So my kid is the lowest performing kid in his 2nd grade class.

[Anonymous]

Little private school. 12 kids in class. Compared to everyone else, his writing and artwork are probably the least accomplished. He always meets standards in school and I always see progress from quarter to quarter, year to year.

He was evaluated by an OT at age 4 and within the range of normal although they said he works really hard to be stay in that range. And didn't advise therapy. I don't need him to be the best, but I don't want him to struggle. At some point does physical difficulty writing end up hindering the learning process? If he's only getting one page of a story down while his peers can write two, is this detrimental? I'm just wondering if I need to do something. Another evaluation, or something else? He complains sometimes his hand gets tired. But he's doing the work. I don't want to be the parent who pushes too hard but I also don't want to be the parent who neglects to help when help is warranted. Anyone else face something similar?

[Anonymous]

I would be concerned. Why is writing so physically difficult? Is he dysgraphic? Is it a motor planning issue? I would try to tease that apart and address it, and I'd also ask if he can keyboard for some assignments in order to be to concentrate on fluency and content rather than on handwriting. Someone has to be the least accomplished, but if the level of his work is clearly below the rest of the group, there may be underlying issues to address.

[Anonymous]

Is he the lowest performing in handwriting and art, or in all of the academic subjects? My second grade son has terrible handwriting (he had OT in the past for his fine motor skills), but academically he is among the most advanced in his class. Unless the handwriting is discouraging him from doing the work, I don't think they are closely related. My son likes to type emails to his dad and grandparents. That seems like a nice way to practice the longer story writing skills without the struggle of handwriting.

In the meantime, some of the homework we got from the OT included monkey bars, working with clay (hiding things in clay for them to find is a fun activity), stress balls, playing lite brite, and making rainbow loom bands. We still do a lot of those things to strengthen his handwriting muscles. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

So what?

Your DC is the cutest kid and cuteness trumps brains.

[Anonymous]

His hand is weak. Give him a stress ball to squeeze while watching tv and in the car. Hell always have shitty handwriting, but so do I, and. I just worked with it to become a doctor since everyone expects us to have terrible handwriting anyway.

[Anonymous]

Make sure he is developing his motor skills. My husband is a MBA but when he was little he had some trouble with his writing and reading. His teacher had him do a lot of paper cutting exercises as well as skipping and running to make sure he was using his motor skills. Try that with your son. Outside of skill practice really helps.

[Anonymous]

I don't think handwriting ability (or lack of) means that he is "behind" all the other kids. In fact, if you saw my kid's work products on the school wall, you would notice that it seems to be about a year behind all the other kids. Well, DC tested into AAP and is there now.

Are the wheels turning in math and reading comprehension? That's where I'd put my concern if there needs to be any concern. Some of the kids with the nicest work products (writing) on the wall did not get into AAP.

[Anonymous]

OP -- get some good evaluations done so you know what you are dealing with. As some prior posters noted, you need to tease out whether this is only a physical / OT things or more -- and they may not be the same either. While motor issues may impact both writing and art, there could also be visual spatial issues impacting art. In extreme cases, both motor issues and visual spatial issues can impact academics later on -- try doing the ever popular "hands on" assignments that are all the rage today if you are all thumbs. Visual spatial can impact things like geometry. All that said, you need to know if the slow writing is purely physical or any delay in getting developing thought processes or translating thought to hand. Interventions will be different.

No matter what the result of testing, my advice would be to work on handwriting and with OT as much as possible now. In another year or two, your DC may resist that more. As kids get to middle and high school, if handwriting is a severe problem and if you can get a diagnoses for it, then you get permission for your DC to take all essay tests on a computer. This needs to be formalized for things like AP tests in high school. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:His hand is weak. Give him a stress ball to squeeze while watching tv and in the car. Hell always have shitty handwriting, but so do I, and. I just worked with it to become a doctor since everyone expects us to have terrible handwriting anyway.

