Anonymous wrote:I used to be of the mind thought that it didn't matter. But now I have an 8th grader and his printing still looks like he is in kindergarten. He forms his letters differently than I was taught. We asked teachers about this each year and were told it didn't matter and the neatness would improve as he got older. Then in 6th grade when his printing was not getting any neater we requested an evaluation. Then we were told it was too late to change!! The school will not offer and services for this now since "everything" is done on the computer. We will be spending the summer at home working on this. I would try and correct your child's letter formation this summer. Do a sticker chart and bribe her. I will always regret not doing something when my son was younger.

Anonymous wrote:My kid doesn't write letters the way I think I was taught, and I'm wondering if I should correct this at home or if it's something she'll just figure out.

For example, for 'd,' she draws a full circle and then picks up her pencil and draws a vertical line. For 'e' she draws a 'c' and then fills in the horizontal line to make it a lowercase 'e.' There are a bunch of letters that she does this way--makes one shape, picks up her pencil and then completes it--e.g. h, n, b, d, p. For other letters, such as 'a,' she does one continuous motion, which I think is the correct way (though I honestly can't quite remember). When I try to show her the correct way, she's very resistant and tells me that her teacher says her way is fine. I don't want to discourage experimentation with writing, but I also don't want to foster bad habits. Thoughts?

Anonymous wrote:Students are not taught letter formation like we did growing up. It's unfortunate. Students are writing letters all different ways now. Plus the writing expectations in K are very high and not really developmentally appropriate, in my opinion. A lot of students are expected to write sentences and no one is really watching over them to make sure they are forming the letters correctly. If her writing is legible/readable, I would leave it alone because even if you practice at home, no one is at school next to her making sure she is doing it the same way you are showing her.

Anonymous wrote:You should absolutely correct it and teach them the proper letter formation. Try alphabet beats by TV Teacher, buy the complete set if you can afford it, just make copies of workbook pages as you’ll do each letter more than once. Start with easy uppercase letters rather than going in alphabetical order. I also recommend a lined chalkboard as well as raised handwriting paper and a pencil grip. Practice 3-5 letters each day https://tvteachervideos.com/shop