Children who hate to write or have a history of problems with writing may have an undiagnosed learning disorder called dysgraphia or a learning disorder of written expression. a learning disorder of writing does not mean that your child can’t write, but has difficulty writing efficiently and easily. Writing is one of the most complex activities we perform as humans. to write a one page letter to your friend, you must perform over 30 to 40 functions at a time. you perform grapho motor functions which include how you grip your pencil or pen, how much finger muscle pressure you apply to control your writing instrument, your posture in the seat, how you move your shoulder and arm, etc. Some children also develop avoidance, opposition or defiance as a way of coping with the anticipated difficulty of performing the writing task. If your child does appear to have problems with functional vision, a more comprehensive assessment by a behavioral optometrist is recommended. we have several people that we work with that can more clearly identify the type s of vision problems and suggest ways of correcting them. If your child appears to have grapho motor problems which interfere with the writing process, further assessment by an occupational therapist may be needed along with specific therapeutic techniques to address your child’s needs. If pragmatic language is an issue, social skills training in a peer group or one to one setting may be helpful in improving your child’s ability to more effectively interact with his/her peers. If your child shows weakness in the technical concepts of writing or language, services through your school’s special education program may be useful and/or accommodation or modification in your child’s educational program can help him/her become less frustrated and more competent in their writing performance.

Rdquo

reversals in written letters or numbers younger children poor spacing of words in a sentence laborious writing mdash takes a long time to complete an assignment prints instead of using cursive older children copies poorly from books knows capitalization rules, but ignores them in writing makes letters bottom to top good orally, but written work is poor. if your child exhibits some of these symptoms, it would be worthwhile to do some further investigating to see how pervasive this writing problem is. There are several ways to do this, but one easy way is to tear a small hole in a piece of paper, and have the child hold it at arm rsquo s length while peering through the hole at an object on the wall. Instruct the child not to move his arms, while you go behind and cover one eye, and ask if he can still see the object without moving the paper.

We sight with our dominant eye, so when you cover that eye, the object on the wall will seem to ldquo disappear. Rdquo if your child is left eyed and right handed, or right eyed and left handed, he or she is ldquo mixed dominant. Rdquo this invites a great deal of confusion in the writing process, and requires considerably more energy to write than for a child who is ldquo uniform dominant, rdquo right eyed and right handed or left eyed and left handed. It rsquo s as if they are starting the writing process with only ldquo half a battery. Rdquo therefore we recognize mixed dominance as being a possible factor in the child rsquo s ability to easily ldquo think and write rdquo at the same time. The writing process does not become automatic so the child continues to have to think about the letter formation, rather than the subject matter he or she is writing about.

Rdquo a child who is naturally ldquo hard wired rdquo for right handedness will make his ldquo o rsquo s rdquo counterclockwise. A child who is naturally ldquo hard wired rdquo for left handedness will make his ldquo o rsquo s rdquo clockwise. If your child does something opposite than this, that is a sign of major stress in the writing system.

Watch to see if he reverses any letters, or hesitates before directional letters like ldquo b,d,p,z. See if the beginning of the alphabet is made with large letters, and the end made much smaller. All of these characteristics are indicators to us that there is a real reason why this child is resisting writing assignments, and not just an argumentative child, or a character problem. Therefore don rsquo t write spelling words five times each and expect the child to learn them. Remember, he rsquo s thinking about the how to form the letters, not how to remember the spelling word.

We call this right brain spelling, showing a child how to store words in his photographic memory, which is what spelling bee winners do. Remember, that workbook writing was designed by schools to keep students busy while the teacher worked with others, and to assign grades for a child. Save the child rsquo s writing energy to write paragraphs, and essays for language and history. Correct a child rsquo s learning glitch by giving him a stable midline, or ldquo plumb line rdquo as we think of it. The easiest way to do this is by having your child perform a daily writing exercise that is designed to give the child a midline for writing and take the stress out of the writing system.

This exercise that rehabilitates a child rsquo s visual/motor system was created by dr. The exercise is performed on a large piece of construction paper, with a large ldquo eight rdquo drawn on it. The child sits directly in the middle of the ldquo eight, rdquo to encourage the body to recognize midline. This exercise has been used successfully for years in sports, to increase eye/hand coordination. Basketball, baseball and football coaches have used it with their high schoolers with great success, but it has been used for children as young as 4 years old, to improve fine motor coordination. Once you correct the midline issue, however, you find that they become willing participants in writing. This is one of the most common learning glitches we find in bright children who are not completing the written work required for their grade, and who have not learned the spelling words that we have taught them throughout the grades.

It does, however, require diligence on the parent rsquo s part, to carefully monitor the vital writing exercise four days a week for six months. 303 694 0532 , which diagnoses information processing problems in children, and gives corrections for the problems. For more articles by dianne visit her website at w.diannecraft.org it can be rather discouraging when a child simply dislikes writing. Let's explore some of the reasons a child may dislike writing and some solutions to address each of these factors. The first factor is that perhaps your child doesn't like the physical mechanics of writing. Does he hold his pencil with an uncomfortable grip? does he grip his pencil too hard and push too hard on the paper? does he have improper letter formation that requires a lot more writing to form each letter? these things usually correct themselves, but not always.

My children were required to do their typing program every single day for a few months, and then only once in a while after that. Some children don't dislike writing as much as they dislike having to pull creative thoughts out of their brains. I like what classical educators have to say about this: children need ideas put in their minds before they should be required to create new ideas. They should be filled with knowledge, ideas, concepts, truths, stories, literature, facts and information. Then, they should be asked to write about what they know, not come up with new ideas or required to develop an opinion. When they are older and have been exposed to great literature and a wealth of ideas, they will have a stronger knowledge base from which to pull creative ideas and thoughts.

They will also have the critical thinking skills, the ability to conceptualize abstract thoughts. At that point, they can create a great composition, story, persuasive essay or whatever it is the writing assignment requires. Another reason your child might dislike writing is because you, being the very thorough and wonderful teacher that you are, used their writing assignments as the examples of what they needed to work on in spelling and grammar. I have heard many homeschool moms say that they use their child's writing assignments to pick out spelling words, and teach proper grammar. This may be an economical use of their writing, but it is also a good way to discourage their love for writing.

How to Help a Child Who Hates Writing Text

Help Writing An Abstract