Hand writing in a 5 year old

barbiedoll

OP, your daughter will probably always have dreadful handwriting, especially as she is using her non-dominant hand. But try not to worry too much about her writing, I've always had terrible messy handwriting, sometimes even I have a job deciphering what I have written down! I can remember my mum despairing as I wrote out a birthday card to a relative, it was so untidy and covered in ink that she ripped it up and made me write out another one. I now have to write pages of notes every day at work, they are still just as messy as my schoolbooks. As one of my teachers told my mum...."She has so much to get down that her hands can't keep up with her brain"

You should probably push for a referral for therapy on her left hand, it sounds as though she may well have problems later, what about when she wants to learn to drive, for instance?
But messy handwriting is a very small problem in the grand scheme of things, my son still sometimes writes like a 5 year old and he's now 15!

As Fluff says, learning to type is a good idea and they're never too young to learn. Google "free online typing lessons" and there are lots of sites, some are designed for younger children. Typing will help to strengthen her weak hand/arm muscles and if she's doing it at home, she can take all the time that she needs.

And doctors aren't the worst scribblers, you should try typing up the contemp notes from a policeman's handwritten witness statement. :eek:

moomoomama27

My son is 8, his handwriting is appalling! He is very bright, above average in literacy, numeracy and his reading age is above, yet the child's writing is barely legible! He can do it a bit better if he really try's, but says his brain works faster than his hand!

I don't think handwriting is linked to their ability in all areas! Otherwise DRs shouldn't be bright All children are different, girls tend to have neater handwriting than boys, and develop really well with their handwriting skills at about age 7. Whereas boys take longer.

hawk30

geoffky wrote: »

I am left handed and my hand writing is still bad.
There is a book that has lots of swirls and letter shapes for improving handwriting a teacher got it me many years ago..
At the age of five i would not be too overly concerned and i do think that it may never be perfect,
I can spot a left handed persons handwriting a mile away..
One good thing.Look at how many people in certain professions like acting and doctors are left handed.

I write properly and I'm left-handed. The problems is that some left-handers are taught by right-handed people, who don't realise that the angle of writing, the way you hold the pen and the angle of the paper need to be different to how they write.

Lunar_Eclipse

I have a left handed daughter. She has always had very neat, clear handwriting.

At 5/6, children's handwriting varies enormously. Some can barely write, whilst others are writing beautiful cursive script. I was shocked when I saw how advanced a couple of the boys' writing was in DD1's class when she was in year 1. Interestingly they both had older siblings, although the child with the best handwriting in DD2's class (again a boy so despite what I'd expect, boys have better handwriting in my personal experience) was an only child, and very young for the year. I just think there is a huge spread in handwriting generally (look at adults!) and especially at this age.

If it's legible, I think that's a good sign.

meritaten

age five I think you don't need to worry - if dominant hand skills improve then she will gradually take over using that hand - if not, then she will learn to use the other hand - I lost the use of my right hand (dominant hand) ten years ago for a while - and was amazed at what my left hand could accomplish!

Mrs_Ryan

I'm left handed and all through school my teachers told me off for my bad handwriting - my handwriting is, and always has been, utterly terrible - even at OP's DD's age I struggled badly with handwriting despite the best efforts of my teachers - it didnt help that when I was in secondary school the only other girl in my class who was left handed had absolutely beautifully neat handwriting and it annoyed me when I got the barbed comments about it. In the grand scheme of things, having messy writing at that age really isnt too much of a problem. I can make myself understood in writing when I really try, and even OH who is right handed gets me to write things as he says my writing is neater than his!!

grey_lady

Another left-hander with appalling handwriting - apart from a primary school teacher shouting at me, I don't think its made a difference. Pretty much everything is typed nowadays isn't it?

lolly_896

My Grandad was a leftie, he was taught by "brothers" in Ireland many moons ago and being a leftie wasn't acceptable. So they forced him too write with his right hand.

I can honestly say he had the most beautiful handwriting i've ever seen with his right. It was even better with his left.

I wouldn't even give it a second thought especially at this age.

bestpud

My eldest daughter had awful handwriting at primary school but it was never considered a big problem. Within months of starting secondary school, she was writing beautifully and still is today.

Youngest daughter, age 11, also has poor handwriting but her teachers made a massive issue of it. I'm told the difference is SATS! Apparently handwriting counts. She got to the point she avoided writing as she has various issues going on and began to feel she'd get told off for something, no matter what she did.

Help your daughter with fine motor skills but don't make a big issue of it as it will stilt the flow of her writing. It's far better she is happy to put her ideas on paper at her age.

ETA: both are left handed.

I wrote with both hands until I was around 9 and my teacher got impatient and made me choose a hand. I used to put a plaster on my left hand to remind me not to use it as he would tell me off.

I hope that wouldn't happen these days!