Q
My eight-year-old son has terrible handwriting. It is often illegible. He is an honor roll student, even in a gifted program, but even with extensive practice - his writing never improves. His dad has the same type of writing. Could it be hereditary? I'm afraid as he gets older his teachers won't be so tolerant of his messy papers.
A
If a parent has a learning disability that affects his or her visual or auditory processing, a child might have a similar problem that makes handwriting difficult. There is also the possibility that your child has poor vision for sustained close work in school. Other reasons for poor handwriting include: trying to disguise spelling problems, having poor small motor skills, holding a pencil incorrectly, and failing to learn all the basic handwriting skills essential to legibility. This last reason is why most children write illegibly.
Look closely at your child's handwriting, and also ask his teacher to evaluate it in the following areas which are the keys to legibility:
- Shape - Are the letters being formed correctly?
- Size - Are the short letters one half the size of the tall letters, and the intermediate letters three fourths the size of the tall letters? Letters of the same size should be the same height.
- Slant - The slant in legible writing is uniform. A slant between 60 and 70 degrees is best.
- Spacing - Spacing between letters, words, and sentences needs to be consistent.
- Staying on the line.