7 year old with handwriting issues

mustbemad

Hi everyone,

I am so desperate for any help / advice anyone could offer!

My little boy is 7, he is an august baby in year 3 so he is one of the youngest in year 3 and his handwriting is atrocious :sad:

As well as being very young for year 3, he also has very hyper mobile finger joints, his grip is very weak as his fingers bend back a tremendous amount. We have been working with occupational therapy to try and improve this but obviously it's not going to be a quick process. He now has a pencil gripper which at least keeps his fingers from being bent backwards when he holds his pencil.

The main problem is letter formation or more to the point, lack of letter formation! My sons school expects the children to use a joined up cursive style but from what I can see they don't actually spend any time practising it! My little boy joins up but because his letter formation is so wrong and his joins are in the wrong place the little he actually gets on paper is just an unreadable squiggle :sad: I have been trying to go back to basics with him, I even taught myself cursive so I could try to teach him! No matter how much we practise forming letters, when it comes to writing words he just reverts to the unreadable squiggles that he has been using all along. What I need is a clean slate but how can I get him to forget all he has learnt over the last 3 years :sad:

I really hope someone can help me with this, I am at the end of my rope!

MBM x

Maysie

My son is 10 and only recently got the hypermobility in his fingers diagnosed. His handwriting is pretty unreadable most of the time. I did have him not doing so much joining up and i think it looked better but the school but the school told him he had to do joined up. We never got on with the pencil grip things. We got a pen thats banana shaped recently that he seems to like. Also he has a perspex thing he uses to put his book on at a slight angle. I cannot think what its called but the school got it for him.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stabilo-B-19156-10-EASYoriginal-Right-Blue/dp/B001QCGOKG/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386330428&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=stabilo+pen+hypermobility

this one. I think i paid £3.50 in wilkos so thats a good price. O a tip read the instructions before you stick the pen lid down the wrong hole lol

mustbemad

Maysie wrote: »

My son is 10 and only recently got the hypermobility in his fingers diagnosed. His handwriting is pretty unreadable most of the time. I did have him not doing so much joining up and i think it looked better but the school but the school told him he had to do joined up. We never got on with the pencil grip things. We got a pen thats banana shaped recently that he seems to like. Also he has a perspex thing he uses to put his book on at a slight angle. I cannot think what its called but the school got it for him.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stabilo-B-19156-10-EASYoriginal-Right-Blue/dp/B001QCGOKG/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386330428&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=stabilo+pen+hypermobility

this one. I think i paid £3.50 in wilkos so thats a good price. O a tip read the instructions before you stick the pen lid down the wrong hole lol

Thank you, I will have a look for one of those! I have tried to get my little boy to forget about joining for now but he gets so upset and refuses because the school expect it.

MBM x

starnight_2

My ds also has hypermobility in his finger joints and wrong letter formation. He really struggled with cursive writing so I told the school not to bother teaching him. They were fine with that. Ds is 11 now, his handwriting isn't brilliant but it is legible now.

Pic believe you can buy handwriting practice booklets, I used to download off the internet and have ds practice those, especially over summer when he probably wouldn't write as much. I also got him to write short stories, only 2 or 3 paragraphs once a month.

skylight

I bought pens and A4 pads for my kids. I just let the doodle/write whatever they like in them and encourage them to do it often.
Its just for practice and the more they practice the better they will eventually become.

On top of that, I would get the handwriting books too and sit with him even for only 10 minutes a night. And I wouldn't be making him do cursive at this stage either and would make sure that his teacher was more than well aware that cursive is beyond his capabilities right now.

Mojisola

mustbemad wrote: »

As well as being very young for year 3, he also has very hyper mobile finger joints, his grip is very weak as his fingers bend back a tremendous amount. We have been working with occupational therapy to try and improve this but obviously it's not going to be a quick process. He now has a pencil gripper which at least keeps his fingers from being bent backwards when he holds his pencil.

The main problem is letter formation or more to the point, lack of letter formation! My sons school expects the children to use a joined up cursive style but from what I can see they don't actually spend any time practising it!

