see, use, less cluttered etc.

 

works great. so does hwt paper.

 

:)

K

[Chris in VA]

Too wide, and dd8 draws her letters instead of writing them. Too narrow, and things get too small to see! This year in 3rd grade (BM school), she is using notebook paper for most assignments, and using a small-sized handwriting paper for cursive.

[Mandamom]

My Kids have always found smaller lines easier than wider lines.

 

Perhaps we're just odd...

>>

 

 

Not odd at all. At school we're told to match the child's typical size handwriting and find the appropriate size paper. So of my students with handwriting difficulties which are both 3rd graders, one is in the smallest lined paper and the other is in the largest lined paper (she has major motor weaknesses). With the student in the largest size paper we're going to try and work her down to smaller sized lined paper but she has to start forming the letters properly first.

 

So, you might have to look around to find the right size for your children as one size definitely doesn't fit all. :)