My daughter has spent over a week at the new school with NO problems. She sleeps like a rock, does her homework first because the teacher said to, and she is making friends. She is also finally challenged academically. YEAH~
The only problem is they write in cursive and none of the new kids know how to read or write it well. We are working on it at home, but I am wondering how to help her keep up in class. Any suggestions will be welcome. The teacher told us he would work with us and not to freak out, but it is stressing all 4 new kids and moms out.
ADDED:She is in 4th and I wanted to get her therapy since K because she writes slowly but her ped and teachers said she didn't need it.
Just keep practicing at home. Kids learn new things pretty quick and the teacher isn't bothered by it. Relax.
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WOW!!! They are teaching in cursive!??! our school is "fading it out" and it bugs the living daylights out of me...
I would keep a sheet of lined paper at home and have her practice her name for a little bit each night after school or dinner...don't make it hard - but encourage it - because even though we are a technology age - she will HAVE to learn how to sign a check, a contract, hospital admission forms, etc. so she will HAVE to do it eventually...
GOOD LUCK!!
Just keep on it at home...get her some paper with the raised lines, some writing workbooks, etc and add a few pages to the homework.
Our school still teaches cursive (2nd grade) although I know it is falling by the wayside in some schools.
If she has never been taught cursive before, then you might need to go through the letters just a few per day. Either do them in groups of letters that are formed similarly, or compare each letter to the printed one. First work on being able to recognize each cursive letter. Then the next step is how the letters join together.
You can download cursive fonts for the computer and make your own worksheets. There's one that does it as dotted lines that are perfect for tracing. My son used a handwriting workbook at school from Handwriting Without Tears from hwtears.com which is supposed to be good.
I didn't even know they still taught cursive. Ya learn something new everyday.
cursive is becoming a controversial thing in itself. My son's school does not teach cursive. They teach print and then begin imprinting the keyboarding skills. I have no problem with this, but I guess he'd better not change schools! I haven't written in cursive since 5th grade when it was no longer required. With the exception of the squiggly excuse for my signature.
At any rate, I agree with the other mommy, just keep practicing and she will improve. Practice makes perfect.
She could just need a few months at a special learning center like Kumon, or Sylvan, or whatever is in your area to catch up. I'd call around and ask if any of them focus on handwriting besides just reading and math.
If you think she needs therapy, but her teachers don't, she may not qualify through school. You can always take her to a clinic on your own and have her tested by an independent OT. You may need a referral from your pediatrician, but the school would have nothing to with it.
Don't freak out! They'll all get it quickly since both parents and teachers are working together. Individual attentiom to the matter, I'm sure, will do the trick. Growing up in NYC we started to learn scropt in the 3rd grade. I was never able to get it. I think it was because I'm dyslexic and was having a hard enough time with printed words, let alone scripted ones. But then for 4th grade I was living in England where they had been writing in script for over a year. During penmanship lessons I was given a beginner's book and the teacher taught me individually after she had given the rest of the class their lesson. In aout a month I was completley caught up with the rest of the class. I'm sure the same thing with your daughter. Individual attention can work wonders, especially if there are learning difficulties involved.
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