Need advise on 7yo handwriting
mozafamily
Hi - We've been unschooling for more than a year now and some things
are going good and I'm trying to trust my son and for most things it
is easy, but I'm having a difficult time with how to talk with the
following issue with him - or perhaps I shouldn't talk with him
about it at all but I feel like we've been not communicating as well
as we could be lately anyhow because I'm stressed over other things.
Anyhow he wanted to write his grandma a thank you note for sending
him money for his birthday, he just turned 7 so I helped him find
the markers and a clean page in his notebook and asked him what he
wanted to write and he told me so I wrote it out for him to copy as
he asked. He did the gra fine (all caps but that's fine with me)
then you could tell he was getting frustrated on the n and then made
a big mess on the d and gave up. I asked him if I could help with
anything and he said no he needed a break and was going to go watch
tv. That was about a week ago and I'm just not sure what I should be
doing, do I ask him about it? offer to buy him writing workbooks to
help ease his anxiety over writing? Just leave it alone? And he has
a big chocolate fixation lately and he's putting on weight because
of it, I leave cheese and carrots and more healthy stuff for him at
easy reach but he still goes for his stash of chocolate poptarts &
pudding cups. I try and only buy him one sweet at the store a trip
but dad let him sneak him an extra today! I don't buy any sweets for
myself, I'ld rather make good cookies at home but he hasn't been
interested in that lately either. Freedom & trust are hard. I'm
going to try and read some more of playful parenting tonight perhaps
that will give me some ideas.
are going good and I'm trying to trust my son and for most things it
is easy, but I'm having a difficult time with how to talk with the
following issue with him - or perhaps I shouldn't talk with him
about it at all but I feel like we've been not communicating as well
as we could be lately anyhow because I'm stressed over other things.
Anyhow he wanted to write his grandma a thank you note for sending
him money for his birthday, he just turned 7 so I helped him find
the markers and a clean page in his notebook and asked him what he
wanted to write and he told me so I wrote it out for him to copy as
he asked. He did the gra fine (all caps but that's fine with me)
then you could tell he was getting frustrated on the n and then made
a big mess on the d and gave up. I asked him if I could help with
anything and he said no he needed a break and was going to go watch
tv. That was about a week ago and I'm just not sure what I should be
doing, do I ask him about it? offer to buy him writing workbooks to
help ease his anxiety over writing? Just leave it alone? And he has
a big chocolate fixation lately and he's putting on weight because
of it, I leave cheese and carrots and more healthy stuff for him at
easy reach but he still goes for his stash of chocolate poptarts &
pudding cups. I try and only buy him one sweet at the store a trip
but dad let him sneak him an extra today! I don't buy any sweets for
myself, I'ld rather make good cookies at home but he hasn't been
interested in that lately either. Freedom & trust are hard. I'm
going to try and read some more of playful parenting tonight perhaps
that will give me some ideas.
Dana Matt
He did the gra fine (all caps but that's
thank-you letter", say "Do you want to draw a picture
of you playing with your new toy to send to grandma?"
or "Let me take a picture of you with your new toy for
grandma" or just buy a card and maybe he can draw a
picture inside or sign his name? All of those sound
like a lot less stress for a little guy who's not
ready to write....
Dana
Guadalupe's Coffee Roaster
100% Organic Fair Trade Coffee
Roasted to Perfection Daily
http://www.guadalupescoffee.com
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> fine with me)How about, instead of "Do you want to write grandma a
> then you could tell he was getting frustrated on the
> n and then made
> a big mess on the d and gave up. I asked him if I
> could help with
> anything and he said no he needed a break and was
> going to go watch
> tv. That was about a week ago and I'm just not sure
> what I should be
> doing, do I ask him about it?
thank-you letter", say "Do you want to draw a picture
of you playing with your new toy to send to grandma?"
or "Let me take a picture of you with your new toy for
grandma" or just buy a card and maybe he can draw a
picture inside or sign his name? All of those sound
like a lot less stress for a little guy who's not
ready to write....
Dana
Guadalupe's Coffee Roaster
100% Organic Fair Trade Coffee
Roasted to Perfection Daily
http://www.guadalupescoffee.com
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Personals - Better first dates. More second dates.
http://personals.yahoo.com
[email protected]
Let him dictate a note, type it, print it, and let him decorate it.
Enclose a photo of him and the gift.
At our house there's never been any "7 yo handwriting" except for copying.
That's another idea. Print a SHORT note out and see if he wants to copy it.
That's how most little kids at school anyway, copying.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Enclose a photo of him and the gift.
At our house there's never been any "7 yo handwriting" except for copying.
That's another idea. Print a SHORT note out and see if he wants to copy it.
That's how most little kids at school anyway, copying.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
-----Original Message-----
From: mozafamily <mozafamily@...>
He did the gra fine (all caps but that's fine with me)
then you could tell he was getting frustrated on the n and then made
a big mess on the d and gave up. I asked him if I could help with
anything and he said no he needed a break and was going to go watch
tv. That was about a week ago and I'm just not sure what I should be
doing, do I ask him about it? offer to buy him writing workbooks to
help ease his anxiety over writing? Just leave it alone.
