Progress Report

Collin received a progress report with a note stating that the teachers see some improvement in pencil grip. His special education teacher suggested outlining a box around the space where the word he was to write would be written. It looks like this helps. Many times the teachers write the word first in yellow highlighter and then Collin traces over it. he has no problem with letter formation, letter recognition, spelling and in fact is above his grade level in those areas. It is the pencil grip and the fine motor skill of actually pressing the pencil to the paper that is a challenge. We have various grips which do help. We have spent many hours watching and participating in Alphabeats (www.tvteacher.com)which he loves and we have OT one to two time weekly. This handwriting is slow to progress. Collin needs handwriting to get through school, I know. BUT, I am not going to stress to much about handwriting. He is learning to really use the computer and that is what most of us use at this point anyway. My brother has horrible handwriting(really unreadable) but that has not stopped him from achieving in life. He scored perfect on the SAT in high-school. He has more than one maters degree including one in finance from GW and is a Lieutenant Commander int he Navy and drive nuclear submarines. So, I know my child really struggles with handwriting, but I am going to focus on what he can do and help him be successful with out perfect manuscript!