Strategies For Kids Who Hate Handwriting

This post was sponsored by Boogie Board. All opinions are my own.

My daughter loved to write. She has kept a journal since before she could spell. She would fill line after line of scribbles and then actually read it back to me to tell me what she wrote. Filling out worksheets was one of her favorite things to do. Needless to say, teaching her handwriting and getting her to do school work in general was pretty easy.

Then came my son.

Getting him to hold a pencil is torture enough. God forbid I would want him to actually write with it.

While my daughter could fill line after line and got so excited about filling out worksheets, if my son had to write more than one letter he would break down. Teaching him soon became a battle. It’s a little hard to do school work when you hate to write.

At first, I just got mad and forced him to write, even though sometimes it took all day to write one sentence. Then, I stepped back and accessed the situation. There had to be a better way.

My son was not motivated by the pure act of writing. He needed to find a way to enjoy it, or at least find it interesting. So, I tried my best to make it not feel like torture and try to make it fun.

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Short Handwriting Lessons

First, we cut back on his actual writing lessons. Instead of a whole page of copywork, we went to a half page. A Reason For Handwriting fit the bill for us.

The lessons are just a half page a day and offer just enough variety within each lesson to keep his interest.

Sneak In Handwriting

Sometimes, I can sneak writing into the day and my son doesn’t even realize it. I have found that he likes to do things such as make my grocery lists and write out to-do lists. That’s writing!

Find little writing projects like those throughout the week outside of their schoolwork that your child enjoys. It can be a Christmas or birthday wishlist, or listing their favorite animals, or their favorite Pokemon characters. Whatever gets them writing is great!

Write With Something Other Than The Basic Pencil And Paper

Even though my daughter liked writing, she would get bored sometimes. Colored pens and pencils and fun paper got her excited again. She still enjoys doing her writing assignments in a pretty journal with colored pens.

For my son, colored pens and pencils are ok, but they still frustrate him. We started using a Boogie Board this year and he has loved it!

The Boogie Board is an ewriter that can be written on again and again. My son might take a spelling test on the Boogie Board, then, with a push of a button, his work is erased (after it’s graded) and he is now ready for math problems or sentences.

He enjoys writing on his Boogie Board Jot so much more than paper. A lot of this is because he is left handed and hates the way his writing smears when writing with pens or pencils. No smearing with the Boogie Board.

Another plus of the Boogie Board is the Jot app that lets you save your work on your iPhone or email it to yourself. We’ve been using this over the past week to save lists and notes.

Offer Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Getting my son to write sentences is hard enough, let alone entire paragraphs. While he is learning to write good paragraphs, he hand writes the drafts. Knowing that I will allow him to type the finished product into the computer motivates him. He enjoys using the computer and knowing that there will be an end to the handwriting, gives him reason to do a good job.

For some students, a treat such as a piece of candy or 15 minutes of game time might work better to motivate them to do their handwriting. It’s not bribing. It’s rewarding good behavior. You know your kids and what will work best for them.

Have you tried any of these strategies with your students? What has worked for you?