https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sat, 04 Apr 2026 23:30:34 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925604 Mon, 29 Nov 2021 09:01:41 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2925604@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Jess1483: great tip! We've loved everything on Outschool so far so I'll definitely look into writing classes. Thanks! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925574 Mon, 22 Nov 2021 22:17:47 +0000 Jess1483 2925574@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I teach on Outschool (but I teach and tutor phonics, so I promise this isn’t self-promotion). I’ve seen (and my kids have taken) some pretty awesome writing classes (both handwriting and content). It may be worth looking into, both group classes and tutoring are available. Let me know if you want any help finding good classes or qualified tutors! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925573 Mon, 22 Nov 2021 20:01:34 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2925573@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Grace: yup, that's the hard part. She knows she doesn't like writing. We talked this weekend about not having to like it but getting to be better at it because it's part of our learning. She seems to get that and said that she likes writing for what she enjoys (right now it's recipes she's making up) but not when she has to do assignments at school, even when the prompts are fun. I definitely don't want to write it off, I think it's an important skill, and I just want to get her there in the least painful way possible. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925566 Mon, 22 Nov 2021 11:00:51 +0000 Grace 2925566@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think a part of it could have to do with her desire to be better. You say yourself, she’s just trying to get it over and done with. I think somehow making it a game might help. My daughter (a leftie) had pretty bad printing and then this year, decided that she wanted it to be “pretty” and suddenly she had great printing. So I’d say your LO needs to want it for herself. </p> <p>As an aside, for all the people saying writing isn’t necessary and everything will be typewritten, I think it’s too early in a kid’s life to write it off. I work in a pharmaceutical company and results of tests are written down. And legibility counts. If people can’t read what you wrote, then you can’t say that the drug you made is safe. I can’t believe I’m in the only industry where legibility is important and things are written by hand. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925538 Thu, 18 Nov 2021 11:45:08 +0000 Beehive 2925538@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: And actually, she does virtual lessons as well, if you'd like to go that route. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925537 Thu, 18 Nov 2021 09:19:07 +0000 Beehive 2925537@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: I actually asked a local mom group, and they gave a couple recommendations. In case it's helpful to look for the same sort of thing in your area, here is the tutor we use: <a href="https://www.littlelettersnyc.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.littlelettersnyc.com/</a><br /> I'm happy to ask her if she has any recommendations for the DC area when we see her on Monday! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925536 Thu, 18 Nov 2021 09:10:43 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2925536@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@kce56: I am in the DC area and yes, I would love the info, thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925535 Thu, 18 Nov 2021 09:10:16 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2925535@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Beehive: How did you find your tutor? I think this is probably the right move for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925532 Wed, 17 Nov 2021 23:26:42 +0000 Beehive 2925532@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: My son sounds similar to your daughter. He just turned 9 and is in 4th grade. Reads well above grade level and is good at math, no fine or gross motor issues, but his handwriting isn't good, and for my son it's making writing less enjoyable for him. We actually hired a handwriting tutor about a month ago, and it's really great. She has pinpointed exactly what he needs to do in order to write well, focuses on letter formation and spacing. He loves the lessons too. I'd strongly suggest looking into it - there was no way we were going to get our son to improve using workbooks or pushing him ourselves, but he's really responding to a tutor. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925531 Wed, 17 Nov 2021 17:37:17 +0000 kce56 2925531@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Carrot: So my son did OT when he was 4-5 for more broad motor issues, and "graduated" about halfway through kindergarten. He still struggled with handwriting, so his school recommended an OT that specializes in writing—the OT comes to the (private) school once a week and works with a bunch of kids. I don't know if this is common, but if you're in the DC metro area, I can give you our OT's info! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925527 Wed, 17 Nov 2021 16:11:25 +0000 peaches1038 2925527@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <br /><p><i>This comment has been deleted by the original poster.