Kids & handwriting struggles

[amom526]

Ds1 is in kindergarten and seems to be having trouble with letter formation. He can still only make big letters, and really struggles to make his letters a normal size for writing. He's struggled with motor planning before, and I feel like this might be a motor planning or related type issue. I'm just wondering what is really normal for kindergarten handwriting. I've seen some writing done by other kids in his class, and his handwriting is very noticeable much worse than most of the others.

I'm assuming we should go back to doing OT, but wondering if there are any apps that specifically work on letter sizing. He mostly forms the letters correctly, but slowly and it's not always legible. Any other advice appreciated!

[jgenie]

I'm not sure what normal kinder handwriting should look like. DC both had fine motor issues which impacted their handwriting. I would search Pinterest for fine motor skill ideas and gave him do those. There are lots of ideas that seem more like play than work. We did fine motor play after school every day and it really helped both of my D.C.

[smilequeen]

I don't know about K but DS1 did OT a bit older...2nd grade, for his handwriting. Maybe it helped a little but age has helped the most. It was certainly worth trying anyway.

[anonomom]

I can't speak to "normal" as such, but I can tell you DS has similar handwriting. At his fall conference, his teacher was concerned enough that I took him for an OT evaluation. (for reference, his letters are large and messy; he has trouble with a few of them and still writes several letters/numbers backwards. He also can't seem to get the hang of spaces between words). The OT said his handwriting was appropriate for his age and that he didn't need intervention.

I think there's a little bit of a disconnect between was is developmentally appropriate for 5yos and what they are expected to do in kindergarten. Many kids, of course, are ahead of the curve and write very well. DS is on or slightly behind the curve. Intellectually, he grasps what it going on at school and can keep up fine (though he's still not a great reader). But his writing is barely legible.

[amom526]

I can't speak to "normal" as such, but I can tell you DS has similar handwriting. At his fall conference, his teacher was concerned enough that I took him for an OT evaluation. (for reference, his letters are large and messy; he has trouble with a few of them and still writes several letters/numbers backwards. He also can't seem to get the hang of spaces between words). The OT said his handwriting was appropriate for his age and that he didn't need intervention.

I think there's a little bit of a disconnect between was is developmentally appropriate for 5yos and what they are expected to do in kindergarten. Many kids, of course, are ahead of the curve and write very well. DS is on or slightly behind the curve. Intellectually, he grasps what it going on at school and can keep up fine (though he's still not a great reader). But his writing is barely legible.

OP here- This sounds a lot like my son. At the fall conference the teacher said he was within the range of normal, but she would see how things progressed. I think as the writing has picked up, it's just more obvious now. I agree with the developmental disconnect. I will probably take him for an OT eval before 1st grade starts, just to see what they say. DS is also doing well in other areas, he is learning to read (also not the best reader), so I'm not super concerned.

[PZMommy]

When you say big letters do you mean just capital letters, or that his sizing is off? I would say by this point most kindergarteners should be able to write all capital and lower case letters legibly. Sizing and spacing may be a bit off though. Boys tend to struggle with this more than girls. Just my own personal experience with kindergarteners, is that girls want their work to look nice and neat and don't care how long it takes. Boys just want to get it done, and don't worry about the neatness. Somewhere in first grade it starts to balance out where boys start to be neater, and girls start to speed up a bit.

The kindergarten standards want kinders writing sentences at this point with spacing and proper letter formation. Some can, some can't. I would say if you are concerned, talk to his teacher. I know at my school, the OT will do an informal assessment of a student. If they feel the student would qualify for services, then they would start the process for doing a formal evaluation. If they feel that they would benefit from OT, but not qualify (based on school standards which would be different than a private OT's standards), they will get permission to pull them and give them some OT in small groups with other students. This will vary school by school, but it is worth asking about.

As a whole, there are many standards across the grade levels that are just not developmentally appropriate. We (teachers) argue this until we are blue in the face, but until common core goes or is revamped, this is what we have to deal with.

[petesgirl]

I can't speak to "normal" as such, but I can tell you DS has similar handwriting. At his fall conference, his teacher was concerned enough that I took him for an OT evaluation. (for reference, his letters are large and messy; he has trouble with a few of them and still writes several letters/numbers backwards. He also can't seem to get the hang of spaces between words). The OT said his handwriting was appropriate for his age and that he didn't need intervention.

I think there's a little bit of a disconnect between was is developmentally appropriate for 5yos and what they are expected to do in kindergarten. Many kids, of course, are ahead of the curve and write very well. DS is on or slightly behind the curve. Intellectually, he grasps what it going on at school and can keep up fine (though he's still not a great reader). But his writing is barely legible.

