We're had a lot of experience with the core strength/fine motor issue at that age, and yes they were related. First, I would recommend getting a full evaluation to see the extent of the issue. If you can, I would start with a pediatric orthopedist and a private OT. If that is not financially doable, the public schools are required to do a PT/OT eval for a child that age if you believe that it would "impact her success in kindergarten". They will be vastly different evils (we actually did both) but give you a good indication about the extent of the problem. All that said, the "normal range" for PT/OT that age is rather large so even though you may see issues, he may not be declared out of range. In the meantime, while trying to sort out the levels, fighting with the school, insurance etc., the best two things we found to do were structured swimming lessons (either with a teacher or with you in the pool--anything that gets her feet off the bottom of the pool and engages her core muscles for 30-60 minutes at a time) and coloring with crayons or colored pencils (not markers) inside the lines with proper pencil grip (you can buy grip helpers if she can't do it). Both will develop the muscle tone and not interfere with anything the OT/PT may eventually do. In hindsight, we should have done more of this than we did b/c growth spurts over the years have made these problem reoccur (though not at the same level). Good luck!
