Speeding up Handwriting

[daybreaking]

Good handwriting has always been one of my goals for ds, but I've recently realized my emphasis on proper letter formation has resulted in him being extremely meticulous when printing anything. I love his handwriting, as it's very neat and well done, but I also don't want writing to be so laborious and time consuming for him. Any suggestions on how to get him to write more quickly, without causing him to become sloppy with his work?

A few side notes: We often use handwriting paper, but I have recently started using a composition book for his copywork. Even with the composition book, his printing is very slow, as he carefully forms each letter. Also, his speed isn't related to practice, as last year our curriculum involved quite a bit of writing via workbooks and sentence dictation.

[my3sons]

I was going to suggest moving to smaller lines, as this tends to speed writing along, but you already did that, you wise mom! You could just use a ruler to draw a single line to write on, on copy paper for notebooking/copywork type things too, as just having a bottom line can speed things up too. It may be helpful to just have a chat with him that now that he's learned to form letters well, the goal has changed to be more about how he can share his ideas on paper in written form. So, instead of the letter formation being first and foremost as a goal, that is a younger goal, and now his ideas and him writing them legibly in a balanced amount of time is more the goal this year (and from here on out). Implementing a timer and having him shoot for the time allotments suggested in the box, will help him see about how long things should take. If you need a link for a guide's time allotments, I'd be happy to share that if you let me know which guide the little guy's in! On a side note, be sure celebrate the loveliness too! I know many moms that would give their right arm to have their boys writing neatly. Truly, way to go little guy, and mom too.

In Christ,
Julie