Second grader messy handwriting

amother

Tue, Apr 30 2019, 4:46 pm

How can I help my second grader learn to write neater? Her english and hebrew teachers both keep commenting that her writing is messy and often make her rewrite things. I don't think it's messy enough for them to be making her feel bad about, and she often comes home crying upset about the comments. She is a great student and does well in school otherwise. I think she just writes very quickly and doesn't take the time to perfect her loops and lines. Any ideas on what I can do to help her with this? I have suggested she write slower, sharpen her pencils more often ect... but she says she tries all that and it doesn't make a difference.

Just a side note I did a lot of research on handwriting issues and she does not have any issues based on all the various sites I have visited. All her words are clear, letters correct, finished sentences etc... they just aren't super neat.

amother

Burgundy

Tue, Apr 30 2019, 5:41 pm

An OT might be able to give specific suggestions such as a certain type of pencil grip or the right way to put pressure on the pencil or how to hold the paper.
That said, I work in a public school and OTs don't really do much for handwriting any more ( probably because they figure in the long run it won't matter as much as keyboarding skills). But one of my students with really atrocious handwriting benefitted from a slant board, aka propping up a loose leaf binder when writing. Also, some of my students with the worst handwriting ended up doing really well with cursive once I taught it (I teach second grade).

amother

Floralwhite

Tue, Apr 30 2019, 5:47 pm

I'm not an expert, just a mom.

I paid 10 cents a page for my daughter to complete an aleph bais lettering workbook.

Summer is coming. She can write cards or letters to grandparents, cousins in camp. She knows they want to see her neat handwriting.
...and some will write back!

You can buy her some nice gel pens and she can learn lettering from youtube. It's a thing.
It'll slow her down and her cards will look gorgeous.

ETA dont fuss too much about it. Make it fun.
I'm sure all teachers have great handwriting. Maybe shell be a doctor.

amother

Dodgerblue

Tue, Apr 30 2019, 5:48 pm

I agree. A pro can help. I still suffer from my horrible handwriting. She should try hold slanty the sheet or notebook for yiddish and english. For one of the 2 it will will help loads if she is like me. For me was too late to get used to this habbit but if she feels it writer more comfy and its nicer she will know that in this specific language this is what she needs to do. I was too old when a leftie explained this to me.

Eureka!

Tue, Apr 30 2019, 6:16 pm

I have a messy handwriting and they drived me crazy in elementary school. I got writing books to make in the hollidays, I was taken out of the class privatly to practice my handwriting, my mum bought me the most expensive ergonomic pencils, etc. But appearantly I'm a lost case cuz all of that didn't help very much.

But who cares?! I can write, it's not very neat but fine! It didn't effect my studying or anythign else. I'm getting my degree soon and life is amazing b''H.

amother

Teal

Tue, Apr 30 2019, 8:04 pm

My family loves Handwriting Without Tears! The method was developed by an OT and really works. We followed the instructions exactly and my child's handwriting improved dramatically almost immediately. We used it for both print and cursive. (No affiliation, not advertising, just a happy mom and kid).

amother

Black

Tue, Apr 30 2019, 9:35 pm

amother [ Teal ] wrote:

Can you please elaborate? I’d love to hear more about it.

amother

Teal

Tue, Apr 30 2019, 10:11 pm

amother [ Black ] wrote:

Can you please elaborate? I’d love to hear more about it.

Here ya go:

https://www.lwtears.com/hwt/details

My child started HWT by age 5, and used the small slate along with the workbook. There is a small symbol in one corner of the slate to help the student orient the letters up/down and right/left. The slate is also used for the wet-dry-try technique. We do not have experience with the larger lined blackboard, which I think is a more recent addition. The program comes with a script for the parent or teacher to follow that emphasizes clear, consistent language.