Terrible handwriting (messy and slow) in year 5 - home practice, yes or no?

[Handwritingchallenges]

My DS is in year 5 and has trouble with handwriting. It’s slow and messy and his presentation is terrible. It feel like every year the teachers comment that “it’ll get there” but in my view the gap is widening every year and no-one in school sees it as their problem because he’s only slid back a little bit each year so doesn’t stand out in their stats (he used to be a very high achiever in termly assessments, now middling to low but we can see at home his verbal answers to questions are significantly better than what he can out on paper). He is one of only three children in his class that doesn’t have a pen license, and the other two have SEN (don’t get me started on pen licenses, what a way to demotivate children by making them stand out every day). School is no support at all and don’t suspect any particular cause of the writing trouble and haven’t offered any advice other than practice at home.

We have been practicing at home for a couple of years with trying to do 10 minutes daily but it’s not helped. I’ve tried focussing this on different things (in particular, working towards an appropriate presentation because although he used to be amazing at maths, DS is now struggling and I think this is due to his writing holding him back from showing workings appropriately). We’ve tried “fun” things like games that involve writing, more traditional handwriting exercises, doing writing on topics he loves but he hates it all. We’ve done the hand strength exercises (he’s a whizz with Lego and has tolerated lots of faffing with putty squeezing under the guise of it being a toy to faff with when watching TV).

The writing practice is an argument every day, it’s always been a problem getting him DS to sit and do something he hates.

DH wants to call it quits because nothing has helped, I think our DS needs to practice and would get even further behind if we stopped.

What do we do?

I feel your pain with handwriting. My son is dyslexic so primary school was a real struggle from the handwriting point of view. In the end school realised that ot was preventing him from writing anything down, despite the fact he knew the answers so we agreed that he would not use joined up handwriting. The obsession with handwriting is not helpful, especially as adults use computers for everything. Have you considered getting him assessed for dyslexia and/or dyspraxia? Doesn't sound like the school are much help so you may need to go for private assessments.

Another option is magic link handwriting tutoring which may work better than forcing him to do 10mins a day. Or get him to write about something he enjoys.

Now my son is at high school and uses a computer in all lessons. He knows that if he misuses it, we will take it off him. Yes, other students make comments but we've coached him on what to say. Some teachers don't like it but, again, we have practiced what to say with him and the SENCO is supportive.

As with anyone who doesn't fit the standard school model, you need to work with teachers and advocate for you child.

This!

But endless drilling of the same unsuccessful exercises won't do any good. Ask school if he can use a computer for his written work, so that he can concentrate on the content, rather than worrying about the mechanics of writing. He could have dyspraxia, for which there is very little help in UK. It is also possible that he could be dyslexic and is having to put more effort into his literacy work, again because he is struggling with the mechanics rather than the content. His verbal ideas support that theory. It could be worth his having an assessment. Talk to his school first but be prepared to have to pay for a private assessment.

Our DS is the same, year 5 and struggling. We are on the last ditch attempt of trying to improve via home practice rather than have him use a scribe/computer.

Things I have found to be useful considerations:
can you isolate the problem some more? What's his absolute best handwriting eg in your Christmas card? Is he forming letters correctly but messily /doesn't know how to form them / knows how but doesn't have the physical technique to get that down on paper? Based on that you might be able to narrow down what area to tackle.

What's your DS's own preferred approach/plan? We've come clean with DS this year and said look, we would rather do this every day with you till you're good and then be DONE, it's drawn out over years through his teachers saying he'll catch up. And current year 5 missed some absolutely crucial reception schooling due to Covid. He doesn't love the practice but we've managed to get him to buy in to the idea of working towards the goal and then stopping.

I'm contemplating asking his teacher to show me his work more often so that I can see if there's any progress happening. But not sure if that makes me the crazy mother... we are praising DS to the skies for every bit of determination he ever shows, but it would be good to know whether he retains any improvement when he sets foot in the classroom.

Sympathy because it's all bloody hard work!!

It’s a struggle here too, although school do seem bothered, but just say handwriting practice. One of the most ridiculous things about the pen license is that he’s told he needs to press harder in pencil, yet this wouldn’t be a sodding issue with a pen! He can write nearly if he slows right down, but then gets into trouble for not writing enough in a lesson as they know he can do a lot more. For homework, they want it typed from the children.

Take a look at this https://www.2weeks2learn.com/product-page/2w2l-handwriting

The guides are written by five minute mum and playful learning games - really fun, quick leaning games so it doesn’t feel like work!

Theyre also on Instagram as 2weeks2learn and individually if you want to see the kind of stuff they do.

Another one here saying maybe it’s worth getting him assessed for dysgraphia. Our 11 yo sons handwriting is terrible - he had a lot of support from school last year with handwriting sessions and they sent us exercises for him to do at home a few times a week. There was some improvement but not as much as they hoped, so now we are waiting for an assessment in January to see if he has dysgraphia or dyspraxia, both conditions that can affect motor skills. We have been lucky in that we are overseas so he goes to a very good private school that picked this up and have programs for this type of problem. I’m hoping we can get him a diagnosis so that the pressure for him to improve his handwriting stops - he tries hard and does his best but it is really difficult for him, so I don’t know how much he can improve really- and he can use laptops or have extra time in exams in the future so that it doesn’t hold him back. He is really bright and doesn’t struggle with reading and maths, and is a whizz at LEGO - all three of the big sets we brought him for Christmas are all built now, plus loves to go on YouTube to follow drawing tutorials so it’s not holding him back outside of school. We are seeing an educational psychologist in the UK for the assessment, maybe this is something to look into?

I know this sounds really really unhelpful but look at the pens he uses. Try different nib types. It made a massive difference to my writing when I was in school. My handwriting improved massively when I used a thin nib over a thick nib. The same with a pointed pencil. Honestly it was like two different people. I did experiment with multiple nibs.

My ds6 is really struggling aswell. To the point i wonder if its dysgraphia.

The school can and should be helping / supporting him - reasonable adjustment -
some of our children use a program called ‘clicker’ (text to speech) you can type a sentence it will spell check and read it back to you. I don’t know how much it costs but the senco should be involved as well as he is obviously struggling

Look at slopes and pencil grips to help at school.

Teach him to touch type - and either get a diagnosis or a different secondary which will embrace alternatives to handwritten work.

DS (dyslexia and dysgraphia) handwritten his GCSEs with appalling handwriting (much criticized at primary, just accepted with rolled eyes and "its not the worst" at secondary). His mate (dyspraxia) typed most of his GCSEs. DS will still type homework at a'level by preference - well, not the naths, but the rest.

Ds’ was similar and he has dyspraxia and hypermobility. Does he have any other coordination or motor skill issues? By year 6 ds was using a laptop and learning to touch type. Good posture, seating with feet flat on the floor, good wrist support, writing slope (try an A4 folder filled with paper on its side), practice not pressing too hard, use playdoh to exercise fingers.

Have you had him tested for dyslexia or dyspraxia - worth exploring, particularly if there is a mismatch between verbal/academic output and written work.