My son is seven years old and I am teaching him to form letters

[IngridBergmann]

We have two weeks' off school, leading up to half term.
I've been trying to give my son some maths tests (at his request) but I cannot read, and worse, he cannot properly form, his numbers.
Worse still are the letters: he starts most of them (as the numbers) from the bottom, does them in two parts eg. a line and a ball for a 9, his 5s look like 6s and his threes are universally the wrong way round.

Letters which have a 'tail' such as f, g and y all begin on the base line so they stand awkwardly among their peers, squashed and falling over.

I can't believe it's been allowed to go on for so long...I've never had a proper chance to address it, well actually I thought the school would, but no, it's appalling and it's going to stop RIGHT now.

We have found an old exercise book and I've drawn him letters to practise.

Is it just me or is anyone else shocked by the way their DCs write? When and if he goes back, he'll be writing properly. I swear.

I get children to practise on plates, in tomato ketchup, and on the side of the bath, in bubble bath. Basically in any way that will hold their interest!

Also, try cutting the letter shapes out of sand paper and help him to "trace" the shape with his finger with the correct series of movements.

Paint brush and water on the pavement or a wall is good as it encourages large scale movements.

Hi does it matter if the pencil grip is a bit 'different'? DD(8) has her thumb in the right place but puts 2 fingers on top of the pencil, resting on finger 4 iykwim. She seems to write okay,though. I tried to fix early on but did not persevere. Recently I noticed that DD(6) is doing the same and thought maybe it's how they are taught these days, but the link given above suggests this is not the case. Is it too late to fix now?

I've had this. They didn't seem to spend any proper time on it in reception. They whizzed over it in preschool - but not enough.

It sounds as if she is using a "quad" grip rather than the conventional tripod but it is perfectly acceptable and functional problems arise when children hold pencils which put a strain on hand and wrist muscles causing pain.

Ah, so she is okay then? That's a relief. Didn't fancy trying to change it at this late stage. No sign of it hurting her.

apologies for the 'hijack' IB - just had a bit of a worry there.

Second all the sensory tips, sand, sandpaper etc.

You could also try writing the letters on his back with your finger so he can feel them.

Many children need a multi sensory approach.

Ds1's handwriting and letter formation improved hugely when he moved from printing to cursive writing. It was like he learned all over again and suddenly 'got it'.

His numbers can be a bit hit and miss though. Think I might try some of the tips on here to work on those. Thanks.

thanks guys and no worries for hijack!

Ah Sarah that's you! I have aibu hidden so have not seen..

Some excellent tips, we will be really busy doing all this. To think I was moaning that the school hadn't sent us work to do. !

Mrz, I will stand/sit by him saying the'strokes', we have also been giving the nubers silly descriptions, like 5 is a shelf bracket on top of an ant's bottom half! I think he needs to visualise them in his mind.

He wrote a beautiful line of ten numbers last night before bed, so much improved, so much more legible - I was amazed as we only started it in the late afternoon and didn't do more than about an hour (interspersed with dancing to times tables cd, hitting brother, colouring patterns etc).

Anyone remember Words and Pictures? I loved that programme. And I will be using the word 'flick', I had struggled to find a suitable word but of course that's the one

Also like the string and sandpaper ideas. And I'll make sure we try little sentences while I watch him writing and make sure it's the 'right' way...starting at the top seems to be the major thing, actually.

He loves the curly patterns too,like a figure of eight but going along a line.

My ex's son was like this, they did practice every day, there are some good but cheap books in The Works that have lines for proportion, etc. It's a bit worrying that it seems to be so common despite these children being bright and schools doing an hour of literacy a day, but then what do I know. I like the idea of the diary/ letter. My DD is only 4 but she would love to do something like that for Grandma!

we do holiday scrap books to make sure ds1 get practise in the hols.

he has also done a show and tell sheet for beavers tonight.

its all about finding something they like and then it doesnt seem like work to them.

Google "lapbooking" (sorry cant do links!) my ds1 loved doing these!

This website looks quite good

www.handwritingforkids.com/handwrite/manuscript/animation/lowercase.htm

When my DCs were in reception and just starting out with forming letters their teacher used to say "start from the top, top, top, not the bottom, bottom, bottom". She used to pat her head for the "top" bit and pat her bum for the "bottom" bit. Sounds silly but it made them laugh and they remembered it!

Oh Ingrid, thank you for posting this thread, my ds also 7 does exactly the same thing and the school are not doing anything about it. Thank you for all the tips on here, I will certainly be using them.

another sensory writing idea I saw children doing when we were looking around DDs school for next year, writing with their fingers in a layer of shaving foam on black plastic.

No probs Fimbo, glad it's helped Funny thing is, in an outstanding ofsted report the only thing that came out as a 2 at school rather than a 1 was handwriting. I wonder why.

What I could really do with is a giant sheet of laminated stuff with squares on it and nunmbers up the side.

I plan to make him some 'blocks' of numbers, ie a block of four, three, five etc. but loads of them so he can put them on the chart in lines and make times tables.

I need to give him visual props as he can't seem to picture the numbers like I can. Also am teaching him 'proper' times tables, which include the question as well as the answer. So once 3 is 3, two threes are 6 etc instead of just 3, 6, 9, etc etc.
As he is counting timeses on his fingers!!

I need him to have the answer quick as a flash from hearing it and saying it loads of times.

Sounds like you are doing really well with sorting out some basics Ingrid - it will all help you ds greatly if he has these sorted!

der - your not you!

Could you make an exception to 'start at the top' for the letters 'b & 'd' please. The children I see who still have b/d confusion in Y7 all 'start at the top'. Trouble is, when they get to the bottom they can't remember which way to go next...

I use start at the top for numbers, mostly, but not letters as we use cursive. So everything starts at the bottom!

1 - A downward stroke, My that's fun. Now I've made the number one.
2 - Half a heart says, "I love you." A line. Now I've made the number two.
3 - Around the tree, Around the tree, Now I've made the number three
4 - Down and across and down once more. Now I've made the number four
5 - The hat. The back. The belly. It's a five. Watch out, it might come alive
6 - Bend down low to pick up sticks. Now I've made the number six.
7 - Across the sky and down from heaven. Now I've made the number seven
8 - Make an "S" and close the gate. Now I've made the number eight.
9 - Make an oval and a line. Now I've made the number nine.

maizieD the top for d is the top of the curve not the top of the "stick"
so I would teach whoosh up from the line round to 1 o'clock, back the other way, up, up, down, down to the line and flick
b I would teach whoosh up from the line, down, down to the line, up half way and round to the bottom.

there is a load of ready-made stuff for letter formation and number formation at sparklebox if that is any use? :)

Please please don't use Sparklebox ... you are generating an income for a twice convicted paedophile every time you visit his site!