Parents of Schoolgoers  Discussion Forum

My nephew, aged 6yrs (Std I) used to write very well until recently. For the past 2 months, he comes back home daily with a terrible scribble in his books. Apparently there is nothing at school that bothers him. His teacher regards him as an intelligent child who does not like to write. HE understands that he has stop this illegible writing & agrees to improve, but it is the same situation everyday. His parents are vexed. They have tried everything from explaining patiently to punishing him with no TV viewing, etc. He appears least bothered about the whole matter.

Any advise. WHy should someone who was very good at writing suddendly write so illegibly that every evening is spent only re-writing the class work! nancy replied. My son also of the same age and the same class has the same problem.He actually got prizes for his writing in the lower class.I was wondering if its something to do with the genes kind of thing.I mean like my handwriting is not very good either.When the teacher wrote her first complaint I explained it to him and we talked about it.He understood and now he genuinely tries and I think he is much better The explanation he gave was too much to write in too little time.What really bugs me is his teacher constantly telling him to improve inspie of him actually telling her he is trying.She's like ..very good for getting 10 on 10 but improve your handwriting.....I am kinda scared this may lead to a complex.I just told my son to concentrate on writing clearly. Preeti replied. I had read somewhere that this happens normally due to pressure to write before muscular and motor development of the fingers is complete. perhaps the amount he has to write has gone up substantially and he is physically not able to cope with it.
I have seen this trend with my daughter (9)too. When we retuned to India from Europe 2 yrs ago, her handwriting deteriorated very fast. Initially I was very upset but then while still unsure of the cause, I found that right kind of pencils helped signficantly. Try getting pencils with softer and darker leads. Or \";clickster\"; kind of pencils. My daughter's handwriting imporves drastically when she uses clickster kind. And try to get him to rigth at home, fun things....copy stories, write a diary, stories about people around him....anything you think he will find enjoyable.
good luck Preeti replied. I had read somewhere that this happens normally due to pressure to write before muscular and motor development of the fingers is complete. perhaps the amount he has to write has gone up substantially and he is physically not able to cope with it.
I have seen this trend with my daughter (9)too. When we retuned to India from Europe 2 yrs ago, her handwriting deteriorated very fast. Initially I was very upset but then while still unsure of the cause, I found that right kind of pencils helped signficantly. Try getting pencils with softer and darker leads. Or \";clickster\"; kind of pencils. My daughter's handwriting imporves drastically when she uses clickster kind. And try to get him to rigth at home, fun things....copy stories, write a diary, stories about people around him....anything you think he will find enjoyable.
good luck poonam replied. WE parents get so obsessed with the rat race that we end up killing the childhood in a child. Can we recall our school days and the way we fared. Already the pressure is so much and our expectations so high that the child sometimes feels running out from it. give handwriting practice to your child in vacations. explain him your cincerns patiently. my son of same age is facing the same problem and I agree with your concerns. But patience pays. Murali replied. I think he is too young to realise the importance of writing. Some children get bored with writing, becuase they are asked to do copy writing from the text books. My son too aged six has this problem. He hates writing. But he is in a new school where the stress at this level is on oral skills. He has very little written work. Now he concentrates on his writing and tries to be neat eventhough he does not enjoy it.
I think most kids at this age are like this. Give him more time. Do not scold or punish him for his bad and ugly work. Find out interests him and ask him to write down these. That will help.
Rgds
Murali