</i></p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925525 Wed, 17 Nov 2021 15:04:19 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2925525@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@kce56: are you working with an OT for writing specifically or more broad motor issues? I've been wondering about whether to look into this but it seems like this is really the only issue we have and I wasn't sure an OT is the right path forward or just doing more practice, tutoring, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925524 Wed, 17 Nov 2021 15:00:30 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2925524@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@meadow: agreed. She doesn't need to write beautifully but legible would be a massive improvement. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925523 Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:59:40 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2925523@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: this is my daughter's from the other day - she made me a business card. She articulates her ideas beautifully when she talks (her 1st grade teacher recommended I record her and have her transcribe things, which works really well for more complex assignments) but the writing always looks like this, especially in school when she's trying to just get it over with. </p> [attach=5264/21/r2qfjg.450x600.IMG_1395.jpg] https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925522 Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:57:08 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2925522@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Chuckles: I haven't seen any other issues. She manages just fine with scissors, buttons, zippers, knives when we cook, etc. and I've heard her read out loud so I don't see any decoding issues either. She truly doesn't like writing in general, because her brain is really fast and she just wants to get her ideas out and the process is just too slow for her liking, so that's a big part of why I'm not sure whether this is something to force practice on or ride it out. We battled quite a bit when everything went virtual about doing more writing practice - she just hates it, especially things like tracing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925516 Wed, 17 Nov 2021 08:12:01 +0000 periwinklebee 2925516@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@meadow: Yes, as a college instructor who has to grade hundreds of exams - a combination of writing and math - I think I have an unusually high value for legible handwriting. Math would be cumbersome to type out for an exam in latex and hence is almost always done by hand. We can't have students type their essays either on laptops if it is closed book b/c cheating. In some jobs, even if done with tech, white boarding is a central part of brainstorming meetings... There's also just something nice about, i.e. being able to write a legible handwritten thank you note. I think working towards legible - with reasonable spelling - is very worth it, without needing to strive for perfection... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925514 Wed, 17 Nov 2021 05:51:37 +0000 meadow 2925514@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Not to be a debby downer, but I just have to throw in that everything isnt typed as the move up the grades. For example .... in math solving complicated algebra equations without being able to write legible = ☹ </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925511 Tue, 16 Nov 2021 22:51:42 +0000 bhbee 2925511@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We didn’t do it for this specific reason, but my oldest took a cursive class on outschool and I think it was pretty useful! All they do to “teach” it at school is send home workbooks for cursive but a live teacher was better. We did it during the summer - about 10 classes and they had practice work in between but not a ton. I wanted her to learn but she also just loves how fancy it looks :happy: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925507 Tue, 16 Nov 2021 20:47:19 +0000 Chuckles 2925507@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: I think your daughter's handwriting is pretty good! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925506 Tue, 16 Nov 2021 20:46:10 +0000 Chuckles 2925506@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I also wanted to add that just because a kid can have better handwriting when they slow down, that doesn't mean that actually everything is fine. It might be that it takes so much extra concentration and physical effort to write more clearly that she has less energy to focus on the content. Or writing just becomes exhausting in general. They do make paper with guidelines for letter and word spacing, if you want something to practice with. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925505 Tue, 16 Nov 2021 17:43:31 +0000 Anagram 2925505@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I would probably have her do some fun/interesting to her writing on a regular basis. After 2020’s lockdown period and then last year’s partially online school, I felt like my older daughters handwriting was also suffering. </p> <p>But this year, they have “night writes” 4 times a week for homework, and although it’s kind of a lot (along with Math homework) I can see that her handwriting is improving and her writing structure is improving as well. She’s a lefty, so I’ve always kept an eye and I do try to correct when I see her making sloppy mistakes—but I was a lot more lax last year and I think her handwriting suffered from the online stuff. </p> <p>My kiddo is above grade level in reading, probably in grade level for writing—these are some recent night writes that came back in her folder today. One is from October and one is from yesterday. I already think the one from yesterday is slightly more advanced in terms of sentence construction—hard to tell in such a short time though. Handwriting is similar, a little more sloppy on yesterday’s work.