It’s natural for young children to mull over new ideas and thoughts. Unfortunately, capturing those on paper does not always come as easily as we think. Education is based on printed text and writing, yet more and more kids are leaving elementary school without the capability to craft a paragraph on their own. If you find your kid struggling to form letters, put their ideas into words or spell them out correctly, they are not alone. It is unfair to assume that your kid is lazy or not smart just because they struggle to do their homework or have poor writing skills. Writing difficulties are common among children and can happen due to a variety of learning and attention issues.
By getting a head start with very simple activities, you can help your children begin to develop their writing skills at an early age. As a parent or teacher, doing these simple activities will contribute to their future success as a student and as an adult because they will have the ability to express themselves better. To help you understand this better, here are some writing issues that will tell you if your children struggle in their academic activities:
• Has messy or unclear handwriting
• Writes slowly without interest
• Has trouble with writing assignments
• Stops writing or work on tasks that do not involve writing
• Mixes up words and letters
• Poor grasp of spelling and punctuation
• Has trouble putting their ideas on paper
Common Reasons for Trouble With Writing
Poor writing skills is nothing new. Basically, there are a lot of factors affecting the ability of children to draft their ideas on paper. Some commonly related conditions for this include:
Dysgraphia:
The most common condition for kid’s struggling to write is known as Dysgraphia. It is the condition that causes trouble with written expression. This term comes from the Greek words days (“impaired”) and graphia (“making letterforms by hand”). This is a brain-related issue. For kids with dysgraphia, just holding a pencil and organizing letters on a line is tedious. Their handwriting tends to be messy and unclear. Many struggle with spelling and putting their thoughts on paper.
Dyslexia
This term refers to a learning disability that causes reading difficulties. Kids with this syndrome lack concentration while learning where they have trouble recognizing and making sense of written words. They tend to be poor spellers which in turn affects their writing abilities.
Dyspraxia
Kids with this condition have problems and difficulties with their movements. This includes the physical act of printing and writing thus affecting their activities that involve motor skills. Difficulties with kids daily activities like brushing, tying their shoes will be tough for them based on the severity of this condition.
Apart from this, kids with less practice and guidance will also have trouble with writing. Thus understanding their needs and skills will be exponentially helpful in calibrating their academic performance.
Ways to Understand Their Problems Better
It is really tough to predict the reason behind your kid’s inability to write at first. It takes time to track and sort out “what the problem is all about!”. Aligning with your kids, teachers, and pediatricians will help you to analyze the reasons behind their writing problems. This helps you with providing the appropriate support. Here are few steps to help you analyze your kids writing inabilities:
1. Consult with your child’s Teachers:
Teachers are the primary educators for your children and what they observe about them is really helpful. You can get clear insights from their teachers on how your kid’s learning process is affecting their writing skills.
2. Educational Evaluation:
It is highly beneficial to get an evaluation report of your child’s academic performance from schools in order to understand their problems. It supports you in taking necessary action items to help your kids writing issues.
3. Consult with Doctors and Specialists:
There is a number of ways that doctors and specialists can understand your child’s problems more than you. Doctors may be able to rule out the physical causes and reasons whereas specialists could support you in identifying the reasons for such conditions and sorting it out efficiently.
Supporting your child to overcome these disabilities:
Firstly, understanding your child’s real-time trouble with writing is the best way to start supporting them. By closely tracking your child’s behavior while they are reading and writing helps you in devising strategies that help them to overcome their hurdles by providing the right solutions at the right time. Motivating them and praising them for the effort they put in helps them to get self-motivated and focus on what they do. They can then turn into more independent writers better than before.
Technology has tremendously changed education and thus as a parent or a teacher, harnessing the power of technology will help kids to improve their writing abilities. For example, WhizRead – an iPad app helps kids to better comprehend what they have read by offering a more engaging and interactive learning experience through sight and sounds. Once they comprehend what they have read, it is easier for them to put their ideas on paper.
The above-mentioned tips will help you in making your child’s academic journey successful. Never lose hope and put your best in supporting them with their writing skills.