Fine Motor Problem

Maybe it's just a problem with her mind working faster then her hand does. Have you tried having her write her anwers on a separate piece of paper and then rewriting them on the answer sheet once her thoughts are down clearly. This way she can write more slowly and clearly and she isn't thinking while she's writing. She's just copying her answers over. I know that this way it will take her longer to do homework, but she's also getting more practice with writing at the same time.

I am a stay at home mom of my 6 year old son. He also has very delayed handwriting. (sizing and spaceing) He recieves OT/PT and has an IEP. I am guessing that with you daughter having services that she does as well. I have it written in his IEP that they grade on his ideas in writing and not his form of writing. They do allow for added grading rules based on disability.

About me: 31 year old single mom of two kids. A daughter age 11 and my son aged 6. My son and I live together. My son is gifted with Asperger Syndrome. If you have any questions please ask.

Have you had her eyes checked? I was the same way when i was in 1st grade, came to find out that i needed glasses, pretty bad too! Another idea is cross stitch, if you think she is old enough. That way she will be able to make something to boost her self esteem and she will be able to work on spacing of stiches. Not sure if this would help. Do what you think is right as far as holding her back, she might do better keeping up with her peers.

I'm a special education teacher and my best advise is to get some hand writing practice books and teach your dauther how to write better with practice. THis is a common problem alot of small children have. Get tiny blocks and have her practice picking them up and stacking them, then taking them down one at a time, this will help her. Also, the itsy bitsy spider song with hand gestures helps with finger and thumb coordination. Lastly, drawing circles inside of a set space (say the space between lines on lined paper) will help her learn to keep her letters inside a set space. Good luck!

Franacesca

Ok, here is a method to consider. Cut out squares of construction paper. Maybe one inch cubes. Mix the colors to make it more like a game.
Now on a large sheet of paper draw lines for your daughter to glue the peices on. Each one she glues, have her write a letter on. A nice big letter that fills up the cube.
Try getting her to to one glue square, one letter, and so on. Show her how to use an empty square for a space between words.
Get some stickers, after each sucessful word, put a sticker at the end in the "space cube" or at the end of the sentance. (stars are nice).
Probably she doesn't have a motor skills problem, just needs some practice concentrating on forming letters.
Did you consider that she may be ambidextrose (sp).. or a secret lefty. School can force a child to use the right by mistake.
Also what about her reading. Have you considered dyslexia? It's possible even though rare.
Anyhow, try the cube game. Make cards for daddy with her to make it fun.

tell her teacher as long as she excels otherwise you have no need to want to hold her back and crush her self esteem. do not let the school system bully you. they are not always right. as far as the writing being sloppy. maybe it is because of her confidence level make her want to write and praise her for her efforts. try to make it a game.

Have you had her evaluated by an outside authority? A developemental pediatrician can run a lot of tests on her abilities, and perhaps pinpoint the source of the problem. It's a lot easier to correct once you know what's going on. Her doctor should be able to refer you to someone. Even something as simple as a vision issue could be going on.

Jess

Hi W.,

I think that as long as she is academically onlevel, there is no reason for her to be kept back a year. If she is receiving OT, I assume she has an IEP, if she does then she should be evaluated based on her goals of the IEP. The teacher should be making modifications for your daughter if she has an IEP and her handwritting is affecting her academics (ie.. the teacher can't read what she is writing therefore she doesn't know if shes grasping a subject area). Perhaps she can start typing some of her work rather than writing it. Obviously she has an issue with fine motor skills since she is seeing the school OT, therefore she shouldn't be penalized by repeating a year.

