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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

School want to get in a occupational therapist for ... wait for it .... bad handwriting (ds is 8)

52 replies

Wordsonascreen · 15/12/2010 08:38

His handwriting is not good (left handed finds the proper grip tiring and given the chance will put whole hand around the pen, it never has been good. Its been flagged up from yr 3 (hes now yr4) before that it was simply ignored/put down to ds being quite rightly a young child.

They suggested he go for private lessons which I said I'd look into but TBH hes bloody EIGHT YEARS OLD so we discounted it.. bought a few handwriting practice books and he does work at home on that (I thought it was getting better tbh)

Now I have a request for a OT to observe him in lessons.

His writing is just about legible but they're saying its holding him back .. from what I'm not quite sure .. possibly from keeping up their SATS grades.. (we're overseas in a fee paying International school) hes still learning stuff it just doesn't look pretty for the putting up on the the walls .

(sorry this is turning into a bit of a AIBU rant !

Is the school over the top or are they right and I deserve a slap for being a slack ungratefull parent.

OP posts:

TheParasiteofChristmasPast · 15/12/2010 08:40

but if his handwriting is barely legible and he is finding it tiring perhaps some help is a good thing.

i have atrocious handwriting and was tormented right through school about it. i did try really hard but i just couldn't do it.

belgo · 15/12/2010 08:43

If the service is there, then go for it. One of my friends was an OT working with school children and she had some great ideas for helping with handwriting etc.

Bonsoir · 15/12/2010 08:45

The school sounds eminently sensible. Why are you so outraged?

belgo · 15/12/2010 08:45

I've just noticed you are not in the UK. Where are you?

In Belgium the flemish schools are very strict about good hand writing, all the children learn to write in a very precise way. In the UK we are just not so bothered about handwriting, which is why so many people have illegible hand writing.

Original poster

Wordsonascreen · 15/12/2010 08:45

Oh stop being so bloody reasonable.

I am very grumpy today and need to rail against the injustice of crap handwriting

OP posts:

PheasantPlucker · 15/12/2010 08:46

As a parent of a child who is statemented, we FOUGHT for ages to get an OT funded by the LEA to have a look at dd1. When they eventually came they were great, and she started on a scheme called Handwriting Without Tears. A year later another little boy at the school is doing the same thing.

I think you shouldn't discount this suggestion from the school. If it is going to help your child then what do you have to lose?

bruxeur · 15/12/2010 08:47

Christ I wish I'd had some formal intervention at that stage. My writing's still appalling and it is incredibly difficult to change anything once your style is established - which is what's happening with your child.

Damn their black souls for trying to help!

WynkenBlynkenandNod · 15/12/2010 08:47

It will hold him back and the extra effort he has to make will make him extra tired. This is the sort of help that is being cut due to funding here atm, I'd snap it up.

RoadArt · 15/12/2010 08:48

I think sometimes an outside trigger can make the difference

My DC has atrocious handwriting but the school keep saying it doesnt matter, its the written content that counts. I would be really pleased if the school flagged up that they could get help.

Albeit it needs to be done in a way that doesnt make the situation worse. Putting pressure on a child to perform is the worst thing that anyone can do.

How does your DS feel about his writing?

BrandyButterPie · 15/12/2010 08:48

I had terrible problems with handwriting, and it did hold me back, but nobody knew until I got a computer and suddenly started writing much longer and better stories. If he doesn't know any different, he might just think that writing is hard and painful for everyone, like I did. I used to jusst get told off for being lazy and not trying- what would I have given for an OT appointment!

Bonsoir · 15/12/2010 08:49

Fast, accurate, legible handwriting is one of the fundamental skills that children ought to learn in primary school. You are incredibly fortunate that your DC is at a school that takes its proper responsibility for ensuring this skill is acquired, bringing in specialist help where necessary.

BranchingOut · 15/12/2010 08:49

Yes, if his pen/pencil grip is still not right at age eight then I think that OT input would be a very good idea.

