So to all those who answered the "regret" post about ds' handwriting...

[praisefor3]

What are you doing to fix this?? I had just looked at DS10's handwriting and moaned right before I read this post! His printing has letters of every size - so uneven. He knows cursive but it is not good either. We used A Reason for Handwriting. I don't think it's the curriculum...just his weakness. Any suggestions on what to do now or is he just doomed to have poor penmanship?

[Jean in Newcastle]

We're starting over again with cursive. Of the two type of writing he's learned (print and cursive) - cursive is the better one so we're going to concentrate on that. At this point I'm focusing on little successes. He has to make five "perfect" letters when he is learning the actual formation of the letters (today he was so excited to make 16 perfect ones!) I'm thinking once we review the formation of all the letters and start actually doing copy work, we'll just do one sentence max. at first. Eventually we'll move to one sentence of dictation. That's the plan, anyway.

Once we get cursive down fluently (this may take a few years!). We will go back and re-study the formation of print letters. Some of his letters are just wrong - his 'f' has and extra line in there somehow. . . I won't make him print everything if his cursive is good, but he needs to be able to print legibly in order to fill out forms etc. (And his handwriting is not just sloppy - it is actually illegible).

[dawn of ns]

We're using Peterson Directed which realy focuses not just on the letters but the position of the book, how the child sits and how they hold the pencils. There's also a lot of work with gross motor skills. I have no idea how your writing program works but this one really seems to work on setting a firm foundation that has improved my daughter's (and my) handwriting interms of consistently formed letters.

[Jumping In Puddles]

I suggest you try Handwriting Without Tears (http://www.hwtears.com/). I know I don't have much hs experience yet but I think the system for teaching letter size and how to not make reversals is smart.

I thought my son was going to be in trouble because he formed all of his letters backwards and sometimes upsidedown and he was writing from right to left even with his name sometimes. The paper they use, the chalkboard and the exercises are designed to help reversals, letter size and proper formation. It is not just for younger children also.

[Laura Corin]

I won't make him print everything if his cursive is good, but he needs to be able to print legibly in order to fill out forms etc. (And his handwriting is not just sloppy - it is actually illegible).

In the UK it's encouraged, but I did it all the time I lived in the US too, and no one objected.

Laura

[ELaurie]

We're using Peterson Directed which realy focuses not just on the letters but the position of the book, how the child sits and how they hold the pencils. There's also a lot of work with gross motor skills. I have no idea how your writing program works but this one really seems to work on setting a firm foundation that has improved my daughter's (and my) handwriting interms of consistently formed letters.

This was recommended by ds 8's OT, and it has made a world of difference in his posture, pencil grip, penmanship , and written work. Now that he no longer reverses his letters :001_smile: he's even learning to spell!
Link (http://www.peterson-handwriting.com/)

[muffinmom]

OK, ya'll. I have Peterson's. And I had it last year. And I still haven't really used it because I find it a bit difficult to implement. It seems a sort of disorganized in presentation. I feel like I need to keep looking around to find out what to do next.

I want to like it, but maybe I'm missing something. What do I need to know to help me implement it?

BTW, my ds's handwriting is ATROCIOUS!

[ELaurie]

I found the instructions to be somewhat cumbersome as well.

Ds 8's OT recommended the following:

Pay very close attention to the instructions about posture, position, pencil grip, table height, etc. at the beginning of the instructor's guide.

Using the student booklet, have your dc practice the strokes on p 3 (slide and slant) in the air, on a white board if you have one, by tracing them, and on unlined paper, then on lined paper (use fairly large lines at the beginning).

Assuming your dc is already printing, skip the slanted printing instructions, and move to page 17 in the student booklet and proceed form there. The instructor's guide provides helpful suggestions for daily practice.

That should simplify things quite a bit, and it has worked very well for ds 8. Let me know if you have more questions :001_smile:

[beansprouts]

I am just glad I am not the only one struggling with this...

[muffinmom]

I found the instructions to be somewhat cumbersome as well.

Ds 8's OT recommended the following:

Pay very close attention to the instructions about posture, position, pencil grip, table height, etc. at the beginning of the instructor's guide.

Using the student booklet, have your dc practice the strokes on p 3 (slide and slant) in the air, on a white board if you have one, by tracing them, and on unlined paper, then on lined paper (use fairly large lines at the beginning).

Assuming your dc is already printing, skip the slanted printing instructions, and move to page 17 in the student booklet and proceed form there. The instructor's guide provides helpful suggestions for daily practice.

That should simplify things quite a bit, and it has worked very well for ds 8. Let me know if you have more questions :001_smile:

Thanks! I'd all but given up, but maybe I will take another look at it. I'm afraid if I make him focus on all those things (posture, position, pencil grip, table height) he'll flip out. Did you have a problem with that?

[ELaurie]

Well, I see that your ds is only 6, and our ds was almost 8 when we started Peterson last year. I also had the "authority" of his OT behind me, which helped him see the importance of those kinds of details.

I'd say take it very slowly, with lots of repetition, and try to use a light hearted tone, if you can :)

In our case, it was really important for ds 8 to solidify the basics (posture, pencil grip, etc.) in order to learn proper letter formation. It was somewhat tedious at the time, but once a proper foundation was in place, he was able to move ahead somewhat more quickly.

I spent the entire year last year teaching him all of the upper and lower case cursive letters, one or two at a time (beginning with lower case letters), but doing so really paid off this year in his ability to spell and take dictation.

Let me know if you have more questions!

[muffinmom]

Thanks, ELaurie!

[funschooler5]

I suggest you try Handwriting Without Tears (http://www.hwtears.com/). I know I don't have much hs experience yet but I think the system for teaching letter size and how to not make reversals is smart.

:iagree:

I second Handwriting Without Tears! My 8 yr old ds's OT recommended this to me (she uses it during his therapy). My son has dyspraxia and has always struggled with handwriting. We are halfway through the first book, and his handwriting has improved a lot. The way they teach how to write the letters is so easy to implement. One of my favorite phrases they use is "bump the line" to remind them to keep their letters on the line (ds's tend to float above the line). They also use exaggerated spacing between words to help them know where to separate the letters. Spacing is one of my son's issues...he'll put too much space in between letters in the same word, or he'll run two words together.

I couldn't figure out Peterson Directed Handwriting. I won the 3rd grade level of this at a raffle a couple of years ago and I read the instructions (there were a lot of them, if I remember right) but I just wasn't sure how to use it. With HWT I'm able to glance over the Teacher's Manual (which was cheap as far as TMs go) and start right away. It could probably be done without the manual, but I find it really helpful.

[Cadam]

In a catalog of special needs equipment I saw paper with raised lines. Not only do the kids see where their letters should stop but the pencil runs into the bump. How cool is that?!

[Laura Corin]

Calvin is dyspraxic and came out of school with completely illegible printing. We abandoned printing and used HWT for cursive. His writing is now legible, if slow, and is sometimes even attractive.

Best wishes

Laura