Help with handwriting.

Hannibal_Smith

My youngest son has very poor writing. His problem is, he hasn't selected a hand yet, so he'll swap between the two. The teacher has told us that this means he hasn't developed the muscles in one hand enough to be able to control the pencil properly.

I was always aware of his hand swapping but thought these days you wait and let them decide themselves which hand they will choose. It's apparently taken too long now though and the teacher is becoming concerned.

We're coming to the end of the year now and we've done so many exercises with him at home. I've bought copy books, books with erasable markers, colouring books everything. But he still will swap hands and sometimes it could be for every word.

Has anyone got any tips on what we do next, aside from tying one hand behind his back 1960s style (joke ) . Do we just leave him be and it will sort itself out eventually? Have any teachers come across this before and seen it work itself out?.

purplecow1977

Try throwing a ball to him to see what hand he opts to catch it with and throw it back to you.
What hand does he eat with?
I would try to focus more on developing his fine motor skills before concentrating solely on the writing.
Get him to pick up grains of rice with tweezers, threading activities etc to help him develop his strength.

byhookorbycrook

What age is he? How are his motor skills in general- can he use a knife and fork correctly, tie buttons, pick up small objects between thumb and forefinger?

Hannibal_Smith

purplecow1977 wrote: »

Try throwing a ball to him to see what hand he opts to catch it with and throw it back to you.
What hand does he eat with?
I would try to focus more on developing his fine motor skills before concentrating solely on the writing.
Get him to pick up grains of rice with tweezers, threading activities etc to help him develop his strength.

I will try these. Thanks for the tips. I would have thought he would have done this in montessori which is why I never considered them. But you're right. I should give them a go again.

Hannibal_Smith

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

What age is he? How are his motor skills in general- can he use a knife and fork correctly, tie buttons, pick up small objects between thumb and forefinger?

Motorola skills are fine otherwise. Buttons, zips, knife and fork are grand. To be honest he is long sighted and has a turn in both eyes (which will be operated on and fixed before the summer hopefully) which means he will look out of one eye at a time. Ive wondered a few times whether this is the cause, but the teachers and doctors say no. He's 5. Only in Junior Infants so not as if he's heading for leaving cert

Hannibal_Smith

byhookorbycrook wrote: »

What age is he? How are his motor skills in general- can he use a knife and fork correctly, tie buttons, pick up small objects between thumb and forefinger?

Motor skills are fine otherwise. Buttons, zips, knife and fork are grand. To be honest he is long sighted and has a turn in both eyes (which will be operated on and fixed before the summer hopefully) which means he will look out of one eye at a time. Ive wondered a few times whether this is the cause, but the teachers and doctors say no. He's 5. Only in Junior Infants so not as if he's heading for leaving cert

purplecow1977

Hannibal_Smith wrote: »

I will try these. Thanks for the tips. I would have thought he would have done this in montessori which is why I never considered them. But you're right. I should give them a go again.

When I taught Junior Infants, we'd have spent a considerable amount of time on these at the start of the year as pre - writing activities, and for any child who needed a bit more time before picking up a crayon!

Hannibal_Smith

purplecow1977 wrote: »

When I taught Junior Infants, we'd have spent a considerable amount of time on these at the start of the year as pre - writing activities, and for any child who needed a bit more time before picking up a crayon!

It'll be no harm to continue doing them. Thanks again for the tips.

purplecow1977

Hannibal_Smith wrote: »

It'll be no harm to continue doing them. Thanks again for the tips.

https://www.activityvillage.co.uk/animal-lacing-cards Animal lacing cards

byhookorbycrook

Here's a list that you might find useful.

1) Pick up and sort objects such as blocks, spools, coins, beans, marbles, cotton balls, pins, buttons, straws, nails, nuts, bolts, popcorn and place them into containers of varying sizes. (Egg cartons, cups, mugs, or jars etc.)

2) Pick up objects (blocks, cotton balls, counters, etc.) using tongs transferring them between containers

3) Stack objects

4) Screw and unscrew objects such as nuts and bolts, caps from jars

5) String beads onto a shoelace

6) Run a threaded needle through cloth

7) Fasten safety pins

8) Cut straight and curved lines/shapes drawn on paper, or cloth with scissors

9) Play the piano

10) Type

11) Crumple paper in a small ball and then flick it with the index finger, you can make "goals" to play mini-football!

12) Shuffle cards, deal cards one by one, turn cards over

13) Roll a pencil between thumb and fingers without dropping it

14) Knead dough

15) Stick small objects into play dough for him/her to pull out

16) Wind thread on a spool evenly

17) Put rubber bands around various size containers and objects

18) Use tweezers to pick up small objects

19) Move spoonfuls of small objects from one bowl to another

20) Do up buttons, zippers, or hooks

21) Tie shoelaces

22) Cut finger and toenails with clippers

23) Trace and copy letters

24) Do connect the dot puzzles

25) Solve mazes

26) Manually sharpen pencils

27) Use a manual can opener

28) Tie a box with string or ribbon

29) Put keys into locks to open doors

30) Put paper clips onto paper

31) Use a stapler

32) Remove staples with a staple remover

33) Place clothespins on the edge of a box or container , help to hang out and bring in the clothes too!

