Do you 'practice' handwriting with your kids?

[Mo2]

Had first Parent's evening for DS1 (nearly 5) last night. All was pretty good, but his teacher did say that he's not very interested in writing, and needs more practice.

We've got workbooks etc at home, but he really is fairly disinterested in it. Any experience/ idea how to make it more fun? Any websites that might help (print outs etc?)

I had the idea to start using 'notes' around the house more to get him used to the idea of communicating in writing, but other than that... ???

[tiptop]

You can get chalks and a chalk board with a wiper from Early Learning Centre, too. WHSmith and other similar shops sell workbooks with simple colour-in pictures and letters to be copied from examples and dotted outlines. You can also buy pads of papers designed for writing with lines to guide you. Hth.

[pepsi]

My ds, now 4.7 has never really be interested in drawing, he prefers other things. Now he is at school and its an effort to get him to write his letters. We did find out recently though that he has hypotonic muscles which means that they are weak, this in turn makes it hard for him to hold a pencil correctly and from what his teachers say for any length of time. However, what we have dont to try and gain interest is to draw trains as he is mad on trains and get him to write his name underneath it, which he can. Try writing/drawing out things with a highlighter pen and getting him to trace over it. I think girls seem more interested in these type of things than boys. I see other childrens colouring though and some are brilliant, staying in between the lines. My ds hasnt got to this stage yet, he can sit with a colour book for a minute or two but it just bores him. Im sure it will come in time when he is ready though.

[LIZS]

I think it is pretty common in boys if this age so try not to worry to much yet. ds, who is 7 in March, is only this year starting to write and draw because he really wants to (he entered a short story competition and won a prize in the summer). He finds writing physically tiring because he has motor skill issues. This means he tends to use his whole arm not just his wrist so gets frustrated because he can't always get down all he wants to onto paper.

Is your teacher highlighting this as a problem with writing ideas down or forming his letters, as I think they are 2 different things :-

Getting him to appreciate the point of writing is one thing - notes around the house is a good idea, also using books and comics which involve responding to what is written, seeing you write letters and getting him to contribute to thank you letters, birthday cards to family and so on.

On the mechanical side you need to ensure he has a good proper grip and pencil control so using a chunkier pencil or thread-on grip may help. Tracing letters and patterns, dot-to-dot and other activity type books all make it more fun than just letter based workbooks, also drawing and writing with stencils. We also use a Megasketcher which seems to require less effort -you can make up your own dot-to-dots or complete the drawings, copy letters or words and so on, but we had some stencils for letters, numbers and drawings included in our set.

If you want to get him "writing" without needing to actually write (if that makes sense) we use magnetic letters and words from ELC, a letter stamping kit etc. ds' Occupational Therapist also has him making letters out of playdoh and writing in sand.

Hope this helps,

[Gobbledigook]

Mo2 - is he into trains? You can get books to practice writing in etc etc that are Thomas the Tank Engine ones and my ds will have a short go at those - he's only 3.5 though so I don't push it and still wouldn't at 5. Boys do seem to have less interest in this though don't they?

Try the trains though if he likes it - maybe he'll be more motivated to write over the letters for James, Toby, Percy etc?!?

[Mo2]

Thanks everyone.

It's actually the physical writing thing that's the problem... he can actually read and spell very well for his age (sat in the back of the car on Sunday and read an entire Ladybird book almost perfectly to DS2 (2) . )

His teacher said that he thinks he just doesn't really 'see the point' of writing, therefore thinks 'why bother?'

I guess we ARE a bit guilty at home, as we use the PC for things a lot, but I do always get him to write cards/ lists etc.

He gets the Magic Key comic monthly which has letter practice in - I guess I just need him to practice with things like that a bit more often too.

Incidently, after I posted, I found a website which lets you download a font which is dotted italics for you to print out and let your children trace over, so it means you can design your own more personal worksheets/ posters etc.

[WigWamBam]

If he likes reading to his brother, could you get him to practice writing by writing little stories that he could then read to your ds2? Perhaps that might encourage him to see the "point" in writing?

[Arcadio]

My ds1's school insists on teaching cursive writing from reception year and it is driving me mad! My ds (now Yr1) 5.9, is on OUP reading books stage 5 and is doing really well with his spelling, but has been put on a table with children who can barely read and write at all because he can't finish his work as quickly as some of the other children who have his level in reading etc (because they find the writing easier).

I don't know what to do about this and the teacher won't put him back on a table with his friends!

Any advice? We have been doing lots of drawing and some writing at home but I have to be really careful, because he gets quite frustrated - especially if he thinks I am breathing down his neck. The only prob is, if I don't watch him, he doesn't form the letters properly (according to the cursive alphabet they are teaching). ARGHHH.

[LIZS]

Arcadio

I'm sure your ds will get it with time but I don't understand your teacher's logic that he has to sit with kids who otherwise underperform him, unless there are other reasons. However at least your school does choose a script and stick with it. At ours it can changes each year according to the teacher's background and ideas -no real consistency, but they all seem to get there in the end.