It’s not just your child that struggles with penmanship.

He stood in front of the room eagerly reading off his book report, excited to have accomplished this project. I sat patiently, listening to every word…it was excellent writing. The words seemed to flow, and I understood that he learned quite a bit from his book. I was pleasantly surprised. He soon finished and looked at me for approval…I smiled and nodded, “That was great!” He handed me the page and sat down in his seat.

I glanced down at the paper…what in the world?! His handwriting was terrible! Although his writing skills were excellent, his penmanship needed a lot of improvement. If anyone else besides a teacher attempted to read this paper they would have had a lot of trouble. Luckily for me, teachers have superpowers and most of them can read chicken scratch.

That student was unforgettable to me—brilliant, chaotic, and full of energy. I loved his personality. He had great ideas, but he struggled to express them on paper. In language arts class, he would listen attentively, but when it was time to write down his thoughts, he faced difficulties. Other students often teased him about his handwriting, but what they didn’t understand was that his struggles were not due to a lack of intelligence; it was the physical process of writing that he found challenging.

Does this story sound familiar? As an educator and a parent of a child with ADHD, I deal with this daily struggle. Many studies have been conducted on ADHD and its connection to handwriting, making it a common topic among educators. You might even know a teacher who has run across this problem.

Unfortunately, that isn’t an easy question to answer. It’s a combination of a lot of things.

A significant majority of boys with ADHD struggle with fine motor skills. Although experts have not identified a specific reason for this, many theories exist, some of which contradict each other. Nonetheless, it is well-established that this issue is particularly common among boys with ADHD. In addition to challenges with fine motor skills, dysgraphia is linked to ADHD. (Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder that affects writing, reading, and spelling; however, I will save that discussion for another time.)

In our little homeschool project, we face challenges with handwriting as well. While occupational therapy can help children improve their handwriting skills, our focus is different. We concentrate on what the child is learning, how they are learning, and how they can demonstrate their understanding. Out of all our subjects, handwriting is far down on the priority list.

We work on language arts skills every day, which involves a fair amount of writing. However, our emphasis is more on the content of their writing rather than the appearance of the writing. When my children write a paragraph, I check to make sure they have used punctuation and grammar correctly and if they can identify things like independent and dependent clauses. If they show these skills, I am not concerned about whether their letters are perfectly formed or fall below the line. Those skills will improve over time.

That being said, below are some things that have helped our kiddos with handwriting and might also help yours!

1. Teach your kids to type! There a plenty of free or cheap typing courses available online! These are super fun, and many of them include typing games.
2. Mechanical pencils- These are more for the parents, but it does discourage the use of a pencil sharpener which can be a distraction in and of itself.
3. Ensure they are learning cursive handwriting: This might not work with your children, but it has been a game changer in our household. Although we still struggle with handwriting, there is something to not having to lift your pencil when forming individual letters.

Writing vs. Handwriting

Remember there is a difference between writing skills and handwriting skills.

4. Don’t focus on more handwriting, focus on better writing skills. Handwriting will eventually improve…over time, but in a lot of cases, practice does not equal perfect. Instead, focus on very specific writing goals. After they have finished a writing project, have them grade their handwriting. What do they feel they can improve on?

As parents, we have the right to determine what is best for our children in terms of education and parenting. What works for one parent may not work for another, but it’s important to share information if you feel you can help other parents. You never know who will benefit from your advice!

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