Ds's handwriting is horrific

[Onelittlebugbear]

He's 4 and a half and although he is more than capable of sounding out words and knows quite a lot of his 'tricky words' his handwriting is so bad it's practically illegible.

He should in theory be able to write short sentences now but I'm worried he won't meet this ELG because of his writing. He is left handed which doesn't help I think, his name is legible but that's about it. He says the little thyme when he writes the letters that they've taught him at school but it doesn't seem to help much. Before christmas it had improved a bit and we did some practice over christmas but now we seem to be back to square one.

Any advice? I've got him a thing he can trace letters and numbers over. The numbers are as bad as the letters which is a shame as he's pretty good at maths but no one will ever know because he can't record anything!

DS's handwriting is still practically illegible, at nearly 10.

He uses a notebook computer for most English tasks.

I would recommend the Handwriting Without Tears Programme. You don't have to buy an expensive kit but even things like the wet dry try (app is available too but better for him to get the sensory feedback while tracing) on a blackboard trace the letters with chalk, then cut little sponges to wipe over and remove.

It might be on YouTube. Things like using theraputty etc will help too.

He's quite good at making the letters in sand or play doh or tracing them on the iPad. The issue seems to be putting them on paper.

I'll have a look at the handwriting without tears stuff thank you.

My brothers handwriting is still illegible, he is also left handed with a slight tremor. Did not stop him getting a first at uni and becoming a very successful engineer :)

He's 4 1/2, lots of children struggle with fine motor skills at this age. Really intricate colouring in helps and doesn't feel like work. Stick an audio book at the same time and you colour in the opposite page. Children's colouring books are a rubbish - look up Dover coloring books on Amazon.

My ds is 11 and tells me he does not have bad handwriting.....he has his own font!!

He's never been interested in drawing or colouring. I think that's part of the problem, he's never practiced using a own or pencil very much.

How about mazes? Usborne's big book of mazes for example

I think 4 and a half a little early to start worrying, honestly I do.
He is a baby.

Link here

Left handed ds2 here. Letter formation is dire. No interest in writing. Numbers? Numeracy? Exceptional.
No idea what to do.

He's only 4.5, it's not a problem, until very recently he wouldn't even be expected to be at school. My now aged 16 son showed no interest in sitting down and doing any work whilst at nursery, he started in reception for half days from Easter (summer baby) where he did start to do some writing and then started full time in year one. He soon caught up and actually developed very nice handwriting, once at secondary it became much scruffier though.
My point is if anyone had judged him at 4.5 he would have failed to meet those targets because developmentally he wasn't ready for them, but actually he is a bright lad who went on to be at above average levels in SATs and is now doing A levels in maths and 3 sciences.

www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/acatalog/lh_writing_book1.html

Mazes, colouring, dot to dot, handwriting worbooks with stars, worksheets, putting the paper at an angle, keeping a diary, lego. Just keep at it. We found mechanical pencils were a novelty that helped. At 7 his hamdwriting is not great but so much better than it was. Have patience.

DH is 49 and I've just rewritten his attempt at a shopping list, because it's utterly illegible.

He has an Oxbridge degree and 'writes' beautifully worded reports as part of his work. His English is beautiful, his hand writing would put a spider on crystal meth to shame.

My DS is left handed...Boys in particular are often not ready to write at 4 but the schools are tied by the government...Look at doing things at home to strengthen fine motor skills..It can be colouring play dough... My son ended up getting tuition at the beging of year 2 for a term as he had got so dispondant he couldn't do writing he actually believed he couldn't even though he had come on in leaps and bounds..

So my advice is let the school do the writing pactise, the less he does before he is ready the better but do things that will strengthen his hand

At 4.5 both ds's writing was horrific - I ha do idea how the teachers deciphered it!

Now at 8.3 (ds1) it's beautiful, joined up and lovely, and 5.7 (ds2) is big but understandable.

He's only 4.5. Don't worry op!

