Handwriting & Kumon

[shaanmom]

HI my 5yo has really poor fine motor skills, particularly his handwriting and drawing abilities (anything to do with pen/paper). I would love to practice with him at home, but he refuses to sit with me preferring to play with his toys. It has turned into a real struggle! I have been recommended Kumon (not the maths, but the English programme), but wonder if there is anyone can recommend another programme not so rigid? And for Kumon if anyone can recommend a good centre around Central?
Thanks a lot...!

 

[rani]

Do bribes work? It's the only way we can get our guy to sit down and do any extra work after school.

 

[shaanmom]

Sadly ESFMum we have run out of bribes seeing that we are bribing him for a lot of things.... :-( Trying to avoid that route now..

Do bribes work? It's the only way we can get our guy to sit down and do any extra work after school.

 

[pixelelf]

maybe you could try incorporating handwriting exercises into his play? you'll have to prepare beforehand though. i have a very playful 4year old and these are stuff we do with him that seem to help with his fine motor skills.

- role play with him going to the doctor's.
i would draw lines on strips of long bandaids and have him cut along them to dispense to patients.

do name tags of patients in dots. so that he can write their names as they come and register to see a doc.

do up receipts and credit card slips so that he can "sign' his name to pay.

- label paper cups and plates for meals/ playdate/ pretend party
i would lightly write our names on them and he can choose to use markers/brushes/crayons to trace over

- blow up balloons together and doodle on them using markers. sometimes we doodle other times we write alphabets.

- sketch a story. say 3 little pigs. i would start drawing and telling story. sometimes i purposely say the wrong stuff, he would correct me and i let him take over and edit ;-)

with such activities, it helps to keep my son interested. he is motivated to pick up some handwriting books by himself to practice so that he can "play better"!


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[rani]

Great Ideas Pixel! Wish I was that creative. We resort to a reward system and sometimes bribes to motivate him. Good luck!

 

[shaanmom]

Hi Pixel, good ideas! Have inspired me to try to do this... he loves his cars, trucks & trains, maybe try playing train station or something like that. Thanks!!

 

[pixelelf]

Hi Pixel, good ideas! Have inspired me to try to do this... he loves his cars, trucks & trains, maybe try playing train station or something like that. Thanks!!

hope it works for u. we've also done rewards and bribery but i really don't like it. it doesn't encourage the love for learning nor nurture it to come from within. alot of our neighbours advise us to try kumon and enopi, swearing they work. we've brought him there to assess but he isnt ready to sit and go thru the grilling at all. in fact it puts him off so much. i truly find that learning the way we do at home thru play goes a longer way.

at the end of the day, when he decides to take out some workbook to practice by himself, or ask me to help him with difficult ones, without us bribing him, that's what im looking for. for him to want to better himself for himself.

i always remember what my dad told me. "learning is not a race. it's how deep one understands and fall in love with."

have a great day!

 

[ychia76]

fine motor skills

I have two kids with special needs in fine motor skills. They work with an Occupational Therapist. Sometimes underlining could be because of their sensory processing difficulty that would cause tactile defensiveness and not knowing the amount of pressure exert by the finger muscles because their brain can't really control.

My 6 year old was just like your son. He cries when it comes to writing or drawing. The OT worked with him last June to now and he is no longer crying and he is happy to write his name. And now we are working on other things with him. My 4 year old has even more issues.

Definitely the play methods will be more fun than just write for writing sake. Even if it is playing with play dough and forming the letter forms with food and stringing beads to learn. My son loves Lego so we use that to make the letter forms and use that for counting. And do a lot of tracing with fingers using paint or sand. Cooking also helps we make pizza and pancakes. Art and crafts that require cutting and gluing. Anything that you can exercise the hands and fingers are good for pre writing skills. To strengthen the connection with hand eye coordinations.

HI my 5yo has really poor fine motor skills, particularly his handwriting and drawing abilities (anything to do with pen/paper). I would love to practice with him at home, but he refuses to sit with me preferring to play with his toys. It has turned into a real struggle! I have been recommended Kumon (not the maths, but the English programme), but wonder if there is anyone can recommend another programme not so rigid? And for Kumon if anyone can recommend a good centre around Central?
Thanks a lot...!

 

[shaanmom]

Hi, would it be possible to get the contacts of your OT? Pls message me. Thanks!

I have two kids with special needs in fine motor skills. They work with an Occupational Therapist. Sometimes underlining could be because of their sensory processing difficulty that would cause tactile defensiveness and not knowing the amount of pressure exert by the finger muscles because their brain can't really control.

My 6 year old was just like your son. He cries when it comes to writing or drawing. The OT worked with him last June to now and he is no longer crying and he is happy to write his name. And now we are working on other things with him. My 4 year old has even more issues.

Definitely the play methods will be more fun than just write for writing sake. Even if it is playing with play dough and forming the letter forms with food and stringing beads to learn. My son loves Lego so we use that to make the letter forms and use that for counting. And do a lot of tracing with fingers using paint or sand. Cooking also helps we make pizza and pancakes. Art and crafts that require cutting and gluing. Anything that you can exercise the hands and fingers are good for pre writing skills. To strengthen the connection with hand eye coordinations.