Has your child struggled with writing?

[kathymuggle]

Has your child struggled with writing?

I am starting to come to the conclusion that writing (or - perhaps - early expectations of writing) are an issue for many kids.

The number of times someone say "......but struggles with writing" seems really high.

So - did or does your child have difficulty in any way meeting writing curriculum expectations?

TIA!

Kathy

[Papooses]

Not really. She came to work with me from 6 weeks old. She saw everyone writing for 8 hours straight 5 days a week for 3+ years before entering a school environment. What my kid struggled with were the larger than necessary (larger than realistic) dotted lined paper. She was used to writing her name & some of her family members' names on 1/2" lines. Suddenly they wanted her to use 1" lines. When that didn't work they tried 1.5" lines. They didn't put 2+2 together when it only got more difficult & less legible the larger the size. I brought in the paper she was used to using & she never had any more problems This is just an example of the parent not leaving it *all* up to the teacher. Teachers aren't mind readers. They didn't know kiddo was already writing at home. Once she felt better about writing again thanks to having her familiar sized lines back, they could teach her how to use larger sizes & she did it quite well in the end.

[CarrieMF]

The only issue with writing(and it's both cursive & printing) is with my 9yo. Hers is a neatness issue, it goes for everything. If she tries she can do it neat but she likes to rush. Hers has never been neat.

actually coming up with creative writing, proper form & such no problems there.

[velochic]

For English, French and Spanish, dd's school (a language immersion school) uses a system called "Handwriting without Tears". I don't know if other schools use this or if it's for multi-language schools. It's gotten rave reviews from all the parents. You might ask about this system or look into it online. Dd has always had good penmanship for her age, but as I'm a grantwriter and dh is a university professor, she sees us writing all the time and has joined us with her own pencil and paper.

[kathymuggle]

Interesting.

It could be my assumptions are wrong

The PPers so far have had girls - it may divide more along gender lines.

Thanks,

Kathy

ETA: I tried to add a poll but can't without starting a new thread. Even if people can only say yes or no (more is welcome, of course!), and the gender of the childrenin question, I would appreciate it.

[supervee]

Yes. Boy.

But when he writes, everything is spelled exactly correctly. And he will erase holes in the paper if letters aren't spaced exactly correctly, or if the letters aren't formed exactly correctly.

And, yes, I am sure all this "exactly correctly" slows down his writing fluency.

We've tried a lot of things. I hope his new school has a better handle on this.

[milehighmonkeys]

Our DD doesn't do well on the huge ruled sheets they use for K, either. Usually, we just let her write on blank paper and she does pretty well on "wide ruled" loose-leaf paper. The more she writes, the better she gets.

[supervee]

Originally Posted by velochic

For English, French and Spanish, dd's school (a language immersion school) uses a system called "Handwriting without Tears". I don't know if other schools use this or if it's for multi-language schools. It's gotten rave reviews from all the parents. You might ask about this system or look into it online. Dd has always had good penmanship for her age, but as I'm a grantwriter and dh is a university professor, she sees us writing all the time and has joined us with her own pencil and paper.

Some Montessoris use this as well.

We have this for DD, and she loves it. I wish I had known about this for DS, but honestly I think it's more about perfectionism around writing than inability to form letters. We need a Perfectionism without Tears program.

[lightheart]

I mean writing as physically drawing setting pen or pencil to paper and forming readable letters

yes, boy
yes, boy with special needs, (physical hand deformaties)

if you might think it's genetics.... like my hubby thinks...
yes to dad, no to mom to our own children

no with nephew 1 (he loves to draw and is really very good)
yes with nephew 2
yes with dad and mom to #1 and 2

yes with nephew 3
yes to mom and dad to nephew #3

[aniT]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

Has your child struggled with writing?

I am starting to come to the conclusion that writing (or - perhaps - early expectations of writing) are an issue for many kids.

The number of times someone say "......but struggles with writing" seems really high.

So - did or does your child have difficulty in any way meeting writing curriculum expectations?

TIA!

Kathy

My 9 year old DD refuses to write. She will sit there and stare at the paper forever and not write a thing. I am beginning to suspect (even though she has a higher than average reading ability) that she might have dyslexia and I am having her evaluated for this in a few weeks.

Oh did you mean the actual physical act of writing? She CAN write if she wants to. But she wont write when she has to. Does that make sense?

[kmeyrick]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

Has your child struggled with writing?

I am starting to come to the conclusion that writing (or - perhaps - early expectations of writing) are an issue for many kids.

The number of times someone say "......but struggles with writing" seems really high.

So - did or does your child have difficulty in any way meeting writing curriculum expectations?

TIA!