As well as doing what you can at home - get on to the school. They are failing your son if they are not implementing remedial measures with him. That's what they've trained for and are paid for!

z.n

Probably butting in here as my DS does not have hypermobility. However, at birth his back was bent and this ultimately (we think) caused problems with writing. He struggled to hold the pencil properly and until recently would poke pencil/pens right through the paper as he could not control the pressure. He was also extremely slow (really, really slow) at writing (neat though). On investigation we found out he was the only child in year 3 unable to do a wheelbarrow-apparently a good indicator of the muscle groups needed for writing. His fingers are also unduly bendy but it never occurred to me this might be contributing-they just look a bit odd to me.

So in addition to practicing writing we tried to get his general co-ordination better-ball games, swimming, quick reaction snap type card games. Balancing for core strength etc.

On the actual writing front we found a comfortable grip and then practiced things like wiggly lines/writing hundreds of S's against a timer/zigzags within a line/racing to draw 20 loops/drawing a pattern to fill an entire page without lifting pen from paper etc. I got some ideas from "Speed Up, A kinaesthetic programme to develop fluent handwriting." The rest I made up as any time spent getting control of a pencil was helpful. All this without having to actually write a word-just practice moving and controlling the pencil. School were also asked to stop insisting on joined up writing and that took some pressure off him. It took time but by Year 8/9 he was comfortable writing cursive at slow but acceptable speed and now in Year 11 he seems to be absolutely fine. He still keeps it short and sweet though.

keep_flyin

Both my children are hypermobile, particularly in their fingers. When we got OT support for handwriting for the oldest (now 16) we were told at 12 it was too late to do anything to help. I would ask for help now before the poor pen grip etc has really set in. Those Stabilo pens are good as well as they encourage the correct grip. Both my children are now not expected to handwrite, they use laptops.

Another thing that may be useful is getting your son to write on squared paper this helps with size and spacing.

JimmyTheWig

You need to agree a joint approach with school.
If his teachers say he has to do cursive then he will want to do cursive.
If they've got reasons for why it would be better for him (him specifically, rather than children in general) to do cursive then listen to them. They might be able to tell you something that we don't know.
But if you and school agree that cursive is causing him problems then agree that he shouldn't do it for now. His teachers can then tell him that (as can you) and he should be able to make progress.

mustbemad wrote: »

No matter how much we practise forming letters, when it comes to writing words he just reverts to the unreadable squiggles that he has been using all along.

Maybe after practising forming letters you could move on to practising forming pairs of letters? Then move on to practising words?


If he is getting bored with practising writing, you don't have to do it with pen/pencil and paper. Why not get the paints out and get him writing with them? Or writing with his finger in shaving foam or sand or a corn flour mixture? At 7 things need to be fun. Make writing fun.

mustbemad

Thank you all for the help so far, it helps to know my little boy is not the only person to struggle and there is light at the end of the tunnel!

There have been some good suggestions that I will definitely be putting in to practice

I know myself it's hard adapting to a different writing style, I am still a joined cursive learner myself! Sometimes when I am sat with my pen poised trying to work out how to join my letters cursively I think it would be so much easier to just revert to printing. I'm not surprised it's difficult for him but I just wish he would try!

H x

marisco_2

I am a primary teacher. Children wont learn if they feel pressured and worried. As your son is struggling so much with letter formation he needs to go right back to basics. There are a number of things his teachers and yourself can do to improve your sons ability to write.

Ask the school for sheets that show you exactly how to form each letter. Do away with the pencil and get him practising forming letters in sand, soapy water, shaving foam, rice etc. The sensation of touch will help instil the letters shape in his brain.

Encourage your son to do air writing, where he holds out whichever hand he writes with and points his finger, then forms the letter in the air. Have him sit in front of you and use your finger to draw a letter in the correct way on his back. You can do the same on the top of his hand.

When he feels more confidant and at ease ask the school for a white board and a marker pen. These are easier to grip and children can form letters using less pressure than is required with a pencil. Then try rainbow writing, where you write the letter in a bright colour and he writes over it. As his ability improves just get him to write the letter by himself. Start off with him doing this with his eyes open and then get him to try it with eyes shut.

Move on to using a thick drawing pencil as again these are easier to grip and leave a darker impression than a normal standard pencil.

Does your sons school have him in a fine motor group weekly? This would benefit him. Ask the teacher for advice on building his arm and finger muscles. This should be covered in P.E but you could also extend this at home. Many schools use the 'handwriting without tears' exercises. Find out if this is available at your sons school.

I hope this helps. Do speak to your child's teacher or the Senco, they are there to advise and support you and your child.