I am the mother of a 7yo(8 in May) 2nd grade boy. He is having trouble with handwritting and spelling. He seems to have difficulty with letter formantion and connecting the letters(mostly vowels to constants). He also has trouble with the letter/placement on the line and space between the letters and words. He uses his left hand to write and eat, but throws/bats with his right. He also cuts right handed. Are there any at home exercises or practice I can use to help him develop better writting or is this a maturation issue. His school uses the D'nelian writting and they are already doing cursive work.

By Kaye on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 02:47 pm:

My son was slower at picking this up too. Honestly the only thing to do is practice practice practice. Buy a handwriting book (at probably any book store or teacher supply store) and have him do a page every day, circle all mistakes, be harsh, but some of it is just discipline. My sons teacher did this for him and at first I thought she was being so mean, but he finally has it all down.

Another thought though, make sure he plays things that use those muscles, play doh, silly putty, game boy, etc.

By Kim on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 04:09 pm:

Can he write with both hands? And if so, which one is neater? Just curious!

By Mommmie on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 04:22 pm:

There is a program called Handwriting Without Tears that I have heard good things about.

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 04:51 pm:

I'm a kindergarten teacher and I would suggest lots of fine motor activities...playing with small blocks, manipulating legos, rolling dice...any toys that are smaller and need manipulating. Sitting with him and 'practicing' handwriting is probably not going to go over too well (haha) but playing will! Manipulation of objects is one of the best ways to develop fine motor skills needed for handwriting. Also coloring (if he likes to do that) and drawing. Sometimes parents wonder why we ask a K child to color a picture and I explain that it's really for further fine motor development, not because coloring is important. Also, can he button/zip/tie on his own? Often children who can't do this yet still have handwriting troubles, too. I taught D'nealian and it IS difficult for little hands to learn...a benefit in the long run for cursive but hard early on. Has he always written with the left hand? Maybe he hasn't developed a dominant hand yet because he goes back and forth still for differnet things? That could be one problem for him.

By Kaye on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 07:54 pm:

He may not like the sitting and working on handwriting (okay I can assure you he won't). With my middle kid I really waited until I felt like it wasn't maturation...but I really think that the basic concepts just have to be taught and some kids get it sooner than others. You are NOT doing him any favors by letting it slide. We had a BAD year last year and I kept thinking it will come together, it didn't. There are ways to make it more fun, but you will eventually have to to have him have pencil in his hand. I hardly write anymore, typing mostly, and when I just write my hand hurts, you have to build up those specific muscles.

As far as letter formations, you can use shaving cream on a table, write in sand or cornmeal.

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 10:12 pm:

You can also put hair gel (cheapo kind) in a ziploc and write in that with a finger.

By Pamt on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 10:13 pm:

I strongly recommend an occupational therapy evaluation.

By Debbie on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 - 10:55 pm:

My ds, who is a little younger then yours, is having the same problems. We have been working at home with him, but he is improving very slowly. I called my insurance provider and Occupational therapy is covered, so he is being evaluated next week. I agree with Pam, have you checked with your insurance to see if they cover OT?

We have been playing with play-do, stringing beads, using a peg board. We also got a light brite. The pegs are very small and he has to work to get them in the holes. These have helped some, but we still decided to have him evaluated. He tells me often that writing, coloring and cutting is hard for him. He starts Kindergarten next year and I don't want him to get frustrated, so we are trying to get him help now.

By Unschoolmom on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 - 07:32 am:

I find it really weird to get occupational therapy for a 7 year old having trouble handwriting but that's just me. I think it's perfectly normal, esp. for boys for that to be a skill that comes later in many of them. It's only at five that many kids start to get their fine motor skills down, no surprise it will take others a few years longer. Patience might be your best friend in this.

I really liked Deanna's advice. It gets to the issue but doesn't make the handwriting a big issue for your son. My daughter's printing became clear and even after she ignored printing for a good 6 months and took up drawing. No lettters practice at all but a lot of work with pencils.

As for how he uses his left and right hands for different things, I'm exactly like he is. I'm not sure it would play any big role. The unschooler in me thinks he's probably developing just fine at his own pace, it's just an inconvienient pace for school. It's a problem of the context he's in, not a problem with him.

By Pamt on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 - 08:39 am:

FYI, Unschoolmom, I don't think every 7 y/o with messy handwriting needs OT. However, Willsmom description of the problem (particularly that he has trouble with letter formation) coupled with the fact that he is almost 8, is a red flag for more than just messy handwriting. Since I co-treat a lot with OTs I have learned a lot from them and it's amazing to see how some kids have motor planning issues when writing and can't figure out where to start a letter and which direction to move the pencil. Sometimes it has nothing at all to do with fine motor skills and more to do with the brain sending the correct signals to the arm, wrist, and hand. It's actually a very particular learning disability called dysgraphia and time does not "fix" it. It is entirely possible that her son is a late bloomer, but an OT is very qualified to determine a slight fine motor delay from motor planning and coordination issues. And all OTs I know don't recommend therapy unless it is truly necessary.

