Handwriting help

[Tidbits of Learning]

My ds9 (just turned in Dec.) has always had poor penmanship. He really just has poor fine motor skills. We currently use a slant board as well as grips. We went through the yellow and blue Handwriting without tears as that is what was recommended by OT (occupational therapy).
We are currently about 1/2 way through Beyond and he can write, but it is all over the place with size and space. He is currently doing copywork with the poems as well as beginning cursive with cheerful cursive. He can copy 4 lines in one day but it is just horrid. Last year, I tried writing one line of the poem and then on the line under giving him starting dots so that he had a gauge for size and placement. This year I started with the redi-space lined paper the looks kind of like this on single notebook paper {__}{__}{__} so he knew one letter went in each space and to put a space in between the words. This was working well until we took a month off to visit my family in Georgia.
His handwriting yesterday was again large and oversized and not fitting in the redi-spaces. I don't know whether I should press on or drop back and write a line with the line under having starting dots for him and just continue to work back towards the redi-space paper. I still have some HWOT 2 line paper. I think the break just got him a bit off. I thought about doing HWOT blue book again with him, but he knows how to form his letters. It is really about size and space. I thought about trying A Reason for Handwriting A or B to work on size and placement again. He can do handwriting sheets beautifully and then totally not apply that to copywork. I really want him to work on his handwriting and learn to keep his writing reasonably sized and spaced.
We thought dyslexia at one point, but if it is that it is too mild to be eligible for help. He had eye surgery before he was a year old and so far his eyes are doing perfectly. So I don't think there are any outside reasons that this is so hard for him.
His reading and other skills are way beyond his handwriting/fine motor skills. He could place in Bigger or Preparing if it weren't for this writing issue. I have tried everything recommended to me and even been told when requesting an evaluation this year that we were doing everything they would suggest already. Should I do another handwriting book or just take copywork slowly and focus on making sure that what he copies is copied well? FWIW, he is really noticing and paying attention to the size and placement while learning cursive in Cheerful Cursive. Should I not stress print so much as long as Cheerful Cursive is progressing well?
I would really appreciate any words of wisdom or thoughts on how to proceed at this point. He is in 3rd grade now and it is beginning to show in other things that he is behind his peers in this area (scouts, church, and such are having more and more writing for his age).

[psreit]

We are also in Beyond. I'm not sure I will be of any help, but my dd will be 9 in May, and she has the same struggles. However, I have been having her do her copywork on three-lined paper. It is second grade writing paper, which is smaller lines than first grade paper. That helps her keep her letters smaller. If she does it on notebook paper, it is not good. She will make lower case and capitals the same same size. I know she will eventually have to go to other paper, but right now I feel she needs to use the lines. We have not started cursive, although I would like to begin it soon. DD also had eye surgery right after her second birthday. She is doing better, but still has eye tracking problems. From earlier threads on this issue, I believe the eye tracking problems cause some of the large handwriting. If you are working in cursive, I would be more concerned about that. In Bigger, I believe the actual handwriting assignments are the cursive instructions. If your ds is doing well in cursive, I would focus on that. Honestly, I think my dd may do better in cursive. I need to get started. I want to encourage you not to compare your ds with other children. This has been a topic of conversation many times on this board. We need to teach our children where they are at. Don't worry about 'levels'. Take it from experience. If you are seeing progress, just keep him moving forward at a pace he can handle. HTH.

[spidermansmum]

Nathan has handwriting issues too.Not to the extent his older sister has them ,but he still reverses some numbers .His writing often contains capitals in the wrong place and writing that is not uniform in size[at all].Writing is like pulling teeth even in math-its 15 times faster for me to write the answers for him ..and sometimes I do.
In Beyond -We used tracer font for a while ,then I started by getting him to trace over my writing,then by filling in the blanks and then moved onto writing out a verse on early handwriting paper.
Some suggestions I have been given for sensory issues have helped. Like using thicker paper in an artists sketchbook ,lighting a candle[ my teaching sister recommended this- setting the scene ,peppermint is supposed to aid concentration - these work well with him.Other have told me that artists drawing pencils work for their child However Nathan seems to do better with those pop-up pencils that never need sharpening.

[mrsrandolph]

Have you had him evaluated by an Occupational Therapist? Out son did OT 2 times a week, and it worked wonders for his handwriting!!

[Tidbits of Learning]

Have you had him evaluated by an Occupational Therapist? Out son did OT 2 times a week, and it worked wonders for his handwriting!!

He was not in need enough to qualify for OT with the school system. Our insurance does not cover private therapy if the school offers it (the school said he wasn't far enough behind to warrant OT) so it is hit or miss whether we would go and wind up with a gigantic out of pocket bill. He has been evaluated and that is where we got sent in the direction of the slant boards, grips, and HWOT. The funding isn't there unless your child is really, really behind or has a diagnosis that requires OT.