</p> <p>ETA: I totally peeped the walls at all her classmates work during parent/teacher conference, specifically because I was worried about my daughter’s handwriting. I found she was middle of the pack—a couple of kids with super neat writing, a couple with barely readable, and the majority in the middle like my daughter, so that reassured me a little. </p> <p>[attach=2976/21/r2osgj.450x600.8CCACE99-0C62-4B78-9201-39CAACEF1A56.jpeg]</p> <p>[attach=2976/21/r2osgl.600x450.A8C17BB7-ED2B-40B9-AA32-D9004C2E9FBC.jpeg] </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925503 Tue, 16 Nov 2021 15:41:53 +0000 Chuckles 2925503@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Coming at this from the perspective of a teacher, I would ask, is there something else going on fine motor or language-wise that would have a bigger impact, long term? Like, does she have issues with cutting with scissors, buttoning, etc? Or other issues with decoding that would be related to spelling? If not, then I agree with PP's that leaning into typing and spell check, or speech-to-text even, will help with a lot of that in the long term. Especially if they haven't had a lot of direct spelling instruction, it makes sense that it's lagging behind her decoding skills, even if we think it should be related. My third grader, who also reads above grade level (though just a little), got a good amount of phonics instruction last year but has a hard time using that to spell new words. And this year is such a reset, even though I think his school did pretty well with remote learning. At the start of the year, he guessed that "take" might be spelled "taic" based on what he knows phonetically. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925501 Tue, 16 Nov 2021 14:31:08 +0000 poppygirl15 2925501@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm so glad to see other people dealing with this. My DD is the same (4th grade). I tell her that if she wants to be understood, then it's important for her to write legibly. She hates that. But it's true! FWIW, she does know how to type (school taught the kids last year) and has no problem typing.</p> <p>However, I hadn't thought about telling her to write in cursive. They learned cursive last year and she loved it. I am totally going to encourage that. Otherwise, all of our kids will just have to become doctors. :silly: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925500 Tue, 16 Nov 2021 12:59:16 +0000 hitchhiker 2925500@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I second the recommendation of cursive. My daughter's school teaches cursive, and her third grade teacher admitted that when she started at the school she was skeptical about its utility, but she has found that it is a great reset for kids who were/are perceived as having bad standard handwriting. </p> <p>But above all, I wouldn't let this keep you up at night - my kid sounds academically similar to yours, and her spelling is TERRIBLE. I think it comes from a similar place of wanting to get her ideas onto paper very quickly. I spent a little time worrying about it, but realized that with the prolific spell checks available, it just isn't as important as it once was. Same goes for handwriting. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925498 Tue, 16 Nov 2021 12:26:23 +0000 kce56 2925498@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Your daughter sounds exactly like my son, also a third grader. Great reader, great at math, terrible handwriting (my husband and I both have crappy handwriting, so not too surprising from a genetic standpoint), and rushing through assignments.</p> <p>A few things that have helped:<br /> - He sees an OT who specializes in fine motor/handwriting once a week. His work with the OT looks much better than his regular classwork, but it shows that he is actually is capable if he takes his time.<br /> - Every morning, he writes a "morning message" to someone in the family. He's an early riser, so it helps fill the time and he can write whatever he wants—even something silly.<br /> - Cursive! My son's teacher is very into teaching cursive and his writing actually looks better when he writes in cursive. I've heard it's easier for some kids because you aren't lifting your pencil off the paper. </p> <p>We also spoke with a developmental specialist about this (were discussing other issues with her, but this came up). Her feedback was to skip writing all together and try to focus on typing. As kids move up in the grades, they type all their assignments anyway and handwriting is of declining importance (for better or worse). So we're looking into typing classes to give him a way to express himself—though we're not totally giving up on the handwriting yet. </p> <p>Hope this helps! :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/should-i-be-doing-something-about-my-kids-terrible-writing#post-2925497 Tue, 16 Nov 2021 12:05:07 +0000 Mrs. Carrot 2925497@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My daughter is 8 (third grade). She's reading at multiple grade levels ahead and is in next-grade-level math but her writing is atrocious. Truly illegible atrocious. Words run together/no spacing, she still flips letters and numbers around, spelling is awful (though she's a voracious reader, but they don't have spelling instruction in school), you name it. Her teachers have told me that they're not worried and that in part because of the pandemic and virtual school last year kids are behind in writing mechanics. Which I get, but I see writing from kids in 1st and 2nd grade that's miles ahead of hers so that's not the only explanation. When she types, rather than handwrites, it's a little better (though we still have to edit for punctuation, capitalization and spelling) but handwriting is just bad. A large issue is that she moves very fast in order to "get it over with" so it does get somewhat better when I force her to slow down (e.g. when she makes a card for a friend) but