"I cannot read your writing"
"Please write neater"
"Writing is too messy"
Have you heard this from your child's teacher before?! Or, better question, when have you NOT heard this? ;)
Messy handwriting is nothing new for us seasoned parents or teachers. Trying to decode and decipher what a student has written can be TRICKY!
But what we do know is that student's with neat handwriting get better grades. FACT.
"...when students find it difficult to write legibly, it affects they overall achievement in school mathematics and hence weakens their educational progress"
-January 2014, Mathematics Education Trends and Research
"Students' poor handwriting negatively affects their overall academic achievement"
-April 2023, Journal of Jilin University (Engineering and Technology Edition)
The impact of illegible handwriting on academics, and eventually job performance, is real. We've heard from adults in their 40s and 50s that describe the pain and embarrassment they feel about their written output.
Handwriting is NOT just a skill for elementary school.
It is a skill for LIFE. It supports literacy development early on and serves as a tool for communication, mental health via journaling, and as a prominent researcher once put it... writing is "language by hand."
Would we help a child who is struggling to speak? Absolutely.
Would we help a child who is struggling to read? Let's hope so.
So we MUST make it a priority to help a child who is struggling to write.
The impact of struggling writers is REAL. From poor self-efficacy to diminished confidence, the research is clear that when children struggle with writing, their mental health is impacted.
And you probably already know this. Because you see your student avoid writing! Because you see them become frustrated with writing! Because they vehemently HATE writing!!
Good news?! It doesn't have to be that way. With the right instruction and remediation, with the appropriate accommodations, and with the use of best practice and evidence based tools... our students WILL succeed. Are we hoping for beautiful penmanship? Not quite. What we are working towards is legible, efficient, and automatic writing. So they can use their cognitive load to focus on WHAT to write, not HOW to write!!
Does this hit you in the feels?
I get it!
As a parent and a professional I have seen the lowest of lows when it comes to writing. But guess what?! I've also seem kids SOAR with writing, improving and progressing to the point where they no longer need support and their teachers are amazed! Want this for you child? Book a free consultation and let's chat.