My kids are too young - but my husband had a simular problem - playing video games helped his hand eye coordination... also see if you could get her to do something crafty that would be fun for her but help her with writing at the same time.... also when she does write something that looks pretty good - tell her how nice that looks and try to stay away from saying how messy another part id or start off by saying how one letter looks nice but maybe she could try one of the messy ones again because the pretty one doesn't want to be alone in pretty land - queer I know but sometimes if you can try to get them to relate to it and have it hold a more personal effect for them, that can help.... I also agree that unless she is having problems in other areas she should NOT be held back - it would change the course of her life.....
Remind the teacher of Bush's "no kid left behind"
I don't know - food for thought...
S. B

Go to the board of ed and have them evaluate her for occupational thearapy. my son is also in the 2nd grade and has major problems with his writting and he is going to get OT 2 a week I hope it helps

Hi W.,
I'm a stay at home mom of 4 also! Mine are 20, 18, 14, and 12. My 12 year old has been the biggest challenge. As a matter of fact, I just started homeschooling him. Not that I'm recommending that, but I hope it helps him. He repeated first grade because of not being able to get his work done in class, and having trouble with visual processing (although I didn't know that was what it was at the time). It was recommended, not that I was told he had to repeat first, but I didn't know enough about it so I let him stay back. If I knew then what I know now, I would have hired tutors to help him so that he didn't have to stay back. It hurt his self esteem and he has carried anger with him because of staying back. Anyway, he did okay the second time in first, then in second and then started having trouble in third again. His handwriting was bad too. It has gotten better, but is still bad. Last year in 5th grade, I asked if he could use a laptop computer for some writing and the school that he was in let him do that. That helped with his frustration (because he also said it hurt his hand to do a lot of writing). This year he's been able to use a computer more too. He's been through a lot, and is a good boy, just gets very frustrated at times.

I had trouble with my handwriting b/c of a mild dyslexia. It never hurts to check it out. My mother never told me that I had it, so I wasn't self conscious about it. She just really worked with me. I agree with the others...don't hold her back. You obviously are going to be working with her on this. It doesn't sound like enough to hold her back. Good luck!

Has your daughter been evaluated for sensory integration issues?

I would NOT allow the school to hold her back for her handwriting alone. Yikes! Talk about the perfect formula for making a bored kid who hates school!

Can your daughter type? My oldest son tested as being fine on fine motor skills, but had horrible issues with writing (he is also fine/advanced in other areas). We homeschool now, but before that, we insisted the school have tolerance for his handwriting--and we let him type up many, many of his assignments. It was more important to me that he get the practice at getting his thoughts out of his head onto paper than he have legible handwriting.

He is in 6th grade now and is able to handwrite a 99% legible 5-page report in almost no time. It just took a while for those skills to develop. I was very careful to encourage, but not force the issue.
Especially in today's day and age--outside of school, so much of our written communication can occur through a word processor....

I guess if the school were pushing things, I would ask for them to provide *written* justification of holding her back and then I would address each item in their list--why you don't think it is an issue or how your daughter can work around it to continue to succeed in 3rd grade.

Have you had her tested for dyslexia?

find out why the school wants to hold her back. Even if it's one or two things that she needs to work on, maybe holding her back so she can get them right won't be a bad thing. I was held back in 2nd grade and it was the best thing they ever did for me. I'm not really sure why they did, besides the fact that i started kindergarden at 4 and i wasn't ready to go on. if you have the option, take it, because later on if they still feel like she needs to be held back it will be harder, because she'd be older and kids are cruel... every year the build on the year before and if she's not getting some of it, then it makes it harder for her to learn... i hope this helps, and i know its hard but it may work out for the better in the end.... good luck.

I agree = don't hold her back. Just make her practice practice practice. ANd maybe bring her to a tutor or specialist. Trust your instincts.

Also if you want to make money but not return to an "office" job let me know!

Jenn Smith
http://jennsmith.stayinhomeandlovinit.com

Hi W.,

I know that my response is coming a year after your original post. I am glad to hear that your daughter is doing much better. I just wanted to mention that I have the same issue with my son, who is now in 6th grade. My son has DYSGRAPHIA it is a learning disability related to handwriting. AS with your daughter, my son has a very high IQ. After fighting with the school, he was finally tested at the end of third grade. He now has a 504 plan so that he can get accomodations, such as being allowed to use a word processer, not having to take lengthy notes, etc....
He has also participated in OT, where he learned typing. I find that I have to notify the teachers every year of the situation and I have to keep an eye on them, making sure that his grade is not affected by his handwriting.

