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My ds is having trouble forming his letters in the correct way as described in A Reason For Handwriting. For instance when he writes the lowercase "a" instead of doing one motion without lifting up his pencil, he will draw a circle, stop, and then draw a line to form the letter. His handwriting is better when I let him write it the way he wants, but I have been insisting he follow the exact directions which has him ending up in tears by the time we finish a lesson. Is this something I should worry about? Should I just let him write his letters the way he wants as long as they are neat and look like they are supposed to or continue to make him form them correctly?

How old is he? My daughter is 5.5 and in 1st grade. Last year, I was just happy we got all of the letters looking basically right. This year I am working more on correct letter formation. But, her a's are still two steps - just like b's, d's, etc. I personally don't think that part is a big deal. When they learn cursive, the one stroke I think will come...

He turned five in May. I'm a perfectionist lol so I have a hard time watching him form the letters incorrectly even though the end result is the same. Maybe I'm being too hard on him? He can make them correctly with me standing right by him but if he thinks I'm not watching he will do it the opposite way and then cry and whine if I have him erase it and do it again.

I think the earlier you can get them into good habits the better. One stroke for a letter will help him so much as he moves on in handwriting, especially when you get to cursive. If you let him get into the habit of doing it differently now he might always do it that way. It's not a HUGE deal or something to cause major problems for. But I would talk to him and say "this is the way you are supposed to make the letter 'a' so you need to practice doing it right every single time." Then I would not leave his side or stop watching while he is making them (this is difficult when you have other children I know). When I was talking about my oldest DDs handwriting problems Julie had a suggestion about giving a small reward every time it was done right (an M&M or something). That could change the tone of your whole handwriting lesson! Anyway, be creative and try to find ways to encourage him when he does it right. Star stickers, positive words, hugs, however you think would really speak to him.

If handwriting is an all-around struggle maybe you need to back off on how much you are having him do. ARFH requires them to do a lot of repetition, but doing too much at a very young age is one way to turn them off on it forever. Ask me how I know. With my 2nd, I have her do as much as she can do WELL in a short time period. If she's getting burned out on it we reduce the number. Maybe that's your ticket. Tell him if he does them correctly he can do fewer. I have done that with my oldest with good effect. Also I don't make them erase and redo unless it just looks hideous. I say "okay now let's do the rest better." Above all take stock of what you are doing and how it is affecting his attitude. It is far more important for him to learn to do it right than to fill up the whole line with "a"s. Just a very short practice of doing it the right way is more valuable than quantity.

I hope this helps.

I agree with Melissa. I didn't focus on the right way to do letters enough when my dc were younger and I think their handwriting now suffers because of it. It might seem faster and easier to him now, but in the long run the correct formation will help him to write easier and more quickly. It doesn't seem like a big deal now when you are writing one letter, but when you get to writing sentences and paragraphs, an extra step on each letter will really add up in time and make the dc tire more quickly in writing. I agree too that quality is way more important than quantity and helping him have a positive attitude towards handwriting through encouragement and rewards is great.

I wouldn't make him erase and redo, unless he did it in defiance. Melinkansas gave good advice, and that is more like what we do.
My ds6 doesn't seem to grasp "correct," and goes for "easy". His handwriting is very good and his letters are normal and not huge, so we are taking our time now on learning correct formation. It will come, even if it seems like forever.

Thank you ladies very much! I tend to overdo some things and I'm glad to know that this isn't one of them. I will definitely try your suggestions Melissa....I think the "reward" for each letter formed correctly might work wonderfully!