Handwriting issues

[Suzfly]

How do you know if your child's handwriting is up to scratch in Year 7. My son has problems - still - and I think they are undermining his confidence in himself. He's not dyslexic, but can there be other problems that affect handwriting? He seems unable to even make sure of capitalization and punctuation, and yet he knows how these things work... ??? I'm at wits end because obviously it means homework is hard, and essays are never easy for him. This creates a viscious cycle of low marks and low-self-esteem. Who should I turn to for help?

Both my DSs have poor writing and abandoned joined up writing when at secondary school. They have both done well academically. I would try to get him to capitalise and use some punctuation but concentrate on making sure what he writes is legible. Very few teachers are interested in hand writing at secondary level except that it should be relatively neat and legible. I think many boys tend to be lazy about presentation and do not consider handwriting to be important (why bother, when you can use Word on the computer ...).

Sometimes bright children struggle with the difference in how fast they can think and how fast they can write and it gets frustrating. If this is the case you could sometimes offer to scribe - for encouragement, not all the time obviously!

Also have a chat to his teacher - is any help available? Is it really the content or the presentation that's causing low marks? Some school might offer coaching in writing - I think my nephew's did.

Otherwise what about encouraging other hobbies which develop good motor skills eg painting warhammer?? It did wonders for my DS's patience.

How do you know he isn't dyslexic? Also, could be worth looking into dyspraxia. He is probably just someone destined to use computers rathar than write though!

My son has severe dyslexia and mild dyspraxia (the latter being the reason for his extremely unreadable handwriting and the former for his awful spelling). He is now, year 7, using Dragon voice recognition software for all his homework.

Thanks to everyone for these very useful replies. I gained something from all of them! I have given up worrying so much about presentation. And tonight I suggested he use a mind map (based on Internet advice on tips to help in cases of dysgraphia) and the result was AMAZING! The ideas poured out, he scribbled them down fast and was then able to structure the essay! Breakthrough. Dragon Voice recognition is new to me - I'll explore. His form teacher is also checking situation out with special needs, but she doesn't think there is a 'problem'. My son is far from worst in class, so I learned today. There is a very bright boy who never uses full stops at all... This is all new to me. I will also try warhammer painting - for greater patience!! Grateful for the support.