Are there any other issues besides her handwriting? And are you sure teachers haven’t said anything? I can see my kid saying, “oh my teachers never said anything” when in fact they may have.

But otherwise I don’t think I’d sweat it too much, unless there were other issues. She just has sloppy handwriting. So does my DS, like appallingly bad. And he just graduated from college and is starting his career just fine.

Amazon has old school practice paper.

https://www.amazon.com/Handwriting-Practice-Paper/s?k=Handwriting+Practice+Paper

I love the PP who had her child write lyrics to his favorite songs.

Anonymous wrote:Just have her practice every day. Maybe write a journal or diary. Tell her it has to be legible or she’ll need to redo it.

If she has a disability like dysgraphia or another fine motor skills related issue this seems cruel. Do not take this approach where you punish her for bad handwriting unless you are 100% sure the issue is exclusively motivation. And maybe not even then.

This is such a battle. My kids also has the worst handwriting. But he plays guitar, piano, violin and is always painting/drawing (with no issue) and sculpting. So I think he just doesnt care. He can write neatly when he tries. I just dont know how to convince him to try.

My kid couldn’t print well at all, so I taught him cursive. Teachers were fine with it until it came about that other kids couldn’t read cursive, and it became an issue at school once they got to 4th (I think) and they started exchanging papers for projects and grading.

He had to really work on relearning to print. He copied song lyrics to keep it interesting and we’d play written word games (eg, hangman and mad libs), and it improved. He’s 15 now and it’s all just regular messy teen handwriting unless he really puts effort toward neatness. No different than mine, really.

How are your kid’s numbers and symbols in math? Mine had a hard time with that - just like printing. Graph paper helped with getting things in alignment, as did basic repetition.

Guitar lessons helped my kid’s handwriting

Have her evaluated by an OT. It's not too late for her to get help.

First, spend the summer strengthening her fine motor skills.

Eat most meals with chopsticks.
Play jacks on the floor.
Play cats cradle.
Play pick-up sticks.
When watching anything streaming squeeze soft ball in dominant (writing) hand.

Does she write in cursive yet? If not teach her.

Have you had her tested for dysgraphia?

Just have her practice every day. Maybe write a journal or diary. Tell her it has to be legible or she’ll need to redo it.

My oldest has dysgraphia (and ADHD and mild autism), and every summer I would have him practice his handwriting. I taught him cursive and block.

If you think there may be an underlying issue beyond messy hand writing, you mention potentially weak fine motor skills, I would seek a professional opinion on that first.

My 12 year old DD has the worst, messiest handwriting. As a baby she didn’t have the best fine motor skills and I think that has contributed. Some days it’s barely legible. Her teachers have not said anything, but she does turn in many assignments these days via computer (except for math) so maybe it has gone under the radar.

Is it worth trying to find a handwriting class for her, if that even exists? Not sure if it’s too late or even matters in the long run, but it feels like address it now or never.