By Unschoolmom on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 - 11:45 am:

Thanks Pam.

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 - 03:04 pm:

Debbie - as a K teacher I think your son's fine motor skills sound perfectly normal. If it makes you feel better to do the OT, by all means go for it, but MANY children at the END of K sill have difficulty keeping letters in a confined area. It really does take time to develop. Keep doing what you've been doing though, because those are all great activities. Lots of time with pencil and crayons, too, unstructured writing. Let him draw/wrie whatever he wants because those are all building that motor skill.

By Willsmom on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 - 04:16 pm:

Thanks for all the great input. Does anyone have any experience with Handwriting Without Tears program? Son has already learned cursive and my concern is will it confuse him if I introduce HWT now.

By Pamt on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 - 04:33 pm:

Handwriting Without Tears is for cursive writing too. It's the curriculum all of our OTs use. If he is having such difficulty with print, how is he doing with cursive? For some kids it is actually easier since they don't have to pick up their pencil and "lose their place."

By Trina~moderator on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 - 04:46 pm:

This is not a Kindergartener. This is a child in Gr. 2, and close to the end of the year at that. As a former teacher myself (K and Gr. 3) I would be concerned at this point and would request testing. Evaluations would be required to get OT services anyway. A learning disability is also a possibility, and as a parent I would want to know.

Here is a link to one of Willsmom's former posts:
http://www.momsview.com/discus/messages/23/33530.html

I have similar concerns about my own DD, who is in Gr. 1. She is doing well in all areas except writing. Socially age appropriate and her fine motor skills are good, but she is having difficulty with writing. Her teacher is concerned but not overly so. As a parent and former teacher, if she doesn't show improvement at the beginning of Gr. 2 I'm going to press for testing.

By Debbie on Thursday, April 7, 2005 - 08:59 am:

Deanna, my ds is having other problems as well. He has trouble dressing, holding his pencil/crayon correctly, connecting dots or tracing, cutting, and a few other things. It is not just the things that Willsmom commented on. We are actually having him tested based on a recommendation from his teacher and pediatrician.

By Debbie on Thursday, April 7, 2005 - 09:03 am:

Willsmom, Here is a website(not sure how to make it link) that I think Cat posted. It shows what your child should be doing(as far as fine motor skills) for his age. This may help you.

http://www.kinderstart.com/frame_for_links.php?redirect=http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/early_identification/motorskills_milestones.html

My ds is 4-1/2 and he is at a 2-3 yr. old level with fine motor skills.

By Reds9298 on Thursday, April 7, 2005 - 09:28 pm:

Debbie- Thanks for elaborating a little more about your son. That's a big help and it does seem to be more than just the 'normal' fine motor problems. OT could be a major help to him. Good luck!!

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, April 7, 2005 - 10:25 pm:

Motorskill Milestones

By Pamt on Thursday, April 7, 2005 - 10:50 pm:

Willsmom, looking back at your earlier post that Trina provided a link to I noticed that OT was previously suggested. You said that the teacher said he wouldn't qualify or be eligible. That is NOT the teacher's decision to make!! It really makes me mad that she said that. You also mentioned in that previous post that your son had difficulty with "written expression." By that, did you mean the actual act of writing or more the content such as organizing thoughts and transitioning between sentences? If it is the motor act of writing then obviously OT could help. If it is the composition of writing tasks, then a speech pathologist can help. I am a speech pathologist and we work with all types of language...written and oral.

If I were in your shoes, I would go to the school and demand a comprehensive evaluation which would include testing by the school psychologist (IQ tests), speech pathologist (language tests), OT (handwriting, fine motor testing), and possibly a special ed teacher to administer tests for learning disabilities. If you are concerned and there is an educational issue at hand (which obviously there is since the teacher is mentioning retention) it is your right to demand that your son get the evaluation that he needs. I would also jump on it ASAP since the school year is quickly drawing to a close. You may find with some simple classroom accommodations that he can succeed quite well in his regular grade-level classroom.

An alternative would be to seek out a private evaluation with OT, ST, and/or educational psychologist who specializes in learning issues. That might be the best alternative for more comprehensive diagnosis and treatment, but it all depends if your insurance covers it. School OTs usually work primarily as consultants with little hands on therapy and all of their therapy has to be "educationally relevant." If it doesn't relate directly to classroom performance then they won't work on it. School STs notoriously have huge caseloads, so therapy tends to consist largely of group treatments for brief periods of time. HTH. Go and advocate for your son!