Kathy

"Struggle with writing" is a very broad term. Is this due to handwriting, which I would chalk up to a motor skill? Punctuation? Expression?

Kids really do grow at drastically different rates and today's struggling writer could be tomorrow's Patricia Polacco!

[supervee]

I assume you mean writing like Polacco to mean being a creative writer. We don't have a problem with DS composing creative stories. It's the physical act of getting them on paper that is the problem. I thought that was what the OP was asking about.

[kathymuggle]

Originally Posted by kmeyrick

"Struggle with writing" is a very broad term. Is this due to handwriting, which I would chalk up to a motor skill? Punctuation? Expression?

Kids really do grow at drastically different rates and today's struggling writer could be tomorrow's Patricia Polacco!

I meant it to be broad - the mechanics of writing and content issues (sentence structure, etc). The two often overlap.

I do not really mean lack of ideas.

Indeed lots of really creative ideas, coupled by slow writing speed, often leads to writing frustartion and content issues.

Kathy

[kmeyrick]

Originally Posted by kathymuggle

I meant it to be broad - the mechanics of writing and content issues (sentence structure, etc). The two often overlap.

I do not really mean lack of ideas.

Indeed lots of really creative ideas, coupled by slow writing speed, often leads to writing frustartion and content issues.

Kathy

They often overlap, but some students with motor skills issues type their ideas even in elementary schools, and voila, they turn out to be excellent writers.

I don't think problems with motor skills should be swept under the rug, but typing as helped a lot of students that I've worked with.

[aussiemum]

Yes, my ds struggles with the mechanical part of writing. He's a lefty, & has a hard time with writing as small as is expected of him. It takes him ages, & he does get frustrated at times.

He's pretty good with spelling & creativity, but the slowness combined with not so good sentence structure let him down sometimes. FOrtunately his teachers so far have been really good with him. I figure eventually he'll get the hang of things with enough practice- kinda like he did with swimming.

[Pancakes]

My DD has never had a problem with any area of writing. In 4th grade she had issue with the fear of others judging her work, but we worked through that. She a wonderful writer now and does so for her own enjoyment.

DS does have issues with writing. He not only struggles with neatness, but also with sentence structure and content. He has always been on the lower end of grade level (whatever that means) when tested, but his loathing of the subject stems directly from his 1st and 2nd grade teacher. (same teacher) In an effort to help him feel better about his struggles she tried to pal with him by saying (repeatedly) that when she was in 2nd grade she was great in math and bad at writing too. All DS heard was that he was bad at writing. This was one of the reasons we homeschooled him the remainder of last year.

Yes, my ds struggles with the mechanical part of writing. He's a lefty, & has a hard time with writing as small as is expected of him. It takes him ages, & he does get frustrated at times.

My DS is a lefty too and this does contribute to his struggles.

[kmeyrick]

Keep in mind activities that involve fine motor skills can make writing easier.

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by supervee

Yes. Boy.

But when he writes, everything is spelled exactly correctly. And he will erase holes in the paper if letters aren't spaced exactly correctly, or if the letters aren't formed exactly correctly.

And, yes, I am sure all this "exactly correctly" slows down his writing fluency.

We've tried a lot of things. I hope his new school has a better handle on this.

: I have a bright boy who can be somewhat perfectionistic, and handwriting is a HUGE problem for him. It's only made more obvious when he's doing more advanced work-- he has absolutely no trouble reading on a third grade level or even spelling that well, but asking him to write a simple sentence is akin to asking him to cut off his fingers and eat them.

I need a better handle on the sorts of fine motor activities that will help him, I think. We are using Handwriting Without Tears, but it's still very difficult for him. He clearly needs more practice; I'm actually beginning to wonder about dysgraphia.

[love2all]

Yes-
my 9 yo ds has a tough time with the mechanics of writting-
he has dyslexia and dysgraphia- and works- though not enough- with an ot for fine motor..
he may start keyboarding this year since he is soooo many words per minute behind other kids in 4th grade.

[aussiemum]

Yes, it sounds like we all have similar-ish children when it comes to writing. Where is that rueful smilie when you need it, eh?

And kymerick, I would agree with you on instinct that more fine coordination play would help my DS's writing skills...... but he already does heaps of fine motor activities in his daily life. I mean, he's 7, he spends a lot of time outside pounding on nails into wood & trees- he has to have a fair bit of motor skill to avoid sore fingers. Inside the house, he's a super serious lego-boy, & builds the most intricate structures that I certainly don't have the ability to do.

..............


I honestly feel like there is something else beyond coordination about writing that hinders him. When we were travelling earlier this year, I had the kids keep journals. DD had no problems with it- DS was an entirely different story.