Improving handwriting in Yr 6

[IndieSkies]

Ds1's handwriting is terrible. He is in Yr 6, doing well academically, but held back by slow and poor writing.

I have noticed that most of his friends have now developed their own style and most are no longer following the rather tortuous form of cursive writing they were taught. DS1 seems to do extra loops and returns on bits of letters, making the process laborious and the results messy.

He likes to do things as he has been taught, but i am not sure he is doing it exactly right. And his freinds are doing better having abandoned it.

Are there specialist handwriting tutors? Can we tackle this ourselves?

I know of a fantastic specialist handwriting tutor if you are in Greater Manchester. PM me if you want more info!

My DS in Y6 just went to an occupational therapist to help with his handwriting.

At £60 per hour it's not cheap though.... However it has helped, and I'm pleased he did it.

Speed Up is a program designed by an OT to improve handwriting.

Thanks SarahF,but we are the other end of the country.
Is that specialist tutor part of a network or a random one off that you happened to find? I don't know if handwriting tutors are a regular 'thing'?
Indigo - did your DS have specific issues underlying his difficulty with handwriting? Thanks for that link.

Yes, my DS has ASD / Dyspraxia.

But I only went to the OT for help with his handwriting.

You could ring up an OT and ask how much they'd charge to assess your DS and make up a program for you to do at home with him.

Sorry, I should have clarified.

An OT is a good person to go to if your DS has physical problems which are effecting his writing. And because you said he tires easily I have jumped to the conclusion he has gross or fine motor problems.

If you don't think he has problems with his posture and grip and arm movements etc, then an OT is not the right person to go to.

Can school help? My DS's teacher gave me copies of how each individual letter should be formed.
It sounds like it is letter formation but have you tried a yoropen or other handwriting pen? Does he do any writing at home? Do they make him redo pieces if he is being lazy or is it just too difficult for him to write more/better?

That's very helpful, Indigo - thank you. In fact I am confident that he has no underlying motor skills / dyspraxic / dylexic issues, but just that writing isn't 'his thing'. He has never been especially good at drawing, either.

Also, I have neglected the very obvious step of talking to his teacher apart fom a vague mention at parents evening. Of course, handwriting doesn't impact on SATS scores as far as I know, and he is otherwise doing well in literacy and numeracy, except fro being told he should 'write more' - hard when he is slow. I will make a proper appointment and talk to his teacher.

P.S thanks for thhe Yoropen tip, Wolfie. I hadn't heard of those. He enjoys writing with a calligraphy set (a Berol felt tip one) he bought with his pocket money, but that takes even longer, even though he writes neatly with it, following their guide.

As far as I know school never ask him to do things more neatly, though I do, in an encouraging way, if he is writing a card for someone, for e.g. He does write at home, but messily!

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/3217256/Pupils-with-poor-handwriting-do-less-well-in-school-tests.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8827863/Warning-over-childrens-appalling-handwriting-skills.html

My ds2 had terrible hand writing. In year 5 I put pressure on the school and they did some of the speed up book mentioned above which made some improvement.

What has made the most difference is an hour a week with a general tutor - so while doing literacy she could pick up the problems and correct them. This was just a very experienced ex prep school teacher.

Schools don't have enough time to watch each child for long enough to spot their strange writing habits I think. I know that as a parent helper I've seen children be praised for handing in 'neat' work, but when I've seen them write they form lots of the letters incorrectly. This isn't too much of a problem lower down the school, but I do think as they get older and are expected to join up and speed up their writing they really suffer.

schools/teachers do have enough time to pick up strange writing habits and to put them right if they take presentation seriously.

So what would you reccomend mrz for older children ?

bit of a hijack (sorry op) but i am getting as bit annoyed at the amount of time schools seem to worry about handwriting fgs

today my ds(10) was so happy to report back to me that his teacher said his history report had good hand writing(!) it's bananas

i asked him what she thought of what he'd actually written and he seemed confused grr

Southestra - teachers normally write a positive thing and 'something that could be imoroved' on each piece of work.

She's praising his handwriting for a reason. Either because it's improved, or because she can't think of anything else positive to say.

She won't have told him 'what she thought of it' but she will have said something like 'next time check your facts carefully' or 'next time use paragraphs' or whatever.

But its unusual to say what she thought of it. And very unusual for her to say anything negative about it.

I think all children benefit from daily practise (10 mins is all it takes) writing on handwriting lines. Reinforcing where letters start and end and the sequence of movements needed to form them correctly.
With older children I use Speed Up handwriting programme ... which consists of exercises to develop shoulder, wrist and finger strength/flexibility as well as the movements needed to write effectively.

Marking place even though this thread seems to have gone quiet - DS is a SLOWWWW writer in spite of being vv bright. We're paying for OT which seems to be helping a little - but again it's taking a long time and costing £££.
mrz will try the 10 mins a day - sounds like a good idea...