3rd grader with atrocious penmanship?

[Meadowlark]

Please help. My young 3rd grader's handwriting is really bad. As in, barely readable. My husband was working with him on math tonight and about went ballistic saying that he can't even read the numbers he's trying to write, and that we need to do major work with him. I admit, I haven't required all that much of him because I figured it would come along...but it hasn't. 

 

What would you suggest? I'm up for anything. I need to get this kid writing legibly. 

[OneStepAtATime]

Your child has an inordinate amount of trouble writing legibly.  Has he had any real instruction in letter/number formation in a formal, systematic sense?

 

If so and he is still struggling, that is basically called dysgraphia, although dysgrahia can mean physical output/formation of letters/numbers or a serious struggle with getting thoughts on paper.  In this case it appears that this is the physical output/formation.  There are many causes.   Depending on the underlying cause, this could be easily remediated or could be a life long issue.  Look up dysgraphia.  See if anything in that description fits your scenario.  

 

If he has never had any formal training in letter and number formation, or training was only sporadic, then get a writing program and start practicing daily, in short sessions, to help him build up muscle and procedural memory.  Keep handwriting practice separate from expected content output.  You might try Memoria Press's copybook.  Their New American Cursive book is also good if you want cursive and it comes with the Start Write software.  The software allows you to print up anything you want in tons of different fonts and sizes for tracing/copying.

 

https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/penmanship/

 

Handwriting can take a LOT of time for a child to master.  Please be patient, encourage your DH to be patient, and know that your child is trying.  This is just hard for many.

 

If he does not improve or you feel you have already given him instruction enough that his handwriting should be legible by now you might consider getting an evaluation through an Occupational Therapist to determine if there are underlying causes for the writing issues that can be addressed through OT.  You might also look into an eye exam.  A developmental optometrist could do a standard eye screening but also do a preliminary screening for developmental issues, which are different from visual acuity issues.  A child can have perfect visual acuity and still have developmental vision issues.

 

Also consider starting him on a typing program but make certain it does not penalize for time.  You want a program that focuses on accuracy.  Also, do not expect output for anything for a long time to come.  You need to give him time to build up muscle memory and procedural memory and that can be quite challenging, especially if a child has issues with handwriting.  The same issues causing handwriting to be a challenge can also cause typing to take quite a bit of time and effort to master.  Get a program that will track his progress and keep lessons short.  Make certain he is following proper finger placement and body position every.single.time.  It will help significantly with building up fluency.  Touch Type Read and Spell or Typing Pal or Type to Learn 4 might work but the latter two include timed exercises that could be detrimental.  They are all usually sold at a discount on Homeschool Buyer's Co-Op. 

 

And finally, if handwriting continues to be a big issue, be reassured that especially in today's day and age there are many work arounds.  My nephew, for example, has profound dysgraphia.  His handwriting is completely illegible and always will be.  Nothing that was tried for him ever changed his handwriting one iota from being illegible.  And yet, he is about to graduate college with a 4.0.  He just types everything or uses text to speech/speech to text software.  There is even specific software for math.  My husband's handwriting is pretty illegible, too.  He still has a very successful career.  He types.

 

The main thing is to make sure that your child is not made to feel bad for poor/slow handwriting.  That can undermine any work you do to try and help him and can have a lifelong negative effect on his self-esteem with regards to handwritten output.

 

Best wishes.

Edited April 7, 2017 by OneStepAtATime

[Peaceseeker]

In the meantime while you are trying to work on handwriting, you might want to consider doing math verbally with an adult scribing for him, or doing math together on a dry erase board. Math workbooks and worksheets are small and there isn't a lot of space to write. For a child already struggling, it can be really hard for them to write the numbers clearly in those small spaces, especially with all the steps.

[Guest]

Handwriting Without Tears is your friend. Skip the TM/manipulatives and just buy the student book and paper. I made Scientist start with the first book when he was that age. Immense improvement. But we do not use American cursive. We just join up the letters. No captials change.

[Hunter]

Spalding

 

Don Potter has a free version of the manuscript.

http://www.donpotter.net/pdf/shortcut-to-manuscript.pdf

 

For Spalding cursive handwriting, you will need to buy or borrow Writing Road to Reading, preferably the SIXTH edition from the library, The instructions are just a few pages and can be photocopied cheaply.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Hunter

[Hunter]

If his phonics are shaky, have him copy the Alpha-Phonics book using the Spalding handwriting instructions. Sit right next to him and monitor each stroke.

http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/Tutor.htm

 

The above link is to a free printable version of the text.

 

This is what I use for adult remediation. But in the mini-version, Phonics for Success.

.https://www.amazon.com/Phonics-Success-Samuel-L-Blumenfeld/dp/1495144216

Edited April 8, 2017 by Hunter

[Julie Smith]

Youngest had really bad printing. He had already done HWT, lots of copy work. But if anything it was getting worse. But, he could make small detailed drawings, and occasionally he would put neat teeny tiny acronyms on the tiny ships he drew. So I just told him, if your spelling words are written neatly you can have 3 less words. TA- DA his printing (for spelling) has been neat for almost 2 weeks.

 

Unless it would backfire with your child, you can always try bribery to rule out the fact he can do it, but doesn't care enough to do so.

[Creekside5]

My kiddo had terrible handwriting and fine motor skills.  Patience and practice were the only thing that helped. He needed lots of practice with writing fluency.  I distinctly remember being super frustrated with him in 3rd grade.  I thought he should have had it down by then.  He hated writing.  Copy work and consistency helped.  I would suggest short copy work passages and build to longer and longer passages.  I found a passage on airplanes that he liked and he practiced writing it over and over again.  He also began writing things on his own-details and specs on airplanes and tanks.  He liked to sort them into categories.  I let him work on "his projects" as long as he wished. I was happy he was holding a pencil. Until he could write his ideas down quickly, I never got any good compositions out of him.  When I allowed him to dictate compositions, they were fabulous.  Now (end of 5th) my kid LOVES to write and is an amazing writer. (His handwriting is still not amazing, but it doesn't inhibit is ability to put words on paper and I can mostly read it.- typing is around the corner)  Don't give up and make sure he practices. It is a skill like any other. Have patience, but insist on good daily practice. 

 

Edited April 8, 2017 by SRoss5

[LMD]

My son had atrocious handwriting in 3rd, now in 4th and slightly improved.

Some things we did...

Went back to relearn letter formation (I used getty-dubay)

Enforced one part of writing where I hounded every single letter to be perfect - he used a caligraphy pen and copied a bible verse. I was right there the whole time. He couldn't be careless.

Used grid paper - this actually helped the most I think. We always use graph paper for maths.

 

I still have to be strict with correct pencil grip and enforcing neatness, I am mean and make him rewrite sometimes. It is a bad habit of inattention combined with just not naturally being good at it. I agree with looking into dysgraphia - it gave me some good ideas. Good luck, I know how frustrating it is.

[jgrabuskie]

Bad handwriting here too. DS8 is in 3rd and I can't read it. He does have dysgraphia. I have learned to be patient, to reinforce good penmanship using HWT cursive daily for 10 to 15 min. I am also introducing keyboarding and MS Word. Last month, I started him on an online spelling program called spellingclassroom tricky  450 words and now he does not complain about his hands during spelling anymore.