CYH: Member Question – Helping a reluctant writer

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I love answering questions direction from CYH members. There’s a question form on the main membership page, so if you have a question, please enter it into the form. It will go straight to my email, and I can either respond directly or answer with a blog post or video.

Q:

Any advice for reluctant writers? My 6 year old is very hesitant to practice writing. He loves playing with Playdough and legos but he doesn’t love coloring and does not want to try writing his letter. We have completely stopped using his handwriting curriculum, and we are taking a break, but are there ways to encourage him to try again that is fun? Do I just wait for him to be interested?

A:

It’s really common for young kids to be reluctant to writing, especially before their hands are fully developed.

Of my own five kids, two of them had ZERO interest in writing at six years old. I don’t believe at this age that it’s helpful to push formal handwriting or even push them to write if they aren’t ready.

At this age, I’m not as concerned with proper letter formation as much as I want them to enjoy the process of writing. If they don’t – I back off. When a child is ready and their fine motor skills have developed more, they are more able to practice letter development.

Handwriting actually doesn’t begin with writing letters; it begins with fine motor skills. So when young kids are still developing, it can be challenging for them to hold a pencil or write letters correctly. Things that aren’t as difficult:

• painting – try painting with different sized brushes, fingers, q-tips, etc.
• drawing or writing with dry erase markers
• forming letters with playdough
• drawing with their fingers in salt, sand, dirt, shaving cream, etc.
• using magnet letters to form words

Check out this CYH post with specific activities to practice fine motor skills

Sometimes the physical task of writing is just challenging. It might have nothing at all to do with how much they know, but just their physical ability to write. So I take that struggle out of the equation. Some ways to do that:

• have them dictate to you while you write; they could trace the words (but don’t push this if they’re resisting).
• have them draw instead of write
• let them type on a computer
• use letter tiles or magnet letters or word cards to make sentences
• instead of writing full sentences, have them write one word in a speech bubble or to label a picture
• write your child’s name on a card and laminate so they can trace it

A lot of handwriting and language arts instruction puts a big emphasis on correct pencil grip and proper letter formation. But these things don’t happen overnight and aren’t deal breakers, especially at six years old. In fact, occupational therapists will tell you that if a child’s pencil grip isn’t uncomfortable and doesn’t hinder them – it’s not something to worry about.

Instead of focusing on the mechanics of the physical writing process, tap into your child’s interests and things they like to make writing fun:

• Write letters to friends (do this together or let them type on a computer)
• Give them Post-it notes to label things around the house
• Do nature journaling with watercolors or fun colored pencils and help them add in words
• Make a scavenger hunt and write clues together
• Find a light box for tracing so they can trace pictures or words of something they like (an animal, sport, etc.)
• Practice different art techniques
• Tell stories without making your child write them down – let them draw, you write the story down, act the story out, use puppets to tell the story, or just tell the story aloud
• Use the Roll a Story printable

Play letter and word games:

• Scrabble
• Silly Sentences
• Magnet poetry
• Madlibs
• P is for Pizza
• Sequence Letters
• Zingo Sight Words
• Wiz Kids
• UpWords
• Scattergories Jr.

Here’s the most important thing:

Don’t let writing become such a struggle that they begin to hate it. When they begin to show interest or their fine motor skills improve enough for them not to be so resistant, start again.

It’s more than okay to just stop, to release ALL the pressure, and just shift your focus to other areas of learning.

You may also like these CYH posts:

Roll a Story with Printable
Nature Journaling
Easy Fine Motor Activities for All Ages