4Real Forums: Handwriting issues in older child

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Topic: Handwriting issues in older child

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KackyK
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Posted: Sept 17 2012 at 10:25am \| IP Logged

Ds 12 yrsold, in the 7th grade, has really really poor handwriting. It is truly barely legible. The odd thing is, he can draw pretty well, he reads all.the.time, his spelling isn't too horrible. No letters are backwards however he makes check marks backwards and even writes them backwards (i.e. they are pointed the wrong direction and he makes them starting from the top and going down and up to the check, if that makes sense?)

Anyhoo...I've thought about getting him on the typing program. However he is going to need to learn to write more legibly too!

Any good programs or workbooks that aren't too "young" looking that might work? Think this is just a "thing" or something bigger? I'm thinking just a "thing" since he can draw.

OH and because of this, he only ever wants to narrate orally. He has beautiful oral narrations. He completely balks at writing them. I'm thinking of writing them for him, having him copy. Then move to me writing them, he writes an outline (sort of IEW like) from what it. Then we move to I write the outline as he narrates, then he writes it. But that doesn't help his legible-ness!

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KackyK

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JennGM
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Joined: Feb 07 2005
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Posted: Sept 17 2012 at 10:40am \| IP Logged

This is common, especially in boys. My son isn't that old, but I'm doing some remedial work through Peterson Directed Haandwriting. I have contacted Rand Nelson, and he's very approachable, but he will tell you to view the videos and .pdf files of the workbooks to see what could help your son. "The need is to recognize the need for mastery at gross-motor writing size first." There is the muscle and brain memory that needs to be formed/reformed.

BTW, this is used at Aquinas Learning.

Now, since I'm a girl, not sure if this will help, but at age 11-12 I had the WORST handwriting. So illegible. It definitely deteriorated. I was given a Calligraphy kit and worked on it furiously, and in doing calligraphy my grip and handwriting changed and improved drastically.

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Jennifer G. Miller
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Barb.b
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Posted: Sept 17 2012 at 7:56pm \| IP Logged

My son is 9. I have found that his handwriting is due to eye muscles needing work. I approached our eye dr. He said often the muscles needed to focus need to be exercised. I wish I had a link to what he gave us. Basically: there are 2 circles (each a different color), the child starts with the circles not too far apart on the index card. He holds a pencil between them and gradually brings the pencil closer to his eyes. He stops when the 2 are "on top" of each other. So, basically the muscles that let you go crossed eyed. The neat thing is when they "become" one circle - one half of it is the color of the circle on the left and the other half the color of the circle on the right. If not - keep working. We do this several times per day - just a little per day.

Gee - that is SOO much easier to explain by showing then words!

Also, I HAVE seen a book for the older student. I forget its name but I believe I saw it on Seton's online catalog.

Also, I practice handwriting daily with him - instead of one time for a longer time I do 3 different times for a shorter time.

I also discovered the same child has difficulty copying from the white board on our wall. So we practice that too!

Just a thought
Barb

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