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Post by Marya Dabrowski on Nov 19, 2016 19:37:46 GMT -5
Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I can't get my son to hold the pencil correctly. He prefers to wrap his pointer and middle finger around the staff of the pencil. It has become a problem now with his timed drills for math in that he writes slower than I think he could. I thought of not giving him any movies until he tries harder to hold it the way I have told him to over and over.
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Post by Voxxkowalski on Nov 19, 2016 22:26:38 GMT -5
I think you need to relax as you could cause him to overthink it and never get it right. Patience is a virtue with certain skills. I have found drilling very damaging to my education when I was growing up...especially in math. I lose all math ability when under pressure to solve a math problem that would normally be simple when I take my time at my own pace.
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Post by chestertonian on Nov 19, 2016 23:22:28 GMT -5
how old is he?
some kids do better with a wider pencil,youcan get them at a place like staples
or a triangular pencil an occupational therapist can also help with handwriting,and it is often covered by insurance. Lots of school districts refer to OT if a student has trouble with handwriting. We did "Handwriting without tears" when my son was homeschooling and apparently he and my wife were crying at the same time but seeing an OT was very helpful
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Post by EricH on Nov 20, 2016 7:13:50 GMT -5
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Post by RitaMarita on Nov 20, 2016 14:13:56 GMT -5
Trying to lean something new can be confusing...
Perhaps try making it into a game?
Try asking him to hold the pencil between his index finger and his thumb, making an "O" in the middle. It will help to give him a tip to rest the pen slightly also on the side of his index finger. Also, tell him that he should be able to tap his pen with his pointer finger. This will make it interesting.
Let us know how it goes! I will be praying! :-)
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Post by Marya Dabrowski on Nov 21, 2016 22:33:58 GMT -5
I think you need to relax as you could cause him to overthink it and never get it right. Patience is a virtue with certain skills. I have found drilling very damaging to my education when I was growing up...especially in math. I lose all math ability when under pressure to solve a math problem that would normally be simple when I take my time at my own pace. I'm afraid Mr. Saxon doesn't agree But seriously, his cursive/handwriting is horrible, too.
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Post by Marya Dabrowski on Nov 21, 2016 22:35:19 GMT -5
how old is he? some kids do better with a wider pencil,youcan get them at a place like staples or a triangular pencil an occupational therapist can also help with handwriting,and it is often covered by insurance. Lots of school districts refer to OT if a student has trouble with handwriting. We did "Handwriting without tears" when my son was homeschooling and apparently he and my wife were crying at the same time but seeing an OT was very helpful He's 8. I've just been letting it go for a few years hoping it would self correct. I used to buy the big fat pencils when I could find them but I haven't seen them for a while and don't live by a staples. I can order them online which I may do. Thanks.
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Post by Marya Dabrowski on Nov 21, 2016 22:36:31 GMT -5
I am buying these!! Thanks so much.
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Post by EricH on Nov 22, 2016 14:25:24 GMT -5
I am buying these!! Thanks so much. You're quite welcome!
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Post by Clotilde on Nov 22, 2016 21:06:20 GMT -5
We have followed Seton's handwriting program since each child was four. They all have their varying degrees of style and neatness.
There are are lots of articles out there on boys and the physical aspect of writing which may interest you.
Regarding speed, three of my children have gone through Saxon drills, I found that timing them produced no different results than not timing them. Other homeschoolers with graduates have told me the same thing. We don't time anymore.
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Post by Voxxkowalski on Nov 23, 2016 5:52:48 GMT -5
I think timing causes damaging stress.
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Post by jen51 on Nov 23, 2016 8:30:10 GMT -5
As a child, I know I wouldn't want to be timed in writing. My absolute favorite thing about gradeschool math was the drills, though. I loved seeing how many problems I could solve in a minute!
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Post by RitaMarita on Nov 23, 2016 8:56:14 GMT -5
We have followed Seton's handwriting program since each child was four. They all have their varying degrees of style and neatness. There are are lots of articles out there on boys and the physical aspect of writing which may interest you. Regarding speed, three of my children have gone through Saxon drills, I found that timing them produced no different results than not timing them. Other homeschoolers with graduates have told me the same thing. We don't time anymore. We did all of this when I was growing up! I really liked Seton! It probably helped that we live 5 minutes from their main outpost though, so we knew a lot of the people who worked there too and could relate to everything.
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Post by Marya Dabrowski on Nov 23, 2016 11:17:58 GMT -5
We have followed Seton's handwriting program since each child was four. They all have their varying degrees of style and neatness. There are are lots of articles out there on boys and the physical aspect of writing which may interest you. Regarding speed, three of my children have gone through Saxon drills, I found that timing them produced no different results than not timing them. Other homeschoolers with graduates have told me the same thing. We don't time anymore. Thanks, but the problem of the math drills may have been solved. Since two days ago when I made a new rule that if they don't get 15 of 25 questions in the minute or 45 sec. they are assigned done or no movie for the day, their speed has increased significantly!! It was just two of my four kids that were sluggish. One realized he didn't have to write each number as neatly as possible and the other realized he could write more than one problem without re-adjusting his body between examples. My 8 year old does have horrible handwriting, though. I hope with those things Eric suggested he'll at least attempt to hold the pencil correctly. We don't use any set program. I write a Bible verse on the board each week and they have to copy it once or twice a day depending on their grade level. My other boys have nice handwriting; I'm not too picky. My mom was a real stickler about handwriting (we used Seton) and I remember crying a lot over it.
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Post by Marya Dabrowski on Nov 23, 2016 11:18:51 GMT -5
As a child, I know I wouldn't want to be timed in writing. My absolute favorite thing about gradeschool math was the drills, though. I loved seeing how many problems I could solve in a minute! I liked the math drills, too. We did them in public school when I went. I wasn't the fastest in the class but I liked them anyway.
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