Frustrated with Handwriting!

[wisdom4us]

I'm very frustrated with my ds right now. He's "suppose" to be in 2nd grade and his handwriting is awful! "They" say that boys do not like writing and their handwriting is not as nice as girls but that's not the problem! He struggles with the size of his letters still, spacing and how to write them. We are using HWT and it must not be working. He likes for me to write his copywork on the chalk board. I just can't do this. I'm ready to give up.... Seriously, what else is out there that can help him? He struggles with reading too, math he is great at except he hasn't memorized his add/subtraction facts yet but if I give him time he can do the math in his head looking at his fingers. He doesn't use his fingers, he just looks at them. I guess it's a visual learner thing!

I don't know if he's lazy, just not applying himself or he expects me to do everything for him or if he really has a problem that needs addressing. When do you know it's time for someone to step in?

Oh, we are using the right side of Bigger now and he does the left side of Little Hearts with his younger twin brothers.

[Anna]

your ds sounds a lot like my "supposed to be in 2nd grade" dd! my dd has tremors and eye problems that cause her issues, but still.... I am in the same boat as you as far as trying to figure out what to do. we also use HWT, and my daughter understands math, but the facts escape her no matter how much drill we do. I have her doing 2 math programs right now, one that is a drilling program, and Singapore... I do 3/4 of the writing in of answers that she figures out because handwriting is such a struggle. we deal with both poor legibility and reversals. ughh... I feel your frustrations!

my husband and I just discussed all of this yesterday (I think it is because I had a chance to step back and evaluate our home school situation over Christmas break!) instead of handwriting, we are going to start teaching her how to type. i found a program for 7yrs+ called "Typing Instructor for Kids 3." It is a CD-ROM that teaches typing through games. for handwriting I am going to have her draw a picture a couple of times a week and write a short sentence about it, so that it is interesting and applicable to her passions. right now, she is really into american girl dolls, so we'll probably have a lot of pictures/sentences pertaining to dolls! my younger son breezes through handwriting... but if it was him, I'm sure a lot of sentences would pertain to spiderman, king david, and other boy faves! my goal is not to ditch handwriting, but to focus on typing, which she'll need to know due to her fine motor disabilities.

also, instead of 2 math programs we found a product called "The Quarter Mile Math Series," which is also a CD-ROM. You can read about it on-line. But essentially you race yourself in math races... pretty much modern day flash cards! You can be a horse or a race car and try to beat your previous time. I figure this will prevent the frustration felt between my dd and I as it will take me out of the equation in the drilling math, and she always requests computer time! Hopefully, presented as a game, the math facts will stick!!

I don't know if that helps.... just what we will be doing with a similar situation.

May God give you clarity and peace as you continue to love and teach your ds!

Anna

[Carrie]

Summer,

I just want to encourage you that little boys can take quite awhile to come along in the handwriting department, and it does take baby steps to get them consistently moving in the right direction.

We also tried Handwriting Without Tears with my oldest son, and our experience was similar in that it caused him to write very large (and it was not a pretty style of handwriting). After several years, we finally switched to A Reason for Writing, which had smaller lines. Eventually his printing got smaller too.

Charlotte-Mason is of the philosophy that one or two letters (or words) written perfectly are better than an entire line of sloppily made letters (or words). I agree wholeheartedly with this! So, this is another thing we did. We had our oldest son only write each letter or word once, but required it to be done very well. If it wasn't done well, we had him write one more next to it. Also, at the end of each handwriting session, we had him circle his best letter or word. This helped him "see" his own writing for what it was and helped him begin to "seek out" those words written neatly.

Unless kiddos have issues which prevent them writing, the only way to improve writing to actually write in small doses each day. A little progress each day is better than a sporadic day of writing practice here and there. I would advise using "A Reason for Writing 'A', doing a little each day. This program also has decorated sheets in the back of the book to write the verse on and give to someone. I always had my kiddos do their best work on that part, and then we mailed them to relatives (providing a reason for the writing).

It will come over time.

Blessings,
Carrie

[wisdom4us]

Thank you Anna and Carrie.

Carrie, I did *try* A Reason For Handwriting last year with him but he did not care for it but at the time I was making him complete the entire lesson, not follow Charlotte Mason's philosophy on that one. I was probably too quick to push it aside because I wanted to instill in him a "love for learning" and thought I needed to find the program he "loved". But I have come to find out that he does not and probably will never "love" to write. So back to a handwriting program we go.

What are your thoughts on the Italic series? I already have book B that's why I'm asking. I gave away our A Reason for Handwriting so I would need to purchase another book but I may anyways and order those for his brothers also but would like to here your opinion on Italic - it's big with other Charlotte Mason fans.

[funkmomma71]

I just thought that I would throw my two cents in...my dd also struggled at first with handwriting practice, she requested to write whole words rather than indiviual letters. So, I purchased the StartWrite computer program which allows me to make my own worksheets. We use the HWOT font, and I make worksheets that relate to her phonics program, with words and sentences. She still doesn't "love" handwriting but she has made great strides since switching to this type of method. There is also the promise that as long as she tries her best she will be allowed to do handwriting practice in this manner but if she gets lazy it is back to the workbook. That has been a good motivator.

[Carrie]

Summer,

If you already own Italic that would work fine too. I know many moms on the board use it and like it very much. Just make sure that you do the more CM-style of practicing writing and are systematic with a little bit done well each day. Then, you'll make progress no matter which program you use. You could probably even continue with HWT, if you change the way you use it each day. However I do think that a prettier font with a smaller size is helpful for making handwriting more appealing. For what it's worth, my other kiddos' handwriting are both much neater and appealing than my oldest son's, who spent several years in HWT.

StartWrite is another program that would work too. I've heard wonderful things about it from the ladies on the board. You may end up finding that with reluctant writers it's often the method that makes the difference rather than the actual program.

We are so blessed to have the chance to share ideas on the board. Both Anna and funkmomma71 were so kind to share their wisdom too!

Blessings,
Carrie

[wisdom4us]

Wouldn't you know it that today when he was writing his spelling words he didn't have trouble writing! Well, he did write his b for d but other than that he did really well. I was just sending my sil bragging on him when I received your reply Carrie. Like I told her, sometimes those attitudes creep in and we don't even realize. See today I was sitting beside him while he was doing spelling. The other day, he was working independently. I am still going to give him practice though in one of those handwriting books just to help with consistency.

Thank you Carrie. This board is the best about helping out!