Dd with sloppy handwriting

[Heather in OK]

What to do?

She started out with HWT and I moved her to Getty/Dubay. There are times her handwriting is fairly neat but 90% of the time it is SO very sloppy. She just gets in a hurry and doesn't take time to make it neat.

Do I crack down a bit and require that her lessons be nice and neat?

Do I switch back to HWT (or something else) and see if that makes a difference?

Do I just leave it alone and realize that's how her handwriting is going to be and stop the handwriting practice altogether?

My perfectionist self is having a hard time knowing which to choose. :lol:

[Rosie_0801]

If it's your fourth grader, I'd give up. I'd insist it was readable all of the time and neat only for letters to other people, thankyou notes and that sort of thing. If it's your second grader, I'd persevere a bit longer.
:)
Rosie

[Heather in OK]

Sorry...I forgot to put which one. It's my 2nd grader (8yo).

[LadyAberlin]

I've heard good things about Pentime handwriting really improving handwriting and it is cheap too. Rainbow Resources has it. You can read some reviews of it over at homeschoolreviews.com. Pentime goes up through 8th grade so you will have a lot of time to practice. HTH

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I would require her "handwriting" practice to be as near perfect as she is capable. I wouldn't stress over the rest. She is concentrating on getting her thoughts down on paper, and the "beautiful handwriting" happens in an entirely different part of her brain. Keep up the daily handwriting practice, less than 10 minutes a day of focused, nearly perfect handwriting practice, but let her concentrate on the content of her writing in other subjects. In time, her handwriting will reach her subconcious, and she'll be able to do it with little thought.

[Julie in MO]

My 10 year old has never had an interest in penmenship (and it shows!) I've maintained handwriting programs with her since K. This year I got a bright idea and decided to do handwriting with her each day. I was so surprised with what I saw when I sat with her through the entire lesson. I noticed that she tends to move her fingers that hold the pencil higher up the pencil as she writes, giving her decreasing control. I don't know if that's a hand-eye coordination thing (although she has no other problems with coordination) or a bad habit. Every day I have her dictate a funny joke or story - something original is the most fun for her. I type it into the free handwriting program and print off two copies. We sit across from each other at the table so she can see what I write and I write first and she copies on her own page. We also "talk" to her fingers to remind them how to control her pencil. I can't believe the improvement she's made AND we are enjoying it so much. Yesterday she said, "Hey, mommy, can we do it like this always. I LOVE handwriting." This coming from a girl who cried when she saw it assigned each day.

Just a thought....
Julie