-=-=-===-
With Cameron, I would write the note in light pencil and let him copy
over it with a fine-point felt pen/marker. Then he'd erase the pencil
marks with an artist's eraser.
Spelling was correct, the letters didn't get progressively huge or
tiny, and his frustration level was incredibly low. Winner all the way
around. He could practically do it in his sleep! <G> The added plus is
that he learned how a thank you note sounds. It wasn't long before he'd
dictate the notes to me. Now he writes them himself.
~Kelly
From: mozafamily <mozafamily@...>
He did the gra fine (all caps but that's fine with me)
then you could tell he was getting frustrated on the n and then made
a big mess on the d and gave up. I asked him if I could help with
anything and he said no he needed a break and was going to go watch
tv. That was about a week ago and I'm just not sure what I should be
doing, do I ask him about it? offer to buy him writing workbooks to
help ease his anxiety over writing? Just leave it alone.
-=-=-===-
With Cameron, I would write the note in light pencil and let him copy
over it with a fine-point felt pen/marker. Then he'd erase the pencil
marks with an artist's eraser.
Spelling was correct, the letters didn't get progressively huge or
tiny, and his frustration level was incredibly low. Winner all the way
around. He could practically do it in his sleep! <G> The added plus is
that he learned how a thank you note sounds. It wasn't long before he'd
dictate the notes to me. Now he writes them himself.
~Kelly
[email protected]
In a message dated 4/4/2005 9:41:23 AM Mountain Daylight Time,
kbcdlovejo@... writes:
The added plus is
that he learned how a thank you note sounds. It wasn't long before he'd
dictate the notes to me. Now he writes them himself.
----------
Cameron stayed with us for a week last month. He's 17 now and wrote THE
most glorious, mushy, long thank you note I've ever gotten from someone who
wasn't female, a professional writer, grown or all three. So listen to Kelly. <g>
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
kbcdlovejo@... writes:
The added plus is
that he learned how a thank you note sounds. It wasn't long before he'd
dictate the notes to me. Now he writes them himself.
----------
Cameron stayed with us for a week last month. He's 17 now and wrote THE
most glorious, mushy, long thank you note I've ever gotten from someone who
wasn't female, a professional writer, grown or all three. So listen to Kelly. <g>
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joanna Wilkinson
He did the gra fine (all caps but that's fine with me)
Before that, I wrote one letter at a time for him. I do that now for
my 5 yo Jamie. If I write a whole word for her to copy (more than 3
letters) she get confused and messes up usually.
Another thing we do is, I just say the letters one at a time. If they
don't know what it looks like, I write it down on another sheet or
I'll air write it.
They just wrote letters to my mom yesterday. I was suprised, because
Jack had never asked to write a letter to anyone before.
He only wrote 2 sentences, but the fact he wanted to do it, out of the
blue, was really sweet to me.
Jamie had to write one too when she found out about Jacks. Hers said,
Dear Gramom and Pops
Is it warm there?
What did you have for breakfast?
Pancakes or waffles?
We got a new refrigerator.
We got our computer fixed.
Write me back.
Love Jamie
It looks really adorable with big letters and small ones going
haphazardly across the page.
She also got really good writing her W's, and liked writing a word
with x in it.
My parents will love it.
Today, Jacks 4-H leader asked if I wanted a handwriting program for
him. I politely declined, and it didn't bother me in the least that
she mentioned it. I know he'll be fine. Good handwriting or not.
Joanna
> then you could tell he was getting frustrated on the n and then madeMy 8 1/2 yo Jack, is just now able to copy full words and sentences.
> a big mess on the d and gave up.
Before that, I wrote one letter at a time for him. I do that now for
my 5 yo Jamie. If I write a whole word for her to copy (more than 3
letters) she get confused and messes up usually.
Another thing we do is, I just say the letters one at a time. If they
don't know what it looks like, I write it down on another sheet or
I'll air write it.
They just wrote letters to my mom yesterday. I was suprised, because
Jack had never asked to write a letter to anyone before.
He only wrote 2 sentences, but the fact he wanted to do it, out of the
blue, was really sweet to me.
Jamie had to write one too when she found out about Jacks. Hers said,
Dear Gramom and Pops
Is it warm there?
What did you have for breakfast?
Pancakes or waffles?
We got a new refrigerator.
We got our computer fixed.
Write me back.
Love Jamie
It looks really adorable with big letters and small ones going
haphazardly across the page.
She also got really good writing her W's, and liked writing a word
with x in it.
My parents will love it.
Today, Jacks 4-H leader asked if I wanted a handwriting program for
him. I politely declined, and it didn't bother me in the least that
she mentioned it. I know he'll be fine. Good handwriting or not.
Joanna