Two Ways to Help Children Who Get Frustrated with Writing

Often a child has difficulty forming perfect letters and numbers due to the fine motor skills challenge it presents. This may cause emotions to run high. From the child's perspective the skill being attempted may seem impossible.

Working on the concept of perfectionism helps. See this wonderful page from the National Association of School Psychologists for more on this topic.

So does practice. The challenge is to give plenty of opportunities for practice but at the same time make sure it is fun, at least at first.

#1: Make it larger.

A child who struggles writing letters and numbers may need a bigger space to write them. This can also be helpful with very active children because it allows their bodies to move around a little bit, too.

Gather 8.5 x 11" pieces of paper, preferably white copy paper for ease of use. You will need as many pieces as the letters in your child's name. Draw dashed lines in the outline of each of the letters in your child's name, one per piece of paper. (Don't make the dashes too close together or it looks like the child's work is already done.)

Tape the pieces of paper on the floor or a table within easy reach of your child, in the order of your child's name. Ask him or her to trace the letters to spell the name. Give lots of encouragement and laugh with him or her if that's appropriate.

Note: If this is still hard and too frustrating for your child, allow him or her to practice drawing lines alongside a ruler, which will eventually, with practice, make very straight lines that a perfectionist-leaning child will like.

#2: Do Dot-to-Dots.

Dot-to-dots are a less threatening way to make lines from a specific place to another specific place. Children who feel threatened by the idea that they have to make a perfect letter may not feel threatened at all making lines that will reveal a fun shape. It is best to give a few dot-to-dots in a row, or as many as your child wants to do (within reason), in order from simplest to hardest.

Additional Activities:

My son also likes any activity better when it's done in a Kumon workbook. He has tried this one and this one and this one.

I also refer you to one of my favorite learning activities blogs, Children's Learning Activities, for their activities that work on fine motor skills.