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my dd is in 1st grade (will be 7 on friday 3/30)
anyhow She cannot write a dagonal line!! she has gorgeous handwriting of what she can write!! we have been battleing this since she was in PreK. None of hte teachers make a huge issue of this since she is ahead on everything else!
she will write her x like this ll~ she has the OT stumped and all the teachers in her school! the kindy teacher last year started asking for ideas and help form everyone!!
its soo bizaree!! we are thinking it is all in her head now!! but do not know how to help her!!
she has been checked to make sure she doesnt have crossing hte midline disorder thing (not sure what its called) and no she is fine with that!!
does anyone have any issues like this or any ideas to help!!!
Answer:
Can she run in a diagonal line?
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yes she can run in Diagonal, do carwheels etc!! jus tnow write a diagonal!!
bizaree!!
Answer:
When I worked with learning disabled children we would have them do a lot of physical activity to simulate the writing. For instance, they'd have to walk the shape of the letter "A" before writing it.
I also recommend...
Maze books. Look especially for line mazes - the ones where she has to follow a specific line with her pencil to get to the end.
Along the same concept, try a line maze in the house. Get a ball of yarn and twist it all through the house. DD is to start at one end and keep rolling up whe ball of yarn, untangling it, until she gets to the end. Usually there is a little prize at the end. Kids think this is wonderful fun.
Purposely force her to cross her body in her everyday activities - set her drinking cup down on the 'wrong' side, set the table so the spoon and fork are at the top of the plate instead of the side, lay out her shoes so they are on the wrong side, etc.
Try tracing. Have her trace pictures that have crossed lines then color them in. I finally found tracing paper at WalMart.
Have her draw crossed lines with different media - paints, clay, paper strips, whatever you can find. We used to actually guide a child's index finger to make letters on sandpaper so they could learn the shapes better.
And don't worry about her making an X. Start with her making a T or + first. You can always work on slowly rotating the shape until it looks like an X. Always start with something she CAN do.
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What about connect the dots? Maybe she'd start doing it and not realize that she was making a diagonal line then she may be able to repeat it? Just what popped into my head, no idea if it could work.
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There should be a school or district occupational therapist that the teacher can consult to help with this. I know when ds did his testing, that was one of the things they tested. Have you tried holding her hand and guiding her a number of times so she could practice and get a feel for it, then you make a number of them, guide her hand to trace it, then have her copy it - make arrows to show her what to do first, which direction, etc. That's what I do w/ds to help w/his handwriting. If that doesn't help, check w/ the school OT. She may not qualify for real occupational therapy if this is her only issue, but the OT should be consulted.
Answer:
thanks for the ideas!! The OT at her school has been consulted by2 of her teachers (she is only in 1st grade)
we do hold her hand !! we have just given it a break for a while till now since It was so frustrating for us all!!