His handwriting is still sloppy and probably always will be. He has made some improvements and atleast it is more legible.

If you have not already, look up dysgraphia on the internet and see what you think, I just briefly reviewed previous post and I didn't see anyone mention dysgraphia.

Best,
Sarah

Hello!! I am a special education teacher. I hope I can help. First, a teacher couldn't recommend a student be held back because of poor writing and fine motor difficulties. There has to be more to the problems they are seeing in school. How are her grades? If they foresee a learning disability..they will recommend further testing. Your best bet is to request a teacher conference for better understanding. Keep us posted!!!

D.

I would definitely talk with the teacher and the OT. Modifications should be made in the classroom to help your child succeed.

My nephew has the same problems. He has fine and gross motor skill delay. He is in a different state, but the schools there work with him on typing, almost everything he can type. Now he is in 5th grade and can type better than I can. This is'nt learning how to write but it gives him a different method, plus when we get older we basically stop hand writing anyway! It gives a advantage on typing skills.

Don't you know that most geniuses have horrible handwriting? look at doctors handwriting. i agree that you shouldn't let the school bully you, and i agree that you should give her high praises for what she exceeds at. my 14 year old daughter has horrendous handwriting, and she has a 92 overall average. get her those practice books, and make it fun. make it your
"special time" together.

If it is only a fine motor problem, then there should be no grounds for keeping her back. My daughter failed coloring in 1st grade. (give me a break!) for fine motor skill problems. When she was in 3rd grade her teacher taught her typing as she was way ahead of the class in math,so during many math classes she typed. thanks to that teacher she went on to get only one wrong on her SATs THat teacher removed my daughters greatest frustration. Her handwriting did improve and for her the lesson was well remembered. She now teached 2nd grade is is very careful not to place stigmas on kids whose fine motor skills lag behind.

Hey W.,

Don't feel bad, its very frustrating! My daughter is a 4th grader, doing excellent in school BUT her writing is horrendous! Every year it changes from messy where you can't even read every 2 words to really neat... She loves to write stories.. So, what i ended up doing is i take her work, everytime she writes a messy word, I would erase it make her re-write it over and over again.. until i felt it was neat! (I've been called MEANY for months!!) I would make her focus on the lines and watch her, talk her throw it.. like ok "up and over" "watch your size".. I think the problem is they want to finish quickly and don't care what it looks like, its called lazy! It gets better with practice.

Your daughter may just need one on one.. maybe you can get someone to come over and write w/her. Sometime kids do better w/a stranger then a family member. here's a web site i think you can make it work as something "fun" to do.. (yeah right..lol)
http://www.handwritingforkids.com/handwrite/manuscript/al...

I don't agree w/her teacher either, how can she hold her back for handwriting. She's in 2nd GRADE for goodness sake!! I think you need to talk to the principal. Is she in private school?

Good Luck .. its will get better!!

My sons is in 2nd grade and is also doing well with reading and math, but struggles with writing. If writing is your daughter's only "reason" for holding her over another year" I totally disagree. What accommodations has the school provided your daughter? Has she had a scribe (someone to write her thoughts for her) or a tape recorder or given oral exams. There are alternative ways for your daughter to express her ideas and knowledge while services are provided to remediate her difficulties. Which can include teaching her to type or to use a voice recognition software program such as Dragon Naturally Speaking. I am going through this battle with my school district right now. You can learn more about my situation and capitalize on my efforts to help others with children with disabilities by going to special needs awareness.org There are resources that will help you advocate for your daughter such as wrights law dot com which I link at specialneedsawareness dot org.