slow writing of 11 yr lefty boy but can understand quickly. How to improve the writing speed?

Answer 1

My 10 year old son was the same way, until he started playing "runescape" on the computer. (It's safe for children)
He was having so much fun, talking and trading with the other characters that he now has an A in his typing class at school.

Answer 2

Writing is inconvenient for left-handed writers, and there are those who (like me) are generally right-handed with everything else and can feel as if there's some kind of "short circuit" going on when they try to write by hand.

If he's only slower than some but generally not all that horribly slow its one thing. If he really, really, labor with writing that's another. If the latter is his situation I think you should ask the school if they have someone who could work with him. If he's just slower than some but reasonably ok when writing you could either mention to him he needs to allow more time to write or else tell him that the more he writes the faster he'll get.

If its to the point where it is interfering with his homework and other school work ask for permission for him to use a keyboard because of his writing problem. It is a "legitimate" thing. It isn't as if he never learned to form his letters. He did that already. There should be no reason he could not use a keyboard for his work (or a typewriter if the teacher wants to see the mistakes and all).

I think if it were my son I'd ask about the keyboard for essays and longer homework and let him muddle through with things like math homework and lists of spelling words.

Note: As a left-handed person, I have found that using just the right pen point size (rollers are good, so are the Papermate Write Bros medium) and using lined paper facilitate writing. Make sure he knows whether he likes thick or slender pens. The type of pen can really make a difference. (Same with pencils - very sharp, hard lead versus a very sharp soft lead versus a not-so-sharpened soft lead, etc.)

Answer 3

Try behavior conditioning. Time him and reward him with something good when he improves. And improvement is just not speed. Look at spelling, neatness, and maybe even grammar.

Answer 4

this is like anything else, "practice"

High IQ kids find it hard to practice sometimes, because alot of things come so naturally and easy for them.