Fixing A Child's Handwriting; Program Recommendations?

[The_LittleOne]

Hi everyone!

 

I homeschool my 9 year old son and despite 2 years of cursive focus, we're still not able to get over his 4 years of poorly taught print with occupational therapists (the math is not off; he started in a special ed preschool very young). He can't write functionally with print either, and I just don't think typing is the way to go, at least not yet.

 

As I look into older programs, I notice that everything i've used is missing a lot of the simple exercises (slanted lines, circles, etc). Our books always jump into copying letters and words. He frequently miscopies y's as u's and can't connect an i to a v in a legible way.

 

Can anyone recommend a fairly simple program? Bonus if it's really old and can be had online for free! I was thinking of using Peterson Directed Handwriting, but thought I'd post for other opinions before starting it with him.

 

Can anyone recommend a decent fountain pen for a kid who will start out writing hard? I can't afford much, and it will take some time for him to learn to loosen up on the poor thing.

 

Thanks in advanced!

[Guest Ray Cornett]

There is a new program I have read about but have not experienced. Writing without tears comes highly recommended for kids. As for an FP for a kid with a small budget I would actually recommend one of the Jinhao or Baoer models. They are all usually all over Ebay under $10 with FREE shipping. Just click on buy it now and it'll be at your door in a couple weeks.

[KBeezie]

There is a new program I have read about but have not experienced. Writing without tears comes highly recommended for kids. As for an FP for a kid with a small budget I would actually recommend one of the Jinhao or Baoer models. They are all usually all over Ebay under $10 with FREE shipping. Just click on buy it now and it'll be at your door in a couple weeks.

 

Don't ya know every child needs a Lamy ABC for $25?

 

... or you can get 5 child/cartoon printed fountain pens for $1 (and *cough $15 shipping*, still $16 for 5).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-pc-FELLOWSHIP-CARTOON-PRINT-INK-PENS-designer-pens-good-for-gifting-kids-/111289179334

[KBeezie]

Oh he's 9? Yea a Jinhao then, and if he's a kid that wants more weight, or has trouble holding thin pens, X750, though there are lighter/thinner ones like the 611, 599, 699, etc. On the larger ones (X750, X450, 159), if he gets real good with it, you can just swap out the nib for something nicer for around 15-25.

 

Less likely to be killed than most of the western pens that are plastic for 3x the price.

Edited March 20, 2014 by KBeezie

[The_LittleOne]

There is a new program I have read about but have not experienced. Writing without tears comes highly recommended for kids. As for an FP for a kid with a small budget I would actually recommend one of the Jinhao or Baoer models. They are all usually all over Ebay under $10 with FREE shipping. Just click on buy it now and it'll be at your door in a couple weeks.

 

Do you mean Handwriting without Tears? If so, we've been there done that! I didn't like that it was vertical, and he wasn't alb to move beyond the book. They have 2 books after the learning cursive book, but the lines are too small and materials are too advanced.

 

Thanks for the pen ideas. Those cartoon pens are really nice! I may order them just to have around!

 

He can't write with any ballpoint pens or anything like that in the house; his angle is just too off. I hope that teaching with an FB will help him to be more aware. I also hope it's fun enough for him to start caring!

[KBeezie]

This may or may not help, but it shows the cursive strokes animated.

http://donnayoung.org/penmanship/cursive-animations.htm

[Guest Ray Cornett]

 

"his angle is just too off."

 

Slant the paper?

[KBeezie]

 

Do you mean Handwriting without Tears? If so, we've been there done that! I didn't like that it was vertical, and he wasn't alb to move beyond the book. They have 2 books after the learning cursive book, but the lines are too small and materials are too advanced.

 

Thanks for the pen ideas. Those cartoon pens are really nice! I may order them just to have around!

 

He can't write with any ballpoint pens or anything like that in the house; his angle is just too off. I hope that teaching with an FB will help him to be more aware. I also hope it's fun enough for him to start caring!

 

If he's anything like my younger brother (had very weak tendons in the hands), heavier pens were actually nice, because the weight of the pen would provide the flow and pressure when the nib is good, you just have to use your hand to guide the strokes, but don't have to put as much effort into getting the nib to make contact. (though a well-balance nib regardless of pen weight should make a stroke just by carrying the pen across the paper).

[The_LittleOne]

What about the nib? What size should I be looking for?

[The_LittleOne]

"his angle is just too off."

 

Slant the paper?

 

I've got a whole lot of corrections to work on. His occupational therapists forced the paper straight. It's now ingrained and he doesn't like to slant it. He's a work in progress.

[The_LittleOne]

 

If he's anything like my younger brother (had very weak tendons in the hands), heavier pens were actually nice, because the weight of the pen would provide the flow and pressure when the nib is good, you just have to use your hand to guide the strokes, but don't have to put as much effort into getting the nib to make contact. (though a well-balance nib regardless of pen weight should make a stroke just by carrying the pen across the paper).

 

My son has terrible motor planning (getting the body to follow the brain's commands, or even getting the brain to push out the command), and very poor fine motor skills. This is all improving, but it's a lot of work. Cursive is supposed to be better for motor planning, but he's also not spelling much so it all slows him down.

