I can't read that
BY RONDA ADDY

The teacher has just informed you that your child is having a bit of trouble writing. The first thing you want to know is what you can do to help. Here are some tips.

Until they have developed good motor skills, children aren't able to write very well. Every child's motor skills develop differently, but the more your child uses their fingers in activities, the sooner their motor skills will develop. Activities to help a child develop their motor skills include:

• Have them play with clay to strengthen their fingers and hand muscles.

• Encourage them to play with action figures, small blocks, miniature cars and any other small toys they can find.

• Put puzzles together with them.

• Encourage them to do art projects using scissors, crayons and paper tearing.

• Play games with them that involve using cards or small game pieces.

• Have them stack coins according to denomination.

• Help them learn to tie and lace their shoes and button their clothes.

Handwriting problems occur in five main areas: letter formation, sizing, spaces between words, letter slant and line alignment. To help with letter formation, there are a number of activities. Try having your child write a letter in shaving cream or sand. Use arrows beside the letter to show them how to form the letter correctly. Take a picture and have your child write a letter by all the things that begin with that letter. Make a word search with lots of words using that letter. Pick a topic and have your child make up a list of words using the letter that are associated with that topic. Play Tic Tac Toe using different letters.

To help with letter sizing, experiment with making giant and tiny letters. Take something your child has written and circle letters that are too big or too little. Have them copy a sentence using big letters one time and tiny letters the next.

To help with letter spacing, have your child write some sentences on graph paper and leave two or three squares between the words. Have them write down a word, then place the index finger of their nonwriting hand after the word and write the next word to the right of the finger.

To help with letter slant, draw a diagonal line on a chalkboard and have your child write a word on the board as many times as necessary to get the slant right. Practice with imagery, such as going up the mountain and down the mountain.