ds wants to improve his handwriting

[mimsum]

ds(10) has terrible handwriting - if anything it's got worse in the last couple of years - his letter formation is awful, it's all got really big and scrawly but what makes it worse is his perfectionism ... he'll write something, be appalled at what it looks like, then either angrily scribble it out or tear out the page and start again

Last night he said he wanted to learn how to do joined-up writing all over again. While I have my doubts as to how much work he's really prepared to put into this, I would like to support him as at the moment his writing is letting him down academically.

Any recommendations for good, easy-to-use schemes we can do at home?

thanks

[janinlondon]

There is something called a handwriting rescue kit sold I think by Brightminds? I haven't tried it so can't comment on where its aimed though. Sorry

[jennifersofia]

books by Ion Teodorescu worth looking into. Basically there is a whole series of sheets to improve hand control and movement.

[mimsum]

thanks - the rescue kit looks interesting - ds2 (7) has write from the start at school, but I thought it was for younger kids than 10 - are there different books for older ones then?

[admylin]

We had loads of sheets with handwriting practise on and it has helped ds (age 9) as he had really spidery messy writing. He did a page a day though. I printed ours off the internet so I'll try to find the link.

[admylin]

This is where I got the sheets, used the cursive handwriting sheets.

donnayoung.org/penmanship/

[Zog]

DS (year 4) had terrible non-joined-up he's a left hander too. I bought a book by Galt in their Play and Learn Series called Cursive Handwriting and he did a few pages over the Summer holiday. Even though it's aimed at KS1 children, he said that it made perfect sense to him and he understood now how to join letters together (apparently they've never been shown at school - either or ). His writing now is beautiful!

[jennifersofia]

I would check with the teacher to see what handwriting format they follow, as letter can be very specific (I had to re-train myself to form my letters differently as the way I had been taught does not follow the way the school wants it taught, for instance). Those online handwriting sheets are good for developing coordination and control, but might be a bit awkward if it teaches the child to form the letters in a way that is different to how the school does it.

[NotAlert]

'Write from the Start' is aimed ideally at vhildren aged 4 - 6 or older children with fine motor/handwriting issues, but clearly the presentation of it is more suitable for younger ones - especially if a younger sibling is doing it. Lois Addy (who put Teodorescu's work together into 'Write from the Start') has also done something called 'Speed Up!' aimed at 8 - 13 year olds, although I'm afraid I don't know much about it.