 

Thank you guys for all the information! I will be ordering a pen or few.

[KBeezie]

What about the nib? What size should I be looking for?

Generally speaking especially with cheaper pens, a medium or greater will provide a smoother feel to the writing but also a larger line, for a kid I think medium is going to be suitable anyways especiallyiif there's problems with motor skills. A fine or smaller might not catch or the letters may seem odd if the lines are small but the letters themselves are big.

 

True that there exist finer nibs with the added smoothness it's not so common uunder a certain price point. You'll probably want to see out write samples from various nibs (gouletpens.com has a nib writing comparison of almost every pen and nib they carry), some of the Chinese mediums for example are about on par with European medium, but some Japanese medium can be more on the fine side than most others mediums. They don't exactly have a consistent # to tell the size of one from anothereexactly, you kind of have to see it for yourself.

[KBeezie]

PS a stub nib can be excessive (very large often italicized strokes), but it can also be buttery smooth with the right ink and paper combination. Kinds like how I love usin waterman intense black with the goulet 1.5 stub nib on my Jinhao x450.

[Mickey]

Here a cheap, but excellent method used by a lot of home-schoolers. I don't know that anything better has been cooked up in the century and a half since it was first published.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395321713&sr=1-1&keywords=spencerian+penmanship

[proton007]

Here a cheap, but excellent method used by a lot of home-schoolers. I don't know that anything better has been cooked up in the century and a half since it was first published.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copybooks/dp/088062096X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1395321713&sr=1-1&keywords=spencerian+penmanship

 

+1 to that.

[The_LittleOne]

Thanks again.

 

I have that linked Spencerian book for my older child. I'll copy a few of the drill pages and see if it'll work for my son. If so, a set of the copy books is only about $10.

[Jbloodwo]

As a mid 40's adult male that has fought with learning disabilities myself, I know how hard this writing thing can be. I am going through the Spenserian books currently. if you son is still having issues with fine motor skills then the guidelines in the work books might me a bit small. ther is however a site that i think was mentioned somewhere on the forums that will let you make custom work sheets.

you can get them here

http://shipbrook.net/guidelines/

 

I would still recommend the work books as they will give some structure to what letters to learn and in what order.

 

----EDIT----

I will say that i do like the guidelines in the work books. currently, i photocopy the worksheets. you should be able to zoom work sheets because the size of the paper is smaller than standard us letter.

 

----EDIT 2----

I just posted a link to this thread over at my facebook page. probably 20-30 perent of my friends have experience either personally or working with) issues. in adation to the fountain pen idea thay may be able to give som other tips. like dot to dot writing and some other things

Edited March 20, 2014 by Jbloodwo

[Mickey]

As a mid 40's adult male that has fought with learning disabilities myself, I know how hard this writing thing can be. I am going through the Spenserian books currently. if you son is still having issues with fine motor skills then the guidelines in the work books might me a bit small. ther is however a site that i think was mentioned somewhere on the forums that will let you make custom work sheets.

you can get them here

http://shipbrook.net/guidelines/

 

I would still recommend the work books as they will give some structure to what letters to learn and in what order.

 

----EDIT----

I will say that i do like the guidelines in the work books. currently, i photocopy the worksheets. you should be able to zoom work sheets because the size of the paper is smaller than standard us letter.

 

Also, the paper in the workbooks is not particularly fountain pen friendly.

 

While working at a larger scale may be a good approach for beginners, I would point out that Spencerian, as handwriting rather than OP, is often done rather small. My normal writing is around x=1.5mm. The few notes I've gotten from Michael Sull were similarly small.

[Jbloodwo]

 

Also, the paper in the workbooks is not particularly fountain pen friendly.

 

While working at a larger scale may be a good approach for beginners, I would point out that Spencerian, as handwriting rather than OP, is often done rather small. My normal writing is around x=1.5mm. The few notes I've gotten from Michael Sull were similarly small.

I hope in time to be able to have that type of skill in my forarm and wrist. even just using my fingers i lack the fine motor skill to be able to write in a small space as it is i personally and having issues with 1x copies.

[Anne-Sophie]

Pinned in this very topic is a link to plenty of free handwriting aids.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/5152-handwriting-aids-and-links-to-lesson-sites-other-helpful-sites/

 

I believe that forced anything is detrimental to enjoyable thus free flowing handwriting.

I speak from experience, as I am still trying to rid my mostly cursive handwriting from some print characters that were retained from an attempt at switching my cursive to print.

 

 

What I learned is called French Cursive and has been taught to French children for centuries.

Below are wonderful exemplars from member olivier78860 (a French native) and other members

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/243889-french-cursive/

 

After using the slants, circles, curves exercises in the free Handwriting Aids, you could try French Cursive.

 

 

This thread will show you and most importantly, him, exemplars of lots of handwritings styles: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/225300-depository-of-handwriting-and-calligraphy-styles-and-discussion/

 

 

One of the nicest way to help free flowing of movement is to use wider guidelines to allow for bigger lines, circles then forms then letters to be drawn.

 

 

Keep us posted!