Dysgraphia Archives - Hands On Learning Solutions

May 1, 2025

Make this Summer Different!

Hands On Learning’s Summer Programs are now open for enrollment!

Avoid the “summer slide”

You may have heard the term “summer slide”, which describes learning loss over the summer break from school. There are studies out there that show it’s real, and that students do lose ground during the summer, especially when they are from lower economic environments or have a learning challenge.

Keep up on math and reading

Summer learning loss is most noticeable in math and reading, with research using assessments such as MAP Growth, Star, and i-Ready testing, which have found drops across a range of grade levels. If left unaddressed, the cumulative impact of summer learning loss can lead to students falling further behind their peers as they progress through school.

Spend less time in “September catchup”

As a teacher I saw this firsthand when my students had the summer months off and returned in September. I always had to plan on doing review of concepts that had been taught the year before. Depending on the class, sometimes review would take multiple weeks, so that I could pick up where the students had left off.

Stay engaged

Summer gives us a chance to allow our children to have new and different experiences, including camps and vacations. But for some it’s important to also work towards real changes in how they learn, so the next school year can be better.

If your child struggled this school year, they will struggle next year, and the gap in learning between your child and their peers will widen. Make this summer different, make this summer count!

This summer gives you a chance to help your child improve, without the stress of school.

Join us for a summer of learning!

The summer months give us the opportunity to focus intensely on underlying skills, so that we can make months of gains in a matter of weeks during the summer.

Happy brains learn best!

During summer at Hands On Learning Solutions we try to make it a different experience than just tutoring or going to school. We put on a carnival, with multiple games each week, prizes, contests, and other special treats. Students earn tickets to participate in the carnival. We have a lot of fun while we learn because happy brains learn best!

Want to know more about our Summer Intensive Programs? Check it out!

April 26, 2016

Signs of Dysgraphia

Bad handwriting does not mean your child has dysgraphia.

Dysgraphia is a processing disorder that causes difficulty with the ability to print or handwrite, and compose language in a written format. Dysgraphia has been said to be as common as one in five students.

Writing should be flexible, fluent, and legible in order to allow the individual to be able to express themselves in writing without hindrance. Difficulty writing can be broken into two distinct subcategories.

The first is the motor production part of print which is called Graphomotor skills. Depending on if there is a problem or not, Graphomotor skills produce good or poor penmanship.

The second subcategory encompasses spelling, grammar, and language composition skills. Many individuals with challenges in spelling and grammar may also have some dyslexic tendencies. Challenges with language composition are often caused by weak visual imagery. When a person has weak visual imagery they are not able to create and ‘see’ in their imagination well enough or detailed enough to communicate a story sufficiently.

If you are wondering if your child may have dysgraphia, here are seven of the most obvious signs you may see.

Anxiety and/or avoiding writing
An awkward or unusual pencil grip
Writing is difficult to read
Slow and laborious writing, even if print is neat
Combining print and cursive, or upper and lower case letters
Difficulty with grammar, spelling, or sentence structure
Poor or inconsistent letter or number formation, trouble forming the shape of letters well

Students with dysgraphia often suffer with low self-esteem, anxiety, and emotional stress. Parents and teacher often criticize the child with dysgraphia because they appear careless, lazy, and have sloppy writing. Challenges with dysgraphia can also cause a student to fall behind in their work.

If you suspect your child may have dysgraphia, and for more information on identifying dysgraphia and improving writing skills, give us a call at 253-857-8188.

April 18, 2016

What is Dysgraphia?

Is your child’s writing difficult to read?

Does your child’s writing look sloppy and like he is not really trying?

If your child’s writing is hard to read and you and your child’s teacher have spent several months trying to improve this skill, it may be time take a closer look at what is happening.

Halfway through kindergarten my son’s teacher asked to speak with me. While the other students in kindergarten were writing one to two sentences my son was barely able to put down two to three words on paper. It was nearly impossible to decipher what was my son was writing. Not only were his letters poorly formed, and not resting on the lines on the paper, but the letters that he was choosing to put down did not form words.

My son was also having challenges with early reading skills. He started the school year off strong. He could read simple three letter words in families like hat, cat and sat. But once the reading included simple sight words, and other words that were supposed to be sounded out, my son started struggling. His kindergarten teacher told me she was frustrated. She had tried everything to motivate him to read and write, but no matter the method my son spent twice as long as his peers and produced little to no work.

Dysgraphia is a fancy word used to describe an extreme difficulty with expressing thoughts in written form and the mechanical act of writing. Dysgraphia is considered a learning disability in written expression. Someone with Dysgraphia may not be able to recognize some or all of the written alphabet letters, write letters or words, or understand the relationship between sounds, words, and written letters. Someone with Dysgraphia will have an extremely difficult time writing, until the skills involved in both the motor production of writing and the skills involved in expressing thoughts in written form are appropriately addressed.

In my next article I will go into detail about the symptoms you may be seeing.

For more information on identifying Dysgraphia and improving writing skills give us a call at 253-857-8188 or contact us.