Nathan has handwriting issues too.Not to the extent his older sister has them ,but he still reverses some numbers .His writing often contains capitals in the wrong place and writing that is not uniform in size[at all].Writing is like pulling teeth even in math-its 15 times faster for me to write the answers for him ..and sometimes I do.
In Beyond -We used tracer font for a while ,then I started by getting him to trace over my writing,then by filling in the blanks and then moved onto writing out a verse on early handwriting paper.
Some suggestions I have been given for sensory issues have helped. Like using thicker paper in an artists sketchbook ,lighting a candle[ my teaching sister recommended this- setting the scene ,peppermint is supposed to aid concentration - these work well with him.Other have told me that artists drawing pencils work for their child However Nathan seems to do better with those pop-up pencils that never need sharpening.

Thanks so much for going into such detail. I think I am going to try your method and start tracer font tomorrow. We tried the smencil peppermint pencils, but they are so strong they induce headaches. Maybe if I leave it out of the smencil case for a day or two it will not be as strong. I will have to look for the pop up pencils. We have been using either mechanical pencils with the claw grip or a laddie pencil with the claw grip. I really like your step by step process that slowly weans them from relying on tracing to filling in blanks and then moves to them copying themselves.

I want to encourage you not to compare your ds with other children. This has been a topic of conversation many times on this board. We need to teach our children where they are at. Don't worry about 'levels'. Take it from experience. If you are seeing progress, just keep him moving forward at a pace he can handle. HTH.

It isn't so much that I am comparing him to other children as his own realization that he is behind other children. It is blatantly obvious in scouts when there are writing activities that my ds struggles. It is becoming a bit of an embarrassment to him and he is falling back on his class clown behavior to cover up his uncomfortable feelings. I am hoping that this last week is the end of the writing activities for the Bear patch. He is close to bridging over to Webelos and I will have until September to help bridge the gap he has right now.

[everydaycelebrations]

You may see if you can find an OT that has a private practice. Maybe that would be a cheaper route. Or find another homeschool mom (or stay-at-home mom) who use to be an OT. That should cost less or you can make a "trade". I was lucky to find another homeschool mom in my area that was an OT in a public school before bringing her kids home. She was nice enough to evaluate my DS for us (for free).

[shera]

you may also want to check Dianne Craft's website. She has a figure 8 exercise that works well for handwriting, reversals and writing in general.

HTH

[my3sons]

There are good ideas here already! I think I would stop "Cheerful Cursive" and focus on his printing for the rest of Beyond. Experimenting with different pencils/grippers may help. Focusing on one good, quality line and then slowly moving up to 2, then 3, then 4 by the end of Beyond fits well with CM's methods. I would drop back to one line and switch paper, without the redi-spaces. I just think a change would be good, and sometimes too many lines and spacing marks can be a blur for some dc. This may not be helpful at all, but my ds Riley really did struggle to see the lines he should be focusing amidst the sea of lines on the paper. Hi-lighting the lines really helped him...

Pics of hi-lighting Riley’s lines for HW:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4618&p=34014

Also, for each of my dc, there came a time where using handwriting paper became a deterrent for them. It took too long and became frustrating. At this point, it was easier to sit alongside them and do some real training on trying to write on wide-lined notebook paper. I am not sure if your ds is at this stage, but he really could be. I just put a dotted pencil marking down the middle of the wide lines and helped him see the mid-line this way. I also had them skip lines. This improved their writing so much at that point.

Pics of progression of writing:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=5605&p=41147#p41147


I hope something here can help! He will keep improving, and I think you have done some good things to help him already.
In Christ,
Julie

[Tidbits of Learning]

OK, I am going to give it a whirl and put some of ds's work up in pictures. The print is from the beginning of the year and the cursive is last week.


Poetry Copywork

Spelling

Print this week.

Cheerful Cursive

Honestly, he can copy the whole poem in one day if I let him. I have been obsessed with how it is looking. If his handwriting isn't horrible,then he actually places in Bigger as far as the placement chart. We have only been continuing Beyond to focus on his writing looking nicer. So I am posting pics of his writing and going to ask...am I worrying about nothing and should we move on???

[everydaycelebrations]

I don't think it's too bad. I think it is typical for a boy. It is readable. Daily practice is still needed though. And work on activities to increase fine motor skill and hand strength. I would look for improvement between the beginning of the school year and the end. If there is no improvement, I would start to worry. Both my Ds struggle with fine motor skills. Try not to compare it with other kid's writing. My Ds's best friend has better handwriting than most adults! It is hard not to be concerned when you see them side by side.

[Carrie]

Thanks for the pictures! I would have to say that the penmenship looked pretty good to me (when compared to the hundreds and hundreds of 9 year old kiddos' writing I've corrected in my public school teaching days). If I were you, I would feel very good about your son's writing.

The thing that would be more of red flag for me as your son prepares to head into Bigger is whether he is ready to handle the volume of written work that will be required of him as he gets older. So, I feel you're on the right track to have him finish Beyond, even though he could do Bigger right now. He will need the time to grow into the volume of writing required in Bigger. While you can ease into more writing, the muscles needed for writing longer passages have to be built up and that takes time. You are so right to be working on that skill right now.

Honestly, as kiddos get older their writing often becomes less neat as they hustle to get their thoughts on paper and are focusing more on the thinking than the writing. I do allow for that in my own mind when I correct my kiddos' work as they mature and the workload increases, but I do require their writing to be legible.

Blessings,
Carrie