without that prompting, it doesn't happen and even with it, it's still just not good. </p> <p>This is keeping me up at night and I'm not sure if I should be giving her extra practice or make her do workbooks or something. I really don't want to, in part because her school doesn't do homework so she isn't bringing anything home to practice and I don't want to force something on her, but I'm also worrying that this isn't going to get better and she'll face some harsh feedback as she keeps getting older. </p> <p>Would love some reality checks either way here. Thank you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gifted-child-resources-and-kinder-advice#post-2924187 Fri, 25 Jun 2021 21:37:09 +0000 ChitownRo 2924187@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I've appreciated reading all of your experiences and recommendations. </p> <p>Our schooling experience has been impacted by covid, so it's difficult to know what our local school could offer. But my DS7 was SO unhappy during remote 1st grade this winter (self harm threats, everything was just horrible). We eventually withdrew him entirely. Then when he went back in person this spring, he still resisted and every morning was a battle with school refusal. "I don't want to listen to the normal lessons. I don't care if they give me harder math sheets." He started seeing a therapist that specializes in gifted children. The therapist suggested private school (there are a few in our area that target gifted kids) vs grade acceleration. I wasn't thrilled with either of these options so we talked with our public school again. I definitely contributed to our struggles bc I didn't want to burden the teachers/staff given all of the challenges of covid. But hopefully once the kids are vaccinated this fall, they will do small groups and not enforce social distancing. I'm definitely still nervous about it and have big picture worries frequently.</p> <p>It feels like such a first world problem to complain about a gifted child, but he can be so exhausting physically, mentally and emotionally. I do appreciate reading experiences of other families via online groups or IG accounts.</p> <p>To answer one direct question - @Mrs. Starfish: I like the FB group "raising poppies" for advice. Though it's often disconcerting bc most people don't get the support they need from their schools. There seem to be many families that homeschool in that group. I also follow "champion your gifted child" on IG and they have posts that resonate with me sometimes.</p> <p>One way we connect and stimulate him is definitely via games. Favorites include Settlers of Catan, Qwirkle, Ticket to Ride, Clue, rummikub (or rummy with cards), and lots of card games. Teaching him a few versions of solitaire was also a real win. I allow more screen time if he's playing apps with redeeming value. He's currently obsessed with Wordscapes (sort of like Boggle).</p> <p>Wishing you and your girls all of the best. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gifted-child-resources-and-kinder-advice#post-2924184 Fri, 25 Jun 2021 13:37:23 +0000 Chuckles 2924184@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bhbee: Thanks! I hope so. First grade felt like that to me here - he seemed to be doing the same thing literally the entire year. At least this past year they learned about subtraction with regrouping. And certainly benefit of the doubt to his teacher since his class was remote the whole year, but once he clearly knew how to do it, there was nothing else offered. They just kept practicing the same thing over and over. Hopefully next year will be better!<br /> @Mrs. Starfish: I will have to think of some games. We do a lot of talking about things like division and multiplication just in the context of everyday stuff. I don't know if you have something like this where you are, but there is a summer camp called Galileo that is all science based that DS did a couple summers ago. I think it's national. And we also have a bunch of after school and summer options from a gifted center that's run by Northwestern University, though we haven't pursued that yet.<br /> @Baby Boy Mom: oh man, we have a few progressive, project-based learning schools here that I really wish DS could go to, but private school is way outside our budget. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gifted-child-resources-and-kinder-advice#post-2924183 Fri, 25 Jun 2021 11:50:23 +0000 periwinklebee 2924183@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Starfish: I'm in New England and it is huge here, also know a ton of people in California who did it but no idea if it's a thing in other parts of the U.S. Though I think now in the covid era there are probably far more fully virtual options available. When I first heard about it, the name just sounded weird, but I think they do an amazing job with the curriculum.</p> <p>@Baby Boy Mom: My mom used to have her own small Montessori preschool. We've inherited her materials, and I absolutely love it. Some are falling apart at this point but I'm amazed how well my older son learns from them. If we had a good Montessori elementary nearby, I would be super tempted... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/gifted-child-resources-and-kinder-advice#post-2924182 Fri, 25 Jun 2021 10:59:24 +0000 ilovepie 2924182@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don't have a gifted kid, but my youngest is almost the same age as your two. He's able to play games way above his age level just because we play games all the time. Some favorites (closer to his age) are Sleeping Queens, Trash Pandas, Ticket to Ride (first Journey), and the Junior Catan.</p> <p> We also just got Dino Math Tracks and Quixx to try for this year with his 7 year old brother. But they both also play Clank!, Quirkle, Azul and other adult games with us all the time. </p>