My son (entering 1st grade) needs to work on his handwriting, but he is somewhat reluctant to do it at home on his own. I have looked into The Handwriting Clinic in Plano, but courses are very expensive ($400). Other places I have looked into (like Sylvan and Kumon) focus on other skills that my son does not need help in (he only needs to work on his handwriting). Does anyone know of another program in or near Plano that I am not aware of? Or, does anyone know of a cool, fun product out there that will encourage my son to practice his writing at home on his own?
Handwriting without Tears is a program that is used a lot with students that you could probably get a brief overview of or I know they sell a manual that would help you know how to do the program at home. It is on the internet.
Greetings!
I'm an occupational therapy student and know Jan McCletsky (the owner of the Handwriting Clinic). She offers private therapy for 80$/hr if that was more affordable for you. As far as handwriting programs go, there is a lot out there. It just depends on your child's needs. You might check with your insurance company and see if they cover occupational therapy. While Jan doesn't accept insurance, I know some other great OTs who do.
It's hard to give you ideas on different handwriting strategies w/o knowing what the handwriting issues are. Is it visual discrimination, letter reversal, legibility? Is there hand weakness, lack of hand dominance, funky grasp, poor kinesthetic feedback to the hands?
If you want to give me some specifics, I can tell you what they teach me at school and also from my own experience as the mother of a child with Down syndrome who has had OT services since birth and handwriting is something we've been working on for a LONG time now.
Let me know how I can help further.
R.
There is a great program developed by a mom called Handwriting without tears, here's a link:
http://www.hwtears.com/
My 7 yr old son has dysgraphia (a written language disability that makes writing a complete nightmare for him) and had a very, very hard time w/ handwriting. Once I bought him these books, his handwriting has improved so much, I couldn't believe how fun the books were(are) and how much he enjoys doing them. You can buy the books online or at Mardels for about $5.99 each, there are 2 per level, for introducion to writing, 2 for printing and 2 for cursive. My daughter uses the cursive ones and my 4 yr old uses the intro ones. Needless to say, I think it's a great program and incredibly affordable!
if it is a big problem and you can get a referral from your pediatrician then you can take him to an OT to work on his handwriting, insurance usually covers a certain number of visits per year.
Hi Adrienne,
I am a special education/regular education teacher and I would love to help your son with his handwriting. I can show you the techniques so that you can use them at home. This would alleviate you spending alot of money on programs out there. Not much equipment is needed either, just persistence and consistence in doing the exercises.
You and your son could come to my house and I could show you the activities to imoprove his handwriting at no cost! I live off of Arapaho and Central Expwy near the Richardson Library. Email or give me a ____@____.com's great that you are taking charge in this area at such young age, because the longer a parent waits the harder it is to re-train bad habits in handwriting. Looking forward to hearing from you.
God Bless,
A.
Hey Adrienne,
It would be helpful for ur son to practice each day and write a li'l and gradually take one step at a time..I also help in reading and writing for kids of different ages at my place..If interested do let me know..and as of now I really don't know of any program elsewhere for writing skills..will let u know as and when I become aware of one...
Thx
I am a pediatric Occupational Therapist and I work on handwriting A LOT! What are your son's specific problems? The program I have found most helpful and FUN is called "Handwriting without Tears." It is therapist developed and works along developmental guidelines and repitition (you can't write a U if you can't do an I, straight lines vs. curved lines). It is very simple to teach and to learn. Something that might make learning and writing more fun to to make it a "multi-sensory" experience. Playdoh, shaving cream, rhymes, sand etc...Learning to write doesn't have to be boring and a FIGHT! Email me if you have any questions. I would love to help you out. Unfortunately the schools don't provide a lot of help with this and kids keep falling further behind because they can't keep up with handwriting. You're smart to attack it know...just wait until cursive (yes, there is a book for that too!)
A.
____@____.com
I am an SLP in the schools. We use a program called Handwriting without tears. One of the teachers I work with is familiar with the program. Her e-mail is ____@____.com might be willing to meet with you over the summer to work on his skills.
J.
You should look at www.handwritingforkids.com website.