Poor handwriting will begin to hold him back after about Y2/3, as he will gradually be expected to write in more detail and at greater length. His ideas, composition and grammar mmight be excellent, but if he cannot communicate the words on paper then he cannot get credit for them.

I have worked with OTs who are supporting children in my class and they will generally put together some suggestions to strengthen particular muscles or apparatus that might help. For instance, one child with a very poor pencil grip was advised to write on a sloping surface.

I think that you are quite fortunate that the school has suggested this and is going to provide this of their own accord rather than you having to request extra support.

Original poster

Wordsonascreen · 15/12/2010 08:49

Ds isn't bothered.
School wouldn't be paying for it..
we would

OP posts:

Bonsoir · 15/12/2010 08:52

The accepted standard of handwriting isn't set by your DS/you but by the school, and for good reasons.

Original poster

Wordsonascreen · 15/12/2010 08:53

Ach
I'm just having a crap homesick day and this is the final straw

you're all right

and i'm off to cry into my chocolate milkshake

OP posts:

belgo · 15/12/2010 08:55

It will not only help him with handwriting, but all fine motor skills.

Definitely go for it.

belgo · 15/12/2010 08:56

Wordsonascreen - it's no big deal -there is nothing 'wrong' with your ds, it's just something that can and should be improved if possible.

belgo · 15/12/2010 08:57

It will also help him with drawing - diagrams for science classes for example.

Guacamohohohole · 15/12/2010 08:59

Oh dear, sounds like you don't like the advice you're getting...
If you can't afford, or do not want to pay then maybe you should keep practising. However I agree with the other posters, he needs to be able to hold a pen properly and have legible handwriting at this age, maybe you could pay for one session which you would attend too. The OT might be able to advise you so you can practise their techniques at home.

Original poster

Wordsonascreen · 15/12/2010 09:01

I know
If I were home I'd have talked to my best mate and she would have told me i'm being a silly cow

Sorry am just having a shit time its not the handwriting ..will speak to the teacher tomorrow i'll probably blub at her if i see her today
god i've got to get a grip (a proper sodding one not a pincer)

OP posts:

Guacamohohohole · 15/12/2010 09:01

Sorry I started typing, made a coffee and carried on typing, I see the thread has moved on. Don't cry into your milkshake.

ABudafulSightWereHappyTonight · 15/12/2010 09:01

Similar story here but I had to nag for the OT to observe him and then we had to pay but it has made SUCH a difference. Also in a fee paying international school overseas!

DS struggled with writing since he picked up a pencil. MIL was a reception teacher for years and she reckoned that he is sort of double-jointed so it was hard for him to hold the pencil as his fingers were bending back so he had to grip really hard which hurt and was tiring. In Year 2 his writing was so much worse than everyone else in his class and I had done all the hand-writing practice at home, buying special pens etc etc. OT observed him and said that there was an issue with co-ordination/fine-motor skills etc. He did 2 sessions a week in Year 3 and one a week for the first half of Year 4 and it has made SUCH a difference.

As a matter of interest did your DS crawl or bum shuffle??

LIZS · 15/12/2010 09:03

Poor handwriting can be linked to a variety of issues which can be assisted by OT - basic posture, weak core stability, fine motor skills, hyper flexible joints, spatial awareness (where to start on a page and how to set out work), fatigue from gripping too hard to compensate for issues with isolating movement to wrist/hand(ie does he try to move whoel arm to write). ds had similar when he was 6/7 living abroad and at IS but we had to fund it , then the NHS did a little but soon took him off their books. Especially if it is on offer free, it is worth having the assessment and home exercises and maybe equipment like adapted pens and writing slope, even if he needs no further sessions in the short term.

Original poster

Wordsonascreen · 15/12/2010 09:05

Have found a bar of fruit and nut.

Buda : have spent a fortune on special pens

He didn't crawl at all did a sort of sideways crab crawl then walked.

He seems very co ordinated in other areas (he's brilliant at sport so have never questioned motor skills.. hmmm thats a new one to think about)

OP posts:

Bonsoir · 15/12/2010 09:05

Some very odd correlations are made between not crawling and language/reading/writing delay - take them with a pinch of salt.

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