This is often not true. Kids with dysgraphia often don't improve with a focus on hand strengthening. It is often more complex.

[Anonymous]

OP - go talk with the learning specialist at your school. They will do an in-class assessment and work with the teacher to possibly add some things that may help your DS.

Also, the specialist may suggest a specific educational evaluation be done (sometimes called neuro-phsch testing). It's expensive, but harmless. It can give you a good idea of your son's strengths and weaknesses and areas that you can (and the school) can help him.

I'm sure he's a very bright boy, but if he is slow to complete work and projects that will start to weigh on him as he gets older. My son is the same way. We had him tested and got good information in order to understand the way he learns much better. We've worked with the school and changed some small things at home and it's like he's a different kid. He's still slower than his peers at some things, but when he gets it done he does a great job and the school understands this.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - go talk with the learning specialist at your school. They will do an in-class assessment and work with the teacher to possibly add some things that may help your DS.

Also, the specialist may suggest a specific educational evaluation be done (sometimes called neuro-phsch testing). It's expensive, but harmless. It can give you a good idea of your son's strengths and weaknesses and areas that you can (and the school) can help him.

I'm sure he's a very bright boy, but if he is slow to complete work and projects that will start to weigh on him as he gets older. My son is the same way. We had him tested and got good information in order to understand the way he learns much better. We've worked with the school and changed some small things at home and it's like he's a different kid. He's still slower than his peers at some things, but when he gets it done he does a great job and the school understands this.

Good luck!

This assumes the school has a learning specialist. If it's a very small private school it may not, and there may not be any faculty or administrators who are familiar with these kinds of challenges. OP, does the school have a learning specialist?

[Anonymous]

Before you start spending lots of time and money (and potentially creating anxiety and self-doubt in your child) with more testing, talk to the teachers. If they are not worried, you can probably take a sigh of relief. If your child is happy -- it sounds like he is progressing and meeting learning objectives -- then congratulations!

At this age, his social development is far more important than where he is academically. They can quickly catch up math and arithmetic skills and the progress is not always linear. It just won't matter if he masters 2 digit addition/subtraction now or in 4 months.

Developmentally, 2nd grader should be be thinking less"me" and more "we," and his play should be more complex and relationship-based. You should be able to see their self-confidence build to enable self-direction and independent thinking. If not, ask the teachers about what specific activities they are doing to support social learning and look for opportunities to strengthen them in other settings.

[Anonymous]

Was he actually taught handwriting?

If not, order a Handwriting without Tears book and start going it through it at home a few minutes a day.

Makes a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Before you start spending lots of time and money (and potentially creating anxiety and self-doubt in your child) with more testing, talk to the teachers. If they are not worried, you can probably take a sigh of relief. If your child is happy -- it sounds like he is progressing and meeting learning objectives -- then congratulations!

At this age, his social development is far more important than where he is academically. They can quickly catch up math and arithmetic skills and the progress is not always linear. It just won't matter if he masters 2 digit addition/subtraction now or in 4 months.

Developmentally, 2nd grader should be be thinking less"me" and more "we," and his play should be more complex and relationship-based. You should be able to see their self-confidence build to enable self-direction and independent thinking. If not, ask the teachers about what specific activities they are doing to support social learning and look for opportunities to strengthen them in other settings.

The OP is not talking about social issues or developmental issues. She is talking about difficulties with handwriting, which can be purely developmental but which can also suggest a learning disability. LDs like dysgraphia often become apparent around the second grade, and one way to gauge this is to look at the child's written output relative to other kids in the class.

In private schools, elementary school teachers with only general ed backgrounds may not be particularly experienced at picking up potential signs of an LD. An OT, such as the one OP's son saw at age 4, can't diagnose a learning disability. That's why I and another PP suggested the OP consult the school's learning specialist, if there is one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was he actually taught handwriting?

If not, order a Handwriting without Tears book and start going it through it at home a few minutes a day.

Makes a big difference.

Most private schools in this area use HWT, don't they?