My 9 year old son has bad handwriting what can I do?

Question

My son is only 9 years old so I know that he is still very young, but his handwriting is really very bad. So much so, that his younger sister at 6years of age has better lettering than him. In his end of term report the teacher has asked him to practice his handwriting over the holidays and given him lots of sheets to practice. The problem we have is that it is so hard to get him to sit down and do these sheets. I'm getting stressed just thinking about asking him to do it and when he finaly does sit down, he spends a really long time copying one sentance. Should I just leave it and hope it improves with time? Does a more experienced parent have any advice? Thank you

Answer 1

Hello Georgie

Thank you for posting your question.

Handwriting is important for children because a large proportion of school work is still handwritten. Quite often children with handwriting trouble simply don't have the dexterity (muscle strength and control) to form the letters neatly. If practising the letters is not inspiring for your son, perhapys you could try, drawing or colouring instead? We tried this at home for our son. We sat together watching tele or chatting and colouring in very detailed drawings. It was the opposite of stressful and it helped a lot. 

I hope this helps?

Chenali@Level Up Kids

Answer 2

We had a similiar issue with one of our daughters. She was not interested in writing at all and handwriting was and still is pretty bad, but it's good enough for her to get her work done. It sort of fits with her personality. She's not the sit down and write/read or draw kind of girl. I'm sure that makes a difference. We did try a number of things but in the end we also gave up. Sorry I don't have practical advice, only reassurance that it isn't the end of the world and everyone uses computors now anyway so perhaps not as important a skill as it used to be?

Answer 3

I always make my kids draw and write out all our Christmas and birthday cards but obviously neither come up all that often. You could try dictating a clue to him everyday, revealing the location of something you've hidden (a toy/treat/new clue) to turn writing into a game. Don't say the last word until he's written the rest of the sentence. Or just set up a reward system for every page/sentence/letter he practices. The trick is not to overdo it in each sitting.

I agree that drawing and colouring is the best way to improve his dexterity and there are loads of really good 'how to draw...' videos on YouTube aimed at kids of all ages. Mine love drawing their favourite superheroes and cartoon characters and invariably lable their pictures, which not only develops their muscle strength and coordination but makes them practice their handwriting too.