When you are looking at a second or third grader with poor handwriting you have to consider four possible causes:

• Is this an issue of effort?
• Is this an issue of strength?
• Is this an issue of skill?
• Is this an issue of brain to hand function?

It’s been about three weeks since I started Afterschooling my son Bruce(7.5) in handwriting.  (See here for more info.)  The teacher in me was a bit freaked out because I was worried he might have Dysgraphia.  That’s how bad things were.  I saw this handwriting sample online of an 8 year old with Dysgraphia, and it looked very familiar.

Now, three weeks later, I’m not so worried, and I’ve got the writing samples to prove it!
Raised Lines Paper Narrow

Day 1 of Callirobics is on the left.  Day 9 is on the right.

Wow!

You can already see the difference, right?  I can’t wait to see what Bruce’s handwriting looks like on Day 50!

I’m feeling a lot better that this is not a “brain to hand” issue.  That would require professional intervention.  But since we are just talking about effort, skill and strength, I can totally work with him on that at home.

But that doesn’t mean that some of the tools used to help children who do have Dysgraphia, wouldn’t be beneficial.  So two things we are trying out are Mead RediSpace Transitional NoteBook Paper and Raised Lines Paper Narrow.

The Mead RediSpace  paper is really frustrating to use. 

Here’s what my handwriting looked like when I tried it.  My penmanship is usually a lot better than that!  Bruce hates this paper.

But I think it still has value.

You know how the stair machine at the gym is not very fun? It really hurts to be on the stair climber because your muscles are working so hard.  That’s what this paper is like.  It almost made my brain hurt because of all the tick marks.  But those little boxes forced me to remember about finger spaces between words, letter size, etc.  These are things Bruce needs to work on.  So writing a letter to grandma on this paper once a week, is good exercise.

The Raised Lines Paper  is a lot easier on the brain.

I wish I had taken a picture of Bruce’s handwriting on this, but that letter has already been mailed to Grandma.  It was the best penmanship I’ve seen him produce in a long time.  The raised lines gave his brain automatic feedback every time his pencil formed a letter.  I’ve sent some to school with him to use on special projects.

It’s too bad this paper is so expensive!

…Which brings me to my moment of whining.  I wish I had access to this paper when I was a teacher!  I know lots of kids who could have really used it!