[jamie3]

Ryan will be 5 in May, but he is having a lot of trouble learning to write anything. He can barely make a recognizable circle or R. Anyone have any tips on improving writing or hand/eye coordination?

[lucyjoy]

My youngest used pencil grips that were designed for finger placement. We got them at a toy/novelty store, but the school district had them, also.

Also, you might want to get his eyes checked by a developmental optomitrist. Tell them you want to see if the eyes are tracking together. I had a child whose eyes tested fine one at a time, but they weren't working together so the brain got mixed signals making reading and writing next to impossible. He gave him eye exercises to do that corrected the problem.

Those are the two places I'd start. There also may be some occupational therapy things he can do to strengthen the muscles in his hands and fingers.

[waitinginnj]

My daughter received an aquadoodle for Christmas. She made huge strides with tracing letters with this toy. It is a mat that you lay on the floor or table. You use the pen, which is filled with water on the mat. The mat has images of letters and numbers all around the edges.

I showed her how to do it a couple of times and she would be frustrated and wouldn't try. A day later, by herself, she came running to show me that she did it.

The water drys up and then you can redo the letters etc. The whole middle of the mat is blank. I was able to get her to progress from just circles to squares in the center of the mat. We are even having some luck with triangles.

It may help you too.

[lambeausam]

We use the same gripper that lucyjoy refers to. You can find them in the office supply department at Target or Walmart. Take a good look at his grip, hand placement, posture and head placement. These may give you some clues. One of my "middlers," J, is 4 1/2. He tend to lift his hand from the paper when he writes - sort of airbrush technique. Another thing to check is trunk rotation. If Ryan cannot rotate his trunk, such as swinging a bat, he may have difficult drawing a diagonal line. Has he had his kindergarten screen yet? If not, ask to have one scheduled that includes an occupational assessment.

Sam

[crick]

My kindergartener was struggling with writing and we determined it wasn't the actual writing but the lack of strength and mobility in his fingers/hand. So if you feel this might be part of the problem, try some exercises to strengthen his mobility.

Some things we've done to strengthen those...

put a small amount of water in a bowl (add food coloring if you like) and have another bowl beside it to transfer the water to. Use an eyedropper and let your son practice squeezing the water in and then squeezing it out into the other bowl. Over time, you can teach him to squeeze smaller drops of water etc.

Use tongs to pick up objects and move them to another spot. We use cotton balls, small blocks, and moved on to harder things like ice cubes or noodles etc.

The pencil grippers are good and you might also have him write with the big fat pencils that are easier to grip just to get him comfortable. We had our son start drawing "pictures" everyday and didn't pressure him to draw anything specific. Before long he was copying things and drawing more recognizable objects. Also got him one of those big stencil type "rulers" that he could make his shapes and letters with that helped him feel how to write those objects.

Crick

[jamie3]

I printed off some letter tracing pages from the internet today and had both of them trace for a little bit. Neither one can do it very well at all. I appreciate all the ideas. I think I will get them a magna doodle for valentines.

[HappyMomAnna]

Jamie--Just wondering how things are going with the writing? Is either child a lefty?

Anyway--I am real interested to hear what the past few weeks has gone like and if there is any imporvements yet?

[jamie3]

Yes, Ryan is a lefty. I think he is making a little improvement but not much. We noticed that he is shooting his toy guns with his middle finger and believe that is due to a weak pointer finger, hence the writing problems. We are off on spring break this week so I bought some silly putty and some beads to string on shoestrings. I have been encouraged to use these activities with both boys.

His teacher is finally admitting that it's a problem, so I don't know if he can be referred for occupational therapy for this yet or not.

Thanks for checking! I haven't been on in forever, but now I'M ON VACATION!

[HappyMomAnna]

If he is a lefty try playing a game---Cover his right eye and see if he can draw or write--then cover his left eye and see if there is any difference?

Some Lefties are completely OK and don't show some of the issues that OTHER lefties do..... I am one of the OTHER lefties..... We have a 9-year LOWER life expectancy due to STRESS and Accidents--meaning left handed people die on average nine years earlier the right handed people..... Even if you know left handed people who DO NOT feel the stress and issues--does not mean that your left handed child is not feeling the issues..... But I have a TON of Left handed living advice and HOPE......

[kllee4]

If strength may be an issue, you may also want to let him cut paper (as many as he wants) to build up strength in his fingers. The pencil grips are a great idea as well! Good luck! Now that the teacher is admitting the problem, hopefully you may be able to find some resources to assist him.

[HappyMomAnna]

I have not seen the pencil grips are they the soft ones that mold to the childs fingers or are they pre-molded and you fit your fingers into a certian positon?

If he is cutting be sure he has Left handed scissors.... Fiskers are the best I know of.

[bumpkin]

Whem my oldest was in kindergarten, his teacher insisted that we WRITE with a pencil and DRAW with crayons... just an FYI.

Also, don't let hiim lose skills over vacation and summer, if he has trouble with this makes sure he continues to practice, mine had some back up time in 1st grade getting back to writing regularly.

good luck.... and good to see you posting!

[kllee4]

The pencil grips that I have seen are premolded and they help them grip the pencil better without sliding. The child fits them to how it best feels for them when writing. Working with fat pencils and crayons may work best in the beginning but I have seen some children (while teaching kindergarten) that work better with the small crayons and skinny pencils. It depends on the child and what helps them to improve and love to write. If this becomes a chore, it will be difficult for them to complete work if it is too difficult.

Again, good luck. I know it can be frustrating (for you and your child) but he will get the hang of it!