How to improve DD's handwriting?

[trcy]

DD has pretty bad handwriting. I do too, so I am not being critical. I would like to improve it while she is still young. She will be resistant to basic 'practice' type techniques. I know I hated that and as a result, I never worked on it and now I am an adult with horrible handwriting. Are there any fun methods for improving handwriting? Thanks!

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[HannaAddict]

Handwriting without Tears is what we’ve used and school uses with good results. Short practice sessions more often vs longer sessions. Ten or fifteen minutes at a time tops.


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[Kestrel]

We went through this, and somewhat, are still going through it. There are really two parts... _can_ she form the letters? If so, and they look OK for age, there's really not much you can do but practice. Correct is more important than speed, that should come later. If there's problems forming letters, you may well need some small-motor skills professional help - either through the school or independently. Our health insurance covered therapy, but the school was quick to point out that he needed some help. Does the school think her writing needs to be improved?

Even now, two years later, we still have issues with writing - he can do it, but often not fast enough to keep up... for example, he fails spelling tests because he's not done writing the word before the next one is called. We still do extra writing practice twice a week and every day during summer.. it's extra important for us to make sure he doesn't loose any ground. We just make him write so many words per day, nothing fancy. Since he's really gotten into Lego recently; that helps small motor also... he did clay/play-doh when younger. Maybe a computer game with a stylus would help? For us, grip problems and holding the pencil too tightly/pressing too hard were the major issues; so now he practices with a mechanical pencil - so when he is pushing too hard, the lead breaks.. self correcting! It's been a cheap, easy helper. We are also looking ahead and are looking to start him on a couple of typing games during spring break....

I know it's a struggle to practice, but we just make it part of homework time, school homework and writing homework. He also likes writing notes to grandma and mailing them. Good luck!

[bisous]

2 of my 4 kids struggle with/hate handwriting but honestly I haven't done anything with them. My oldest is in high school and has had zero problems with poor penmanship. By contrast, I think that as a motivate adult you could probably improve a lot just through practicing and going slow.

Also, I have read about Handwriting Without Tears for years on these boards and I just gotta say, I'm so not impressed with this program. My kids' charter school uses that curriculum for the primary grades whereas the local schools use other programs. My own experience with two of my children demonstrates that the HWT curriculum is much less effective than traditional methods. I saw DS1 have the nicest writing he's ever had during the year he attended 2nd grade at the local school. Likewise, DS3 had better printing in TK than in K. He didn't think the system made sense.

I must admit I had a bit of prior bias. My own mom who taught for many years was a "guest" teacher for one year in K-1 combo class that used HWT. She and her partner (who both moved from a school that used a different product) jokingly came to the conclusion that "maybe you have to cry to write well" as they were thoroughly unimpressed with the printing that they saw from the prior years K'ers.

OK. Off soapbox!

[BunnyBee]

Does she also have ADHD? It would not be uncommon for her to have another learning challenge such as dysgraphia. One of my DC benefited from OT for dysgraphia, which was partially covered by insurance.

[trcy]

Thanks all! Her handwriting is legible and the school hasn't said anything, but it bugs me because I am honestly embarrassed by my handwriting. She rushes (so do I). Even when I take my time, it still looks bad. She does have ADHD. I just want her to develop good handwriting habits, so hopefully neat handwriting will come naturally to her.

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[KpbS]

Make sure she has a proper grip first of all. Then I would let her choose what she would like to practice. She will get better with practice. I use the Zane Bloser books with DD. Is she intrigued by cursive handwriting? You could start there.

[KpbS]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq6ggYR-aeY#

[petesgirl]

My 2nd grader usually has awful writing too. When he takes his time it looks good but he doesn't care whether it's good or not.

[mmsmom]

Thanks all! Her handwriting is legible and the school hasn't said anything, but it bugs me because I am honestly embarrassed by my handwriting. She rushes (so do I). Even when I take my time, it still looks bad. She does have ADHD. I just want her to develop good handwriting habits, so hopefully neat handwriting will come naturally to her.

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If it is legible and the school has not expessed concerns I wouldn’t worry too much. DS had awful handwriting and it was not legible. It took a while to figure out if he was rushing and not trying or physically could not do it. It ended up being bad enough that he qualified for OT at school. He did OT for a year and it really helped but then his handwriting went downhill again. The OT evaluated him again but that time it was determined that he was capable of writing neatly if he slowed down. Pencil grips and a pencil weight helped. As they get older teachers are less concerned because they type so much. By 3rd grade his teacher had him type instead of write. In 4th grade his teacher suggested he take the standardized test on the computer instead of writing like the other kids. Now in 6th nearly everything that is turned in is typed and submitted electronically. Math is still a problem because sometimes he misreads a number he has written so then all of his calculations are off. But now they are moving into a lot of calculations being done on a calculator. Ultimately I still think his handwriting needs to be better but he is sensitive about it and I’ve decided to not fight the battle. He did learn cursive in 3rd grade and his cursive is much better than print but they are not required to write in cursive so he prints instead. He is taking keyboarding now which i think will be a huge help so he can at least type faster.