Anyone know any free handwriting practice websites?

jap200

Two of my three sons - aged 7 and 8 are struggling with handwriting. Does anyone know any websites where you can download free practice sheets etc. They use cursive writing from the beginning at their school and are now both doing joined up writing.

The only free websites I have been able to find so far are American ones, using what seems to be different kind of cursive writing.

Any other general advice on helping them with handwriting would be appreciated.

windym_2

My son (7) has handwriting which looks like a spider has crawled across the page. However he excels in his academic subjects and is always in the School Team (footie, rugby and cricket).

Try to get them involved in writing the Tesco shopping list, birthday lists, thank you cards etc. Don't tell them their writing is untidy, just try to be positive on the good points (spelling, grammar) and DO NOT WORRY. The most appalling handwriting I have seen comes from doctors and architects!

jap200

windym wrote: »

My son (7) has handwriting which looks like a spider has crawled across the page. However he excels in his academic subjects and is always in the School Team (footie, rugby and cricket).

Try to get them involved in writing the Tesco shopping list, birthday lists, thank you cards etc. Don't tell them their writing is untidy, just try to be positive on the good points (spelling, grammar) and DO NOT WORRY. The most appalling handwriting I have seen comes from doctors and architects!

Thankyou for such positive encouragement. I wish I could take such a relaxed attitude. I already do the things you suggest - they are quite happy to write and both have such great imaginations, but it is a shame as their writing is almost impossible to read, so I really would like something to help them in the right direction. They are both very bright and I am worried that the lack of legibility of their work will let them down as it takes an extra effort to decipher it - A small example is that they both frequently have words marked as wrong in their weekly spelling tests - simply because it is impossible to tell if they are spelt correctly or not.

ktb

I just found these - I have no idea if they are what you are looking for exactly tho! Handwriting Worksheets & Handwriting Sheets

both my brother and I were both badly criticised at school for our terrible handwriting, particularly my brother who is left handed - and now 20 years later we both get compliments on our writing! It's great that you are concerned about this and want to give them extra help at home... it can make a big difference... practice makes perfect after all

purplepurple

http://www.nha-handwriting.org.uk/Providing_Help.htm there are some publications on this site that cost from £1.99......

http://www.kindersleyworkshop.co.uk/ free worksheets to download....

http://www.stabilo.co.uk/handwriting free worksheets from Stabilo

http://www.senteacher.org/Worksheet/16/Handwriting.xhtml free worksheets for pencil / pen control

HTH

misty

Do the school not have any? My son brought home an A4 sheet with discursive style the school use and I photocopied it. When I lost the original - I looked on the internet and couldn't find a match and asked his teacher for another clean copy.

Since then, I bought him an exercise book he asked for from Wilkinsons - it is smallish an blue. He said it was the same as the one they use for special handwriting at school - inside it has the alphabet in discursive style in upper and lower case.

ailuro2

My dd was being pulled up at school about her writing- we bought her a Calligraphy set and sat down with her and practiced the lines, patterns,fancy writing, not the stuff she does at school- we discovered her problem was the way she was holding her pencil- so obvious,yet it had been overlooked.
Because her thumb was sticking forward she couldn't see what she was writing:o
When blindfolded she wrote her name almost the same as she does normally. This shocked her into believing what we were telling her- she is 8yo btw, and has greatly improved her writing.hth.

jap200

ktb wrote: »

I just found these - I have no idea if they are what you are looking for exactly tho! Handwriting Worksheets & Handwriting Sheets

Thanks - but these are the American ones I had already found. Although some of the letters are the same, some are quite different and I don't want to confuse them.

jap200

purplepurple wrote: »

http://www.nha-handwriting.org.uk/Providing_Help.htm there are some publications on this site that cost from £1.99......but none free

http://www.kindersleyworkshop.co.uk/ free worksheets to download....This is a stonemasons website - I can't find any worksheets

http://www.stabilo.co.uk/handwriting free worksheets from Stabilo - for teachers only - also a note saying they are out of stock

http://www.senteacher.org/Worksheet/16/Handwriting.xhtml free worksheets for pencil / pen control - good sheets for practicing patterns (great for pre-school/reception), but not actual writing.
HTH

Thanks very much for all these suggestions, but unfortunately none of them are suitable. I'm still hunting for free UK cursive practice sheets if anyone can help - there must be some out there somewhere!

jap200

I finally found some on a site recommended by a friend:

http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/cll/writing/form.html

In order to download the pdfs you need to 'right click' on the download button and select 'save target as' and then choose where you want to put it on your computer.

These are just what I have been looking for as they give the examples to trace over and also space for practicing forming the letters as well.

Have a browse around this site too as there are some other great things to download - mostly free

My friend also told me about this excellent site for learning times tables - another much needed thing in our house:

http://www.teachingtables.co.uk/

patchwork_cat

Hi
I really feel that handwriting doesn't matter. We used to worry about things like this with our son, but then when they say our daughters writing isn't very good I really don't care. As long as you can read it. They will all be using a keyboard or something else when they are adults. Worry about more academic things or don't lower their confidence. IMHO.
Patch