8 Main Writing Challenges Young Kids Face & Strategies to Help Them

Is your child struggling while writing? Are you worried and thinking, what can you do to teach them to write? Writing is a new experience for young children, and many children struggle to learn to write correctly. It takes some time for most children, and for other children, it may take more time than usual.

But, with the proper support, a child who struggles to write can be helped. This blog post will discuss children's main problems while writing, and the tips and techniques parents can use to address the writing issue.

1- Problem Taking a Start

Your little one might be writing about something new, and they’re unable to take a start. However, it can also be that your child finds it difficult to start writing even if they’re writing about some topic they have already written about. 

2- Falling Short of the Right Words

Even if your child is a native English writer or native Urdu writer, they can still run out of the right words to use. The lack of vocabulary causes this issue. Vocabulary is not something that can be learnt in a single day. 

In order for the right words to naturally come into your child’s writing - it takes time. A child learns to enrich their vocabulary by trying to learn and use a word in its proper context. And that takes time and practice.

3- Loose Proficiency in Language

If your child cannot correctly explain something in their writing, it can be due to a lack of proficiency in the language. Poor language proficiency can be judged by grammatical mistakes, misleading language, or a misplacement of punctuation.

4- Not Having the Knowledge

A school-going child may struggle to write because they lack the knowledge. This can happen when a child does not have enough content to study. Not enough content will make your child fall short of words and thoughts. Now, in this case, the problem is not internal but external.

5- Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is a medical term that refers to disorders children have in their written expression. These disorders can be due to specific brain functioning reasons, and the symptoms may include:

• The child writes slowly
• Poor dexterity
• Difficulty in forming letters
• Problems with the working memory

The medical term dysgraphia is also called a Disorder of Written Expression. If the above-mentioned symptoms appear in a child, then they have dysgraphia.

6- Problem In Terms of Attention Span

The problem of being unable to pay attention arises in children with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). Writing problems can also occur due to some difficulty in paying attention. Such children face issues of time management, inability to fulfill the steps involved in the writing process, and the focus essential for writing.

Problems in attention usually occur while writing an essay. Writing an essay requires brainstorming, outlining, writing on the topic, and reviewing the work for corrections. And children with attention problems may struggle to do essay writing.

7- Expression Issues

If you see a child unable to express thoughts in writing, you need to observe them from another angle. See if a child finds it hard to express their ideas orally. Children with difficulties in oral expression can find it hard to express thoughts in writing. Such language disorders can be corrected through treatment focused on helping a child to speak and write correctly.

8- Issues with Handwriting

If you see that a child has very poor handwriting, it can be a sign of Development Coordination Disorder. In simple words, there is a problem in your child's development of fine motor skills. Many children with poor handwriting tend to have DCD (Developmental Coordination Disorder).

Solutions to the Writing Issues

Respect Your Child’s Thinking or Learning Patterns

All children are not the same. Different children have different brains that think and learn in different ways. So, the first rule is to show understanding and respect for how your child’s brain works. You need to intervene, identify how your child likes to learn, and help them according to your findings.

Some children find it easier to learn as they talk or jump. Other children learn better by reading something written down. While there are also children who prefer noise instead of quiet to learn correctly. Also, some children need to proceed logically, while others enjoy learning through scattered notes. 

Help Your Child for Reading Issues

If your child does not correctly write the language symbols, there’s a big chance they find it hard to read too. In this scenario, you need to access outside tutoring through courses and lessons on YouTube. Specifically, the Lindamood-Bell or Orton-Gillingham lessons are available free on YouTube to help out your child.

With the help of these approaches, your child will learn how to see, read, and write letters and words. This intervention can also be done by a school teacher who specializes in special education services.

Assistive Technology

You can find a huge variety of tools and products which are designed to make children perform well at writing. Here are a few examples of the most effective writing tools for your child.

Computer Keyboards and Touch Screens

Keyboards and touchscreens are also a great way to make a child write who is struggling to write by hand. These tools help a child to write by pressing keys or touching a screen showing letters. This way, a child can still learn to write on a device. Doing so is suitable for children who do not respond to other techniques to improve handwriting.

Handwriting Tools

Specific handwriting tools like a slant wooden board, a pencil grip, a practice book, or graph paper can assist in making writing better. A pencil grip is soft and helps to write letters smoothly. Also, a practice copybook improves the pen-to-paper skills of children through handwriting exercises. Whereas a slant board will raise the writing surface so it is easier for your child to write better.

LCD Writing Tablet

A child might hesitate to write because they cannot erase the ink. Or, they may not be good at erasing pencil marks with a rubber and end up tearing the paper. An LCD writing tablet is a tool that can be used for practicing to write letters, words, and sentences. And anything written on this tablet can be erased in a single swap.

Your Child Should See You Writing

It would help if you manifested an example for your child by writing yourself and having them notice. You should talk with your child about your writing so they know why writing is essential. Your child will come to learn about the importance of writing and the many ways it can be used. This goal here is to teach the love for writing in your child, so they can strive to do better.

Ask Your Child to Copy

There must be songs or poems that your child loves listening to. Many children are fascinated while listening to their favorite songs. You should encourage your little one to learn the song lyrics by writing them down or copying their favorite poem from a book of poems.

Get Your Child to Send Letters or Emails

You can make writing a fun and exciting thing for your child by asking them to write an email or letter to relatives. This can be done in the form of thank you notes or just a note asking how they are doing and saying hello. You should also send your child an email or letter as a response to make them feel how special it is to communicate by writing to someone and receiving a reply.

Concluding the Discussion

At the end of the day, we all make mistakes, and those mistakes can be corrected. The same holds true for children. When we talk about writing, any weakness a child faces while writing can be turned into a strength using the right corrective approach. 

The tricks and techniques discussed in this blog post are very effective if you understand where your child needs to catch up in writing. All you need to do is keenly observe where your child is having a problem by asking and noticing. After that, use one or more techniques to help your child.