Ds is still struggling quite a bit with handwriting. He forms his letters well (although, he occasionally reverses them). One problem is that if a letter is not perfect, he feels the need to erase it and start over or just throw the pencil down and give up. It takes him a very long time to complete even a sentence or two.
He is beginning Montessori school in 2 days, and during his day-visits over the past couple of months, his teacher noted that he needs to work on writing. He wants to write stories and journal entries and is unable to transfer his thoughts to writing. He can do copy work (but still has the issues mentioned above), however when he has to actually spell the words or think of what to say, he absolutely can't manage it. If he dictates and I type, he has no problem generating the thoughts, but if he actually has to write anything he just can't get it down on paper. When he dictates, he creates beautiful, amazing stories.
In fact, he can also correctly spell words verbally but is unable to do so on paper. Is this typical for 6 year old boys? Could it be dysgraphia?
Also, I've heard of Handwriting Without Tears and the Zaner-Bloser Handwriting programs. Would you recommend using one of these programs at home to supplement work in the classroom? Do you know of another program you'd recommend?
By the way, ds is learning to type, and I think this might be a solution once he gets better at it. His fine motor skills seem to be a little behind, so that could be the problem. However, I am mostly worried that it has something to do with the ability to transfer thoughts to written form rather than the actual mechanics of writing. Again, he has neat, legible handwriting, but his spelling rules go out the window when he's writing (but not when he's spelling verbally.)
Any thoughts? As always, thank you for your input and advice.
