Handwriting dilemma - help!

[Just1-2go]

Can he write fast and legibly in an exam?

Probably not! Fast and legible are definitely not working together at present! The whole presentation is a real mess really, unless he works excruciatingly slowly, his mind ( and mouth!) go very fast so his hand really can't keep up.

I'm still waiting to hear from the school, but he hasn't mentioned any complaints since then and we have been working on exercises to improve fluency and other general things to help his overall presentation.

[Mindset]

As a teacher, I think that the History teacher needs as much support as your son! We have gone a long way since work was marked by how pretty it was (or how much projects weighed... Advice I was given as I trained!)

He should have assessment objectives for the quality of the history, and those should be applied to the work regardless of presentation. Of course he could set a target, or give a separate presentation mark to try to encourage your son to improve week on week, but marking his actual work down just doesn't seem right.

I taught a boy whose page quite literally looked like a page full of splatted daddy long legs. His work took me 10 times longer to decipher and mark than any other child. But the content was always sublime and he was credited for that. As a Mum I'd certainly pursue handwriting schemes, it is very important for exams. But I'd also press for the content to be assessed on its own merits with the school. Good luck! M

[KB]

Agree with the need to communicate with the school - if its not just lack of effort then you need the school on board to be supportive and not critical.

It is possible to improve the handwriting and the school don't have a specialist and you can manage the cost then it might be worth looking at getting a private tutor for a short while.

If you keep a record of all assessements and efforts to improve then the school may allow use of computer for homework and then this can be allowed for exams as well.

Practical suggestions -

writing slope (even if just at home to save embarrassment in class)

learning cursive writing - it will slow then down to start with but its about the long term aim

try getting them to record what they want to write and then playing it back slowly while they write it out -only for homeworks where there are specific marks for handwriting!

have you had a proper eye test done recently?

as mentioned above - try different pens

[Bromleymum1]

Hi all,

For what it's worth, I think that handwriting is a skill that is learnt over a very long period of time. Practice twice a week for 5 or 10 minutes, using a handwriting workbook (you can also buy handwriting exercise books as well, the lines are ruled for practice) - check with school which handwriting style they use, probably cursive.

[whichwitch]

I feel your pain. Both my boys have had appalling handwriting. My now Yr9 son suddenly became neater in Yr6. My son in yr5 has worse handwriting than many of his classmates did in yr1! Nothing seems to work, no amount of handwriting practice, fine motor skill excersizes not a darned thing!

[doodles]

My previously illegible Yr9 left hander can now turn out a pretty fair script. My Yr6 right hander seems to be in the running for "least number of words on a line" prize and his writing is atrocious.

Both have / had brains that work faster than their hands DS1 has just managed to learn to control things a bit better. DS2 has yet to learn this skill and his letters range from huge to minute but they are all beautifully joined up!!!!!!

I think practice and age count for a lot and also a good pen. Both of them write a lot better in fountain pen than biro - don't know why, perhaps ink pens slow you down naturallly. Both have Lamy Safari's which were very reasonable on A....n, the funny looking staedetler left or right handed pen is also another good one and seems to put the hand in a good writing position.

[DIY Mum]

Hand writing is a skill and a lot of problems stem from either not knowing the correct movement of each letter (or knowing the point of exit which helps to join letters up), poor posture, SEN issues like dyspraxia or directional problems which is often the case of left handers.

How is he on the family of letters ? Does he form them correctly?

1. i l t u y j
2. r n m h b p k
3. c a d g q o e
4. s f v w x z

It's really important they get that bit right first. I've noticed that where some children have handwriting issues in Y6, it stemmed from the basics. For example, couldn't form a 'd' properly (by starting off like a c- then go up and down with a point of exit) which was why they were unable to join letters properly, and this has an effect on posture too.

There's a good book byRosemary Sassoon - lovely lady and reading it does help.

[Amber]

My DH, a long way past Year 7, still has writing like the ECG trace of someone with a severe and possibly terminal arrhythmia. He can't even decipher his own shopping lists, leading to lengthy shopping trips and a collection of unwanted items in our cupboards, as well as a shortage of things we do need, especially when they have the letters 'l' or 'e' or 's' in them. I keep trying to take comfort from this (the man has managed to live a normal life, become independent of carers etc, and even hold down a job) as I look at my son's unquestionable regression into baby writing. Shocked that the school haven't contacted me yet; in fact when an envelope with 'parent or guardian of..' came home the other day, I took it to one side to open it, assuming This Was It.
DS2: 'why did you open the raffle tickets in the toilet?'.

Eta that DH's problems seem to straddle all 3 of your letter 'families', DIY Mum. Oh dear.

[doodles]

My DH, a long way past Year 7, still has writing like the ECG trace of someone with a severe and possibly terminal arrhythmia. He can't even decipher his own shopping lists......

I think our husbands must have been in the same class

[purplegirl]

There's a good book byRosemary Sassoon - lovely lady and reading it does help.

Both my DDs have handwritting issues. At primary school their handwriting changed over each year and not necessarily for the better, it seemed to depend on which teacher they had. I worry that their poor handwriting (especially younger DD with different sized letters, not on the line, babyish etc) could be a problem with future exams, as when underpressure of time/stress the legibility decreases. As previously pointed out this seems to run in the family as neither DH or myself have the neatest (or sometimes legible) handwriting.
So....Just bought a copy of "Improve Your Handwriting: Teach Yourself" by Rosemary Sassoon....I'm going to try it on myself and see if I come up with any ideas to help DDs. Thanks DIY Mum for recommending this author.