Handwriting instruction

[Anonymous]

My 6 year old has always been averse to writing. He was evaluated about a year and a half ago for OT and not found to have motor deficits as the cause. Over the last year they have improved but any pressure to practice is still met with tears and strong refusal. Recently they have been much more likely to write voluntarily during play (writing out a sign or labeling things) and we do all we can to gently encourage this trend.

They don’t write a bunch of their letters in the stroke order or direction I learned (I.e. they start their lowercase a with the line and proceed counterclockwise and they start most letter with vertical lines at the bottom). They like to play around trying different ways to form the letter shape instead of consistently writing it in one way.

Curious when it becomes important to really force the issue on this. Their teacher so far believes that continuing to let him produce writing his way is much better than forcing the issue and triggering negative associations with writing itself.

[Anonymous]

If you’ve seen improvement, I would not push writing. No workbooks or curriculum! Encourage the writing during play and keep it pleasurable. “Oh that looks so great! Should we label this side too?”

Or suggest making a menu of items they can make in play kitchen or real kitchen. My 6 year old loved writing a coffee shop menu (croissant, muffin, cappuccino, milk, yogurt) and a real menu of things they could “cook” for me - toast, espresso (big and small), crackers with peanut butter. Obviously they will not be able to spell, don’t sweat it. Big praise.

My son’s handwriting didn’t seem to improve in kindergarten and really only took off in 1st grade after he turned 7.

[Anonymous]

Strong disagree about doing nothing from a parent with a now-11 year old with illegible handwriting. Handwriting is a skill that doesn’t magically appear, and schools do not teach it anymore. Most kids will figure it out on their own (although will have much worse handwriting than previous generations). But a subset of kids will not, either because they don’t care or they have motor skills deficits.

There is nothing wrong with having your 6 year old practice writing. Lots of workbooks out there.

[Anonymous]

Try Alphabet Beats program. Start with capital letters that use straight lines. Do 3-5 each day. Practice, practice, practice. They won’t learn otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Your DC may have sensory processing disorder. Get an evaluation. There is a reason behind the resistance. Start addressing that.

[Anonymous]

OP, has your dc had a vision check?

[Anonymous]

Does your child hesitate if you asked, "Write the letter c?" or "Write the letter that makes the sound /m/?" If so, they haven't reached automaticity with letter names and sounds. I have students who sit and think about how to form the particular letter I'm asking about. Proper letter formation is important. Maybe try something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Handwriting-Workbooks-Practice-Copybook-Reusable/dp/B09DG1W4QG/ref=asc_df_B09DG1W4QG/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=642214339166&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14397973512445564882&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007862&hvtargid=pla-1552257544715&psc=1&mcid=f6fad220b37234fc9639f814c8a068a3

[Anonymous]

OP again- vision has been checked and is fine. Letter recognition is not an issue. They are in 1st grade (young for grade due to birthday right before cut off) and scoring above average on the diebles tests and at an early 2nd grade reading level. They actually write legibly but write slowly and just don’t like doing it. I tried the grooved practice workbook once but the quality was not good and the pen provided caught and didn’t write smoothly. I’m open to trying again especially with a recommendation for one that works well.

They are actually interested in learning cursive so we may try that if it is the thing that motivates them to write more and get over the hump of thinking it is a horrible thing they don’t want to do.