My 11 yr old has dreadful writing, what can I do to help him improve it?

[lilibet]

Are there books you can buy for this age similar to the ones that you can get when they are learning to write?

Or should I just go back to the begining and start again?

[Elasticwoman]

My dd had probs with handwriting when in primary school, and the school gave her and about 10 others extra help by a specialist.
Tell your ds's school you want them to buy it in. He can't be the only one with handwriting difficulties. My dd's handwriting did improve remarkably with this help over about a term.

[Elasticwoman]

oh just realised - secondary ed. Still, more money available in secondary phase.

[Troutpout]

Could he be dyspraxic?

[lilibet]

I don't know much about that Trout, what are the other symptoms?

[Troutpout]

Here are some of the symptoms

[lilibet]

Thanks Trout - not it's defintiley not that, he's zooming off on his bike at the moment and is very agile and sporty.

Just a seriously messy writer!

[MrsGhoulofGhostbourne]

No advice - have the sme problem with DS and desperately seeking a solution. A question (am not dissing left-handers here), but is he/she left handed? Part of DS1's prob is i think that he is lh, and terrified of smudging the ink. Have found some fantastic pens made by stabilo - roller ball for left handers - the first pen he has actually found comfortable to use, and seems to be slooooowly improving.

[roisin]

ds1 has the stabilo pens too and likes them. The refill cartridges don't seem to last very long though!

His writing is legible, though not easy to read. It is certainly not at all uniform or attractive, but teachers I have spoken about it recently have said there isn't much point doing anything about it now.

My handwriting is not great either!

[childrenofthecornsilk]

At 11 you can still show him how to form each letter correctly and how to join each letter to and from other letters. It sounds OTT but with older chn it can be done very quickly.

[lilibet]

Thnaks - I'm going to have a go over half term. I'm sure he'll be thrilled

[childrenofthecornsilk]

LOL!

[Yorky]

DH is 30 and had appalling handwriting, when he was having remedial help for his dyslexia his tutor encouraged him to use script so he could learn the shape of words not the order of letters, this slowed him down and helped a lot. He was also writing the words out in a list several times

[WhizzzingAroundOnABroomstick]

Agree, slowing down & trying to use cursive writing with properly formed loops & tails usually helps. Although by 11 he may be a bit fixed in his ways.
I think having a comfy pen helps too - not blobby, flows nicely, not tiring to hold etc