Help..My child writes sloppy & in a hurry... what to do?

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teachermom_2
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Help..My child writes sloppy & in a hurry... what to do?

Postby teachermom_2 » Mon Dec 24, 2007 12:46 am


Lily
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Postby Lily » Mon Dec 24, 2007 7:18 am

"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."
- M. Montessori
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Ramona
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Re: Help..My child writes sloppy & in a hurry... what to

Postby Ramona » Mon Dec 24, 2007 11:59 am

I don't know about other parents, but the problem was us when this came up in our family.

Not that we don't write neatly when we need to, but when did our kids ever see anything that we'd written neatly? All they ever saw of our handwriting was phone messages, and other notes jotted to ourselves crosswise while holding armfuls of stuff and using the weak hand. I may be exaggerating slightly, but see what I mean?

I even used to always write my remarks on their schoolwork diagonally, so they had no sense that the lines on lined paper are to be used.

I had to make myself write everything neatly for a few months because my children really do learn everything by example, even handwriting.

HTH,
Ramona

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bardoville
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I Agree With Lily...

Postby bardoville » Tue Dec 25, 2007 12:40 pm

... There's nothing to discuss. If you know that that is the expected standard then you re-do it.
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Postby Linda » Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:06 pm


sunnie_skys
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Postby sunnie_skys » Tue Jan 22, 2008 3:13 pm

Start a story book with her. Start a story then she adds to it and it keeps going and going and going.
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Postby MrBill » Tue Jan 22, 2008 5:16 pm

My hand writing has always been bad, even when I was writing dozens of pages of day. I was forced to do over elementary school work time and time again, and all it succeeded in doing was making me hate school.

It never held me back, and not a single college instructor ever asked for a hand written assignment, as a matter of fact, hand written essays and reports are simply not acceptable in college no matter how wonderful the writers penmanship is.

I've never had a job that required precious handwriting.
Can you name one that does?

The more you antagonize your child over hand writing the more they will resist.

Focus on communication skills and comprehension, not eye/hand coordination and perfectionism and you will have much less stress in your life, and especially in your child's life.

Perfectionist attitude is going to lead to a depressed kid who always has the impression that they are never going to be good enough every time they put their pen to the page.

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Postby Miss_Kristy » Tue Jan 22, 2008 6:35 pm

I agree with MrBill.... I was waiting for someone else to suggest this actually since I'm new and don't want to step on any toes. :P My son who is 8 now had a horrible time last year in PS because of his handwriting. He's a very bright child, a math wiz really, but all his teacher seemed to focus on was his "bad" handwriting. I got notes sent home to me at least twice a week about it and Parent\Teacher conference focused on nothing else. Now when he reads something I just have him tell me about it. I mean, really, neat handwrithing is not THAT important in the big scheme of things. :) He CAN write neatly if he puts his mind to it, and I know that, so it's no big deal.

If she's rushing to get done with the work maybe she's not all that interested in the work she's doing. Maybe you should switch gears for a bit. Let her choose something to write about or study. When a child is truly interested in something learning goes much smoother.

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Postby momo3boys » Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:44 pm

Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

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Theodore
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Postby Theodore » Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:35 am


Mathmom
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Postby Mathmom » Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:30 am

Hi TeacherMom,
I was wondering if your daughter, and if anyone else who said they had trouble with handwriting, is a left-handed person?
I am a lefty, and I did not do well enough in 5th grade in handwriting. Everything else I did fine. Imagine getting all A's (why they grade in 5th grade is beyond me) and then get a "C" in handwriting. I hated being told that it wasn't good enough.

I think I would take her favorite subject and do some writing for that subject. Even if it is math. Here's a place to find things to write about for math:
www.mathcats.com
Look for the writing contests. You might get some ideas, even if you don't enter a contest. The point is to get her to write on paper, but not focus on the writing itself.

Also, look at Homeschool's Cool A to Z website, the page for handwriting has links for everything you could possibly think of there.

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/web ... riting.htm

I have been using the Getty-DuBay Italics handwriting books. They give instructions in the front of the books and in the teachers manual for how to sit correctly, and how to hold the pen/pencil.
Chalk and dry-erase boards can be fun for kids to write on, too. That would give her some fun practice.

She might like those books called
And, I agree with what the others were saying about it not being that important. Just remember that you want to build her confidence, not make her self-conscious. Don't worry, though. I can see that you have a loving relationship with your child. Hope some of this helps :D Draw Write Now. You draw simple pictures and write a text.

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Neat handwriting

Postby tricia » Sat Feb 09, 2008 9:48 am

Just a suggestion, teacher mom,

I agree with those of you who say that pushing your child too hard to produce super neat handwriting will be counterproductive. At the same time,allowing sloppy work sends the message that it's ok to produce something less than what she's capable of.

My angle would be to ask the question: Why write in the first place?

If she is not the type who is willing to sit down for long periods of time doing handwriting drills, then it may be a good idea to try the following:
- let the writing task be meaningful. Write short thank you notes, little reminders, the titles of stories, putting captions on photos, labels, speech bubbles in comics...anything that is communicative.
- let the writing task be manageable. Is the prospect of writing a whole page too intimidating for your learner? Then it's better to do a little writing each day. Break the big task into smaller steps.
-increase your standards for neatness gradually. What can she manage now? Focus on one aspect of neatness ( make sure the letters touch base?) at a time.

I hope these suggestions are helpful :)
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gellegbs
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Postby gellegbs » Tue Feb 26, 2008 7:02 pm

We don't write much anymore due to computers and such but at the same time you want your child's handwriting to be legible. You might actually be surprised how much writing you do in college, not many think of the numerous classes that require note taking. For that you have to be both fast and proficient.

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Postby Shari Nielsen » Sun Mar 23, 2008 6:16 pm

I once asked a friend to read some of my daughters sloppy homework and we played it up big time and pretended that she couldn't read it b/c it was too messy. My daughter was embarrassed b/c it wasn't just me telling her that her work was messy but now someone she really didn't know was telling her the same thing - it really hit home and she took it more seriously.

We didn't try to make her feel bad, we were very matter-of-fact and just let her know that there will be times when people other than mom, dad, and teachers will need to read her work and neatness counts in the real world. I think she got the point...
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