This also sounds quite a bit like my Kinder DS. He does OK at writing legibly (not very good at spacing!) if I make him but otherwise just wants to be done. As I've helped in his classroom I've seen the whole spectrum of kids who are obviously intelligent but I can't make out anything they write to the kids who have better writing than me! My DS is average, or maybe slightly below.

[Philly Mom]

My DD is in K too. Her handwriting has improved this year but she rushes. If she doesn't it looks fine. To be honest, I don't care. At some point she will get it. Handwriting is so developmental. And she is my kid, and my handwriting isn't great.


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[marymoo86]

Curious, is there any noticeable difference between lefties and righties? DD1 has really amazing handwriting for K but she's been fanatical about writing letters from about 3 and right handed. DD2 (3.5) is a leftie and barely makes anything beyond a scribble. Not sure if it is just developmental differences between the two, older has slight perfectionist tendencies while younger is very carefree, or if handedness plays any part?

[Philly Mom]

Curious, is there any noticeable difference between lefties and righties? DD1 has really amazing handwriting for K but she's been fanatical about writing letters from about 3 and right handed. DD2 (3.5) is a leftie and barely makes anything beyond a scribble. Not sure if it is just developmental differences between the two, older has slight perfectionist tendencies while younger is very carefree, or if handedness plays any part?

I think it does to an extent. My DD1 is 5.5, and being a leftie has been harder. That said at 3.5 she wasn't interested and even at 4 it was not something she wanted to do. She lucked out with two left handed teachers for K and I think it has really helped. However, my 3.5 year old is a righty and she just has no real interest. I assume she will have an easier time though when she does want to. DD1 has been trying to teach her, which is cute.


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[amom526]

When you say big letters do you mean just capital letters, or that his sizing is off? I would say by this point most kindergarteners should be able to write all capital and lower case letters legibly. Sizing and spacing may be a bit off though. Boys tend to struggle with this more than girls. Just my own personal experience with kindergarteners, is that girls want their work to look nice and neat and don't care how long it takes. Boys just want to get it done, and don't worry about the neatness. Somewhere in first grade it starts to balance out where boys start to be neater, and girls start to speed up a bit.

The kindergarten standards want kinders writing sentences at this point with spacing and proper letter formation. Some can, some can't. I would say if you are concerned, talk to his teacher. I know at my school, the OT will do an informal assessment of a student. If they feel the student would qualify for services, then they would start the process for doing a formal evaluation. If they feel that they would benefit from OT, but not qualify (based on school standards which would be different than a private OT's standards), they will get permission to pull them and give them some OT in small groups with other students. This will vary school by school, but it is worth asking about.

As a whole, there are many standards across the grade levels that are just not developmentally appropriate. We (teachers) argue this until we are blue in the face, but until common core goes or is revamped, this is what we have to deal with.

OP here - His sizing is off. He can form all the upper case, and almost all the lower case letters legibly. But he writes them super largely, and spacing is pretty much non existent. I am not really concerned, and would have thought nothing of it, but his teacher already brought it up. We have conferences coming up, so I'll ask what she thinks about an OT eval. She wants us to practice writing appropriate sized letters at home, but DS1 has ZERO interest in practicing writing, and I don't really want to fight with him over it.

[PZMommy]

OP here - His sizing is off. He can form all the upper case, and almost all the lower case letters legibly. But he writes them super largely, and spacing is pretty much non existent. I am not really concerned, and would have thought nothing of it, but his teacher already brought it up. We have conferences coming up, so I'll ask what she thinks about an OT eval. She wants us to practice writing appropriate sized letters at home, but DS1 has ZERO interest in practicing writing, and I don't really want to fight with him over it.

In this case, it sounds pretty typical. The sizing and spacing will come with more practice. If his kinder teacher doesn't do a lot of writing, he will get the practice in first grade. I'd be more worried if he couldn't make the letters at all. Kindergarten can have a nearly 2 year age span, so the levels and abilities of the students are all over the place.

You could always encourage him to play with legos, play dough, kinetic sand, etc to help strengthen his fine motor skills. That will help with his writing.

[legaleagle]

This sounds a lot like my first grader. He ended up doing a little regular pull out session in K where they carefully went over the handwriting without tears book (run by retired teacher volunteer). He was also in OT, though more for gross motor skills, they did fine motor as well. His handwriting now is fine, when he actually sits down and concentrates. He mostly wants to rush through and it's barely legible. He's a lego maniac so otherwise his fine motor is good, he just doesn't care about writing. He's finally getting more willing to read though, so I'm hoping that will translate over to more williness to write as well.