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Barb.b
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| Posted: Dec 23 2011 at 6:36am | IP Logged
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Ds (9 yrs) handwriting has always been poor. I think when he was younger I just figured he was young and it will improve. Well, now at 9 - third grade - his handwriting is about at a 5 year old level. Interesting to note that so is his drawing. I think they are related for sure. I have been working on fine motor skills. But it occurred to me - I don't think that is his problem - he actually is not bad in the fine motor skills. So now I am thinking it is a perception issue. So I am stumped. I think we will use some of the drawing books we have around (you know - follow the steps type books) because one has to look at the current step and copy it. As I look at his writing - he often interspersed capital and lower case letters and neither are often the correct height. So I thought some exercises (stating big at the marker board) of first looking at different height lines then he copy them. I think first just observing lines I draw before he copies and just start with 2 - one tall and one short. I don't know. Anyone with experience with this? Interesting to note - his drawing is still very stick figure like - and disproportionate.
Any experiences in this? I am not sure where or who to go to in the community for help or assistance. Or if I want it yet - guess I get nervous someone would want to stick a label on him.
Barb
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Mackfam
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| Posted: Dec 23 2011 at 7:38am | IP Logged
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I really like your ideas, Barb! And that's right where I'd start, too. I would probably try to gently and consistently apply some techniques and tools to assist with penmanship. Copywork can be a fantastic tool here and doesn't/shouldn't be long or drawn out in this case. I love your idea of modeling technique on the board and then asking him to copy. Keep your selections short and interesting-to-him. Maybe target one thing at a time (simple, simple sentences with only one capital letter....then, once he's really getting that, introduce sentences with proper nouns). If it would be insulting to receive kindergarten paper with helpful guide lines for handwriting paper, give him graph paper to write with so he can see some visual boundaries and line helps for a while.
I know your instinct says this is not related to fine motor development, and I wanted to mention an exercise that helps in fine motor development and I think could also really help address some of the perception concerns you have. It is a Montessori exercise using metal insets. It has helped all my children, and was especially good at helping one child remediate poor handwriting. Now, the good news is you can do this exercise with things around your home that I'm sure you already have! I know you've got colored pencils. Look around for puzzle pieces with knobs on the top (Melissa and Doug shape puzzles are great for this!!!). If you can't find anything like that, use simple (but large-ish) cookie cutters in a few different, simple shapes. All you really need are a few objects in simple shapes that are easy to hold and trace around, and that aren't too small. They should be about the size of the palm of your hand. (No intricate, small details or corners.) The meat of the exercise is tracing the shape and then drawing those very close parallel lines within the outline of the shape. It can be a fun exercise for a child, and doesn't fly off the page as "this is handwriting remediation for you!".
If your instinct is right regarding the cause of his challenge, you might try connect the dot books, and a good drawing book. There are lots of neat drawing books with simple draw this line here, then this line here... type work. The Draw Write Now books come to mind. Another favorite here are the simple, straightforward exercises in Bruce McIntyre's Drawing Textbook.
Something I don't have any experience with is vision problems. I know there are some moms here that have dealt with significant vision problems, and I'm hoping they might be able to offer insight of what to look for in that area.
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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SallyT
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| Posted: Dec 23 2011 at 8:06am | IP Logged
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Reading this with great interest, as we're having the same kinds of issues with my 9yo son. His older brother, 14, also struggled mightily with handwriting, and even today, though he *can* write legibly, his natural MO is total chicken-scratch. Still, he can at least write rapidly and fluently, which wasn't the case when he was 9. I see my now-9yo in exactly the same boat, and I'm hoping to give him a better leg-up in the penmanship department than I gave his brother.
So, no advice, but thanks for bringing this up. And thanks to Jen for the suggestions -- I'm going to try these when we start back in the new year!
Sally
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Barb.b
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| Posted: Dec 23 2011 at 8:14am | IP Logged
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Jen, Thanks for the awesome advice! You know - I have a draw write now book here! Time to get it out. Also have lots of drawing books - the kind with step by step visual guides. So I will incorporate those too. I love the mental insets - and yes we have lots of things we can use!
Thanks for the ideas!!!
Barb
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Mimip
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| Posted: Dec 23 2011 at 9:48am | IP Logged
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Jen's advice is spot on for all the perception and writing issues we had in our house with our oldest.
I heartily second the Drawing textbook too. It has helped all of us in our drawing (including me  ) but has helped my kids "see" what they draw differently.
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Mimi
Wife of 16 years to Tom, Mom of DD'00, DD'02, '04(in heaven) DS'05, DS'08 and DS '12
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ekbell
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| Posted: Dec 23 2011 at 7:23pm | IP Logged
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I strongly suggest looking up dysgraphia as your son's handwriting sounds very characteristic.
One of my brothers was diagnosed with this learning difficulty as an adult after many years of being considered a bit lazy (he could talk the hindlegs off a donkey and read well, why wasn't his written work better?).
Learning coping techniques and ways to both improve his handwriting and bypass his areas of difficulty so as to do his assignments really helped him through college (the college also gave him a laptop and extra time for written exams).
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: ds handwriting. . .
