handwriting help

[goshhhhhh]

Need help to help my ds (7) with handwriting. He is currently yr3. Got it in his head but difficulty getting it on paper. Want to help him as told he may struggle to get to level 4 by year 6. I obviously think he is brighter than teacher - but then I would wouldn't I? Any ideas welcome.

As a SN teacher, I'd query if the problem is handwriting as such- do you mean untidy and unformed letters- which at its extreme is called dysgraphia, or being unable to put his ideas down on paper? if it's the latter then your son is more likely to be dyslexic. Having ideas but being unable to get them down is a classic sign even if he is able to read and spell reasonably well.

You could consult someone privately for an assessment- an ed psych or a teacher with specialist training- but if the school was doing their job they' s pot this and arrange for an assessment by the LEA. The problem is that many, many children who are mildly dyslexic slit through the net until they are much older.

The BDA and Dyslexia Action have websites which give more info for parents.

slit= slip!

He can read well and spelling is good. His handwriting is untidy and he is not good a checking apparently. Thanks for this - I really appreciate the advice. At this moment I honestly don't know and I need to find out more.
He is a summer birthday boy (August) and a lot has been put down to that. I'm feeling frustrated and up until now have been told that he is doing ok and told by Head Teacher he is flying this year and then had a thoroughly depressing parent's evening when told everything he can't do. Doing ok in maths - that was thrown in as an aside.

sorry correct that - I'm not sure if spelling is good. He can learn them for the spelling test - is that the same thing?

I use HWT with my DS, aged 8. He does 2 pages a day when we remember and has been doing so since September.

Last Thursday he bought home a piece of paper on which he had copied from the blackboard, just a note to parents. The handwriting was beautiful. So beautiful in fact that I didn't believe he wrote it. DH came home and said the same.

So we asked him to write a paragraph and he did in the most lovely handwriting. I felt really bad for doubting him, but honestly the change in his handwriting is just unbelieveable.

I really rate this scheme. And it is the only one I could find that teaches cursive upright, much better than slanted, IMO.

Thanks - I've had a quick look at this. He is just starting to do joined up handwriting. Where would you start with this? What level? Where did you start?

Many dyslexic children can learn for the test but them forget the words- this is because they aren't in their long term memory.

Many of my dyslexic pupils get 10/10 for spelling tests then a week later they are unable to recall the right spelling in their own writing.

Looking at a word and being able to remember the spelling in context ( a list -usually in order) is different from retrieving the word from your long term memory bank when you write something yourself.

It's important to understand that dyslexia is a spectrum of difficulties. Some people are good at reading or spelling but find writing hard, some find 2 out of 3 of these hard, etc. Some are good at maths!

If I were you I'd got to the BDA website and look at the info for parents and check off his development and 'symptoms'. Then have another chat with the school if you think he needs an assessment.

If he is already doing joined-up writing, I would start with 'Cursive Handwiritng' then move onto 'Cursive Success'.

Thank you everyone for your help. I shall look at the BDA website and also get the handwriting books. Everything helps.

DD2 really struggled with joined up writing and we found these Letts handwriting books really helpful:

www.amazon.co.uk/Handwriting-Collins-Easy-Learning-7-11/dp/0007338031/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1392290075&sr=8-4&keywords=letts+handwriting

www.amazon.co.uk/Collins-Easy-Learning-Handwriting-Workbook/dp/000727758X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1392290111&sr=8-6&keywords=letts+handwriting

www.amazon.co.uk/Handwriting-Age-7-9-Workbook-2/dp/0007277598/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1392290148&sr=8-3-fkmr1&keywords=letts+handwriting+workbook

Now our school has no 'handwriting policy' parents can refer to and does not have 'writing practice' per se (so any form of letter formation training).

This is very different from other schools in the area and/or US system - so we found letting DD2 (who was very wound up about earning her handwriting pen) practice (on her own & unsupported) seemed to help her make a breakthrough - because she could see & practice how to form the shapes of letters so they could join up.

HTH