What kinds of activities can be done to improve a 3rd graders writing? He has always had difficulty forming his letters neatly.
Re: Handwriting
There is a good program called Handwriting Without Tears, used by many Occupational Therapists to teach letter formation and the connections between the letters. It is comfortable for most kids. I agree with Sara that some people are nt necessarily wired to have good handwriting but I guess I am more hopeful that most folkss are able to produce at least legible writing over the short term. I don’t have a address for HWOT- but someone will. If not- I will go looking.
Robin
Re: Handwriting
Amen to this! If handwriting does not show significant improvement by fourth grade, there is little chance that the person will ever really be comfortable using it as a means of expressing knowledge, even if it may be possible to show some additional gains in neatness after that point. Keyboarding can help children who are not, and will not ever be, fluent hand-writers. Dysgraphia, in all its many forms, is one of the least remediable of the LDs. If the only problem is fine motor control, typing can be a lifesaver. If there are additional difficulties with spelling, idea generation, organization, etc., there are many software choices that can also help. As the parent of a kid with handwriting issues from day one, who received OT from age 4 up to the present (age 10), and who tried lots of different programs, including HWT, I can honestly say that the only thing that has made it easier for my son to express himself in writing is the use of a keyboard, organizational and word prediction software. Yes, his handwriting has improved, but he can never really show all that he knows if he must use a pencil rather than a keyboard. Handwriting is a useful tool for those who are able to do it, and we all have to be able to read handwriting (our own and that of other people), but I believe it is more important to focus on remediating problems in the content of written expression rather than on improving the appearance of handwriting.
Andrea
Re: Handwriting
In addition to all of the excellent advice previously given, I’d add some fine motor skill building techniques my son has used in O.T. for difficulties with handwriting. Mazes, dot-to-dots, wiggle/doodle pens, tops, and experimentation with mechanical pencils are all worth giving a try. Some kids have an easier time with double-lined, or even raised, paper to help with handwriting. My son practices writing, but is moving towards using keyboarding more and more to complete school assignments. Each child is different, so I’d keep experimenting until you find what works best in your situation.
Re: Handwriting
I would also recommend Handwriting Without Tears. I did the cursive HWT program with my son during the summer after 3rd grade and it made a real difference in his handwriting. While he still writes slowly and has an incorrect grip, his writing has been very legible since he completed HWT.
HWT is a simple and inexpensive program. It only takes 5-10 minutes/day, but I would start early in the summer so that you can complete it before school begins. You can purchase the manual and the workbook from the site listed in one of the other responses below.
I also agree that it is important to develop good keyboarding skills. My son used Read Write and Type for that purpose. Keyboarding certainly makes certain tasks, like report writing so much easier, and it is a skill they obviously need as they go thru school and beyond. However, I have found that my son still has to write quite a bit by hand while at school (at least in the midddle grades) so I would work on improving handwriting at this age as well as developing keyboarding skills..
Some people are not “programmed” to have neat handwriting. Handwriting is highly individualized and is an expression of a thousand things. In my experience, it usually doesn’t respond to practice.
It can respond to a little work with a good occupational therapist all of whom are trained to work with fine motor skills. Very poor handwriting is usually thought to mean just that - an underlying issue, however small, with fine motor skills.
I’ve seen some handwriting improve with age but more often I tell my students with bad handwriting to learn to type.
A quick fix kind of effort at solution is to purchase a thick-barreled pencil or pen or to put a “gripper” on the pencil. I’ve seen that do wonders for some childrens’ writing.
Good luck.