34) Play the tin-whistle!

35) Set a watch or clock

36) Pick up or move marbles using a melon baller. This could be made into a game - i.e. take turns rolling a die. Whatever number turns up, pick up that number of "marbles" and place them into an egg carton.

37) Use Lego to form shapes, letters, numbers, and other designs.

38) Colour using the flat side of a crayon. Put paper over leaves, stencils, and other objects so that the child gets sensory feedback as s/he colours.

39) Make a matching game (pictures, letters, or numbers) using a coffee can and clothes pins. Have your child put the clothes pegs on the rim of the can.

40) Use sprayer bottles filled with water and sponges to have the child "clean" a desk or table, then squeeze the excess water into a basin. This is a great pre-scissor skill activity.

41) Lace various sized beads. Any activity involving the use of both hands is good to develop bilateral integration.

42) Put money into a piggy bank.

43) Using eye droppers to "pick up” water for colour mixing or to make artistic designs on paper.

44) Rolling small balls out of tissue paper, and then gluing the balls onto construction paper to form pictures or designs.

45) Turning over cards, coins or buttons, without bringing them to the edge of the table.

46) Drawing in a tactile medium such as wet sand, salt, rice, or "goop". Make "goop" by adding water to cornstarch until you have a mixture similar in consistency to toothpaste. The "drag" of this mixture provides feedback to the muscle and joint receptors, thus facilitating visual motor control.

47) Attach a large piece of drawing paper to the wall. Have the child use a large marker and try the following exercises to develop visual motor skills: Have the child trace over your line from left to right, or from top to bottom. Trace each figure at least 10 times. Then have the child draw the figure next to your model several times.

48) Play connect the dots. Again make sure the child's strokes connect dots from left to right, and from top to bottom.

49) Trace around stencils - the non-dominant hand should hold the stencil flat and stable against the paper, while the dominant hand pushes the pencil firmly against the edge of the stencil. The stencil must be held firmly.

50) Attach a large piece of felt to the wall, or use a felt board. The child can use felt shapes to make pictures. Magnetic boards can be used the same way.

51) Have the child work on a chalkboard, using chalk instead of a marker. Do the same kinds of tracing and modelling activities as suggested above.

52) Paint at an easel. Some of the modelling activities as suggested above can be done at the easel.

53) Play “throw and catch” with a ball. Start with a large ball and work toward a smaller ball. (Sponge balls are easier to catch than a tennis ball.)

54) Practice hitting mini plastic bowling pins with a ball. (You can purchase these games or make your own with plastic bottles and a small ball.)

55) Make GOO GLOVES! Take a rubber examining glove and put a table spoon of finger paint in the glove. Next fill the glove ? full with white PVA glue. Tie the end of the glove off. Wash off any glue or paint that might have gotten on the outside of the glove. Then you put another glove on the original and tie. This will give it extra protection. Squeeze the glove and work together the glue and paint until it is one solid colour.

purplecow1977

What an excellent list.
Makes my one recommendation very weak!

byhookorbycrook

Can't claim credit , PurpleCow, found it online a few years back and kept. Copy for parents .

Hannibal_Smith

Thank you so much guys! That's fantastic help!

Hannibal_Smith

Just wanted to post an update here...not for any other reason other than to share my own joy really

But we borrowed a lot of ideas from this thread and byhook's post. Did cutting exercises, threading, only he zipped up his coat, did lots and lots of colouring, making sure he concentrated on the left and, join the dots letters, tracing and when he got tired, he took a break rather than swapping hands.

Anyhow, for a boy who couldn't control a pencil back in May, he's sitting here writing a letter to Santa with fully formed legible letters!

Thanks again for all the advice!

byhookorbycrook

Delighted for you both! And I'm sure Santa will be leaving a note to comment on the lovely writing

heldel00

I printed off byhook's fantastic list to give to a parent at PT meeting last night (child's writing is atrocious). Parent refused it, politely I might add, but left me sitting with my mouth hanging open in shock!

Hannibal_Smith

heldel00 wrote: »

I printed off byhook's fantastic list to give to a parent at PT meeting last night (child's writing is atrocious). Parent refused it, politely I might add, but left me sitting with my mouth hanging open in shock!

Get outta here!!!! :eek: Well as a parent of a child in May who wrote an S in three different strokes, to borrowing byhook's advice and obviously help from the teacher, he's writing fully formed letters. In a matter if months. When he was colouring, he coloured in dots, now he's not far off colouring in the lines!

heldel00

Hannibal_Smith wrote: »

Get outta here!!!! :eek: Well as a parent of a child in May who wrote an S in three different strokes, to borrowing byhook's advice and obviously help from the teacher, he's writing fully formed letters. In a matter if months. When he was colouring, he coloured in dots, now he's not far off colouring in the lines!

I honestly couldn't believe it. He's in first class and i read through all the tips and highlighted the ones that I considered more suitable for older children - shuffling cards, opening closing safety pins etc.... but no joy!
Thankfully this wouldn't be considered a common occurrence and most parents would only be too happy to help.
Well done to your son and you. Your interest and persistence paid off.