My ds was the same. When he got to Y2 his teacher said that it really should have been sorted out sooner but she also said, and predicted correctly, that he would improve it when he wanted to.

As a teacher I would also suggest exercises for strengthening the upper body such as pressing arms against a wall and pushing himself off as I was told by our SENCO that this helps to improve fine motor skills.

I wouldn't worry at 4.5. It'll come naturally in time and if it doesn't I'd worry then

He's on track to become a doctor, then.

Ds is a few months younger - though with the benefit of being in the year below your ds. Like your son he can read, do spellings on squebles (? sp), and can story tell etc but can barely form any letters. I have just managed to get him referred (after a bit of a fight) to a physio for an assessment as he is v hypermobile ('double jointed'). When he holds a pen although he has a tripod grip (do get someone to look at his grip) his thumb bends inwards and it is not stable. After a short while he swaps to his non dominant hand - he always picks up in rh then will swap between hands. He finds it hard to press buttons - eg light switches etc as his thumb bends the wrong way and has no strength.

He might always have difficulty writing with pain and untidy formation, plus not having much stamina. I am v glad though that he was born when he is. He will be able to have a diagnosis, treatment and adaptions in classroom. In secondary most work is now typed, he might be given extra time/ a scribe/ be able to type in exams. As an adult he will probably only need to sign his name and write shopping lists etc as long as he chooses his career carefully. I would love him to have beautiful handwriting (maybe when Mrz sets up her MN handwriting summer school), and I will be hoping that his school will be able to give him extra help to write clearly but with a formal diagnosis I hope that they will be able to make allowances in class without thinking that he is lazy. The SENCO is already aware and supporting him in the attached nursery.

Your son's issues could be completely different to mine but it is worth considering. Things to look for are finger knuckles which flex back as well as forward - this can affect handwriting as well as the thumb - ds has both. Pain when writing, swapping hands. My dr was reluctant to refer even though ds is v clearly hypermobile but it is also possible to pay privately for an OT who will be able to check for hypermobility as well as other causes. At his age in the absence of clear signs of hypermobility you might want to wait for a while to see if it improves but don't leave it too long.

Also look at his pencil grip - dd1 got to yr 4 before I noticed her poor pencil grip. No teacher had ever commented on it despite her having extra support for handwriting and despite their comments on her writing. Fortunately her yr 4 teacher is great and has worked with her to correct her grip.

Sorry for long post - hope it is helpful.

While I agree, 4.5 is very young and fine motor skills are still developing you should try and see if bad habits are creeping in.

We made the mistake not looking too closely and now, 2 years later, have a battle at our hands to correct pencil grip and "I hate writing" attitude.

I have a right hand DD but her best friend is left handed and she started using a pencil grip very early, her hand writing is great and I think it has a lot to do with having the necessary tools early on.

Other things to do are Lego, arts and crafts, maybe model building, using a scissor, get a black board to let him write in it, colouring in, try to find templates of characters he likes instead of boring colouring in books, practise hand-to-eye coordination, a Wii is great for it.

My DS(7) left handed also. Writing was very slow and messy to start. Need pencil grips at school etc.
Still prefers to write non joined up at home, but now suddenly his joined up writing is perfectly acceptable and pretty neat(isn!). His writing used to be huge and now it is quite small (sometimes too small). It does suddenly come. He tends to get wrist/hand ache when writing, but I think he holds the pencil too hard, and being left handed it is really hard to copy stuff from books etc. He does love drawing, so spends a lot of time with a pencil in his hand, and for writing practice we've found this to be great... www.cursivewriting.org (I paid and downloaded a cursive font, and could create my own fun writing worksheets - can't say he enjoyed them, but probably helped!).

mines the same

Mrz has listed some really good advice on other threads before if you search. Even things like putting small stickers in books or Hama beads are helpful for fine motor skills and stamina. My dts are 5 and there is a marked difference between handwriting of their classmates, seems quite early to be judging him perhaps?