Do they do handwriting as part of the general curriculum these days?

[Buda]

DS is really struggling and I ended up shouting at him tonight. But it's not really his fault. His grip is poor and I have spoken to the teacher etc but she is a bit wishy washy. Am going to have to be a bit more direct I think.

PTA meeting tomorrow so want to bring it up generally but need to know what other schools do and if it is part of the general curriculum.

Yes, in the DC's school they are taught a specific handwriting style, Nelson I think, and they are encouraged to start forming their letters that way from the beginning.

What age/year would that be LGA?

DS is 6 and in Yr 2.

Do they do old fashioned writing practice on lined paper?

From the very beginning Buda. DD3 is Year One and she is learning joined up writing.

buda I wouldn't worry too much about it my ds1 really struggled with neat handwriting but everything else was fine. His has inproved loads this year (3) boys tend to find this a bit harder
we just practised at home and when he did his homework I think their comprehension and imagination is more important at this stage imho

I know what you are saying andiem but he came home tonight with homework which included neatly practicing a pound sign and he really struggled. Could not seem to write it in the right direction to make it easy iykwim. He said they had done it at school on white boards. I got him to do it on ours and he still could not do it at all.

I just don't know WHEN to worry about it. Am worried that he will go into Yr 3 and the work will be harder and he will really struggle if he can't even write properly.

The homework is all on photocopied sheets and there are not always lines so everything goes all over the place. I remember doing writing practice.

I am also a bit annoyed as I have been worried about his grip for ages but although I have mentioned it and the teacher agrees and she got someone in to help him it was a one off an already he can't remember what to do. And he just won't take it from me - he gets all annoyed and frustrated and then so do I.

I feel they are teaching them to run before they can walk tbh.

Buda, we had this problem when ds was 6 right up to 8 years old. He just had the most horrid hand writing and now he writes perfectly - we got loads of sheets of writing practise from the internet and got him to do one a day and later in the last year he had to write a page of words a day(like copying from a book, a poem etc) and it was only after all the practise and bribes (his dad bought him a nintendo ds when he could write neatly [bludh]) that his writing improved.
I'd ask for some extra practise sheets from the teacher - she must have some and if she won't give you them then offer to copy them yourself (speaking from experience, teacher wouldn't hand them out to me but let me copy them)

buda I know exactly where you are coming from but we have seen a dramatic improvement this year I really thought he would alsways be all over the shop
I did buy some workbooks from amazon to like these and he practised in the holidays

dc's school does in KS1 and ds had a special handwriting group in Year 4/5. dd has learnt cursive from the beginning.

Some Mnetters swear by the Write Start scheme (on Amazon et al) and you could do other fine motor type work to help his grip and wrist control. Sloping surface may help and using grips (either a triangular or preformed one).

I have the Write Start scheme as recommended on here AND a special YoRo pencil and I have bought another handwriting workbook to practice over the holidays. And the teacher has sent home practice sheets. But his grip is all wrong so I don't think there is much to be gained by making him sit and practice anything right now to be honest. He will never write well if the grip isn't sorted.

Am a bit peeved as I am going to have to make a big issue of something that SHOULD have been picked up in Yr 1. Surely it is basic common sense that they won't write properly if they don't get the grip right?

I am sure they do practice handwriting. They seem to move through it quite quickly though - I am sure I was not doing joined up at 6.

YAY! I got somewhere!

Mentioned it in PTA meeting - just asked if they did handwriting as part of curricium - was told yes. So jokingly said "well how come my son can't write?!" Head and Primary dep head both there and head said take it up with teacher and primary dep said boys are notorious and all get it at different stages.

Spoke to teacher again and gave her the Yo-Ro pencil and asked her to look at his grip again.

Another mum phoned me to tell me that her boys all struggled with writing and other issues and have sessions with the school's OT person who is supposed to be fantastic. Problem is she is booked solid this year both in school and privately.

So spoke to teacher again this morning and both she and the assistant agreed that his grip is all wrong. So I asked could he at least be assessed by the OT.

Went in this afternoon to find she had done a full assessment with him and I was right! His grip is all wrong - wrist not flat on paper, moves thumb around and works from the shoulder. No co-ordination and poor fine motor skills.

She says that 90% of the boys she works with are the same and the earlier she gets them the better so pushing for it now is right. She reckons it will be sorted within the year next year whereas if we waited till Yr 4 it would take 2 years.

AND - both she and the teacher will recommend that he has 2 sessions a week with her in school time. (I will put this in writing to prim dep head to make sure it happens). We could afford to do it privately but as we pay a fortune for the school anyway AND I have been mentioning it all year I would be a bit irritated to have to see her privately.

Am feeling so much better and so relieved! Sorry this is such an essay!

Message withdrawn

Buda a poor pen grip can be a sign of dyspraxia. If your child does well at school this may not be picked up. So make sure he does get OT help.

Some things that help - fish oil supplements. Trampolining is said to be helpful in improving co-ordination. He may work better with his book on a sloping surface.

I have a child with a poor pen grip and it wasn't picked up because they are able. They still have a poor grip but are predicted to get As and A*s at GCSE. However if you get a diagnosis of dyspraxia they can be allowed more time in exams.