Today's school kids are being taught a very different approach to writing than in years past.  If I may date myself, "back in the day" your handwriting was an element of who you were.  Remember once you learned cursive?  Then stylized writing really took off.  You'd practice for hours making your letters individual enough that you stood out, but not so much that your teacher wouldn't accept the work.  Sloppy handwriting?  Good luck getting THAT assignment accepted and graded!  Times have certainly changed.

If you'd like to see your child's handwriting to improve, there are easy things you can do at home with them this summer.  If your kiddo wants to excel at baseball, what do you do?  You make them practice.  Have a musical kid who wants to learn an instrument?  What would you do?  You'd make them practice.  (See where I'm going with this?)  Handwriting is a motor skill.  How do you make them better at it?  YOU MAKE THEM PRACTICE!  There are lots of inexpensive writing books available for learning/practicing manuscript or cursive writing.  You should be able to pop in to Target, Walmart, Toys "R"Us, or places like Bettendorf Office Supply to pick up a workbook. If you're serious about teaching/assisting your kids, there are some excellent writing curriculums available online.  Visit Rainbow Resource, Amazon, and even eBay and check out some like "Handwriting without Tears" or "Horizons Penmanship".

One of our favorite ways to practice is by making our own worksheets.  Sites such as HandWritingWorksheets.com Handwritingpractice.net, Zaner-Bloser.com, Softschools.com, all allow you to create your own FREE worksheets that say whatever you'd like.  This is a fun way for kids to work on their writing all year long. 

However you choose to help your children work on their penmanship, be sure to challenge them to do their best work.  Their writing will, in many cases, be the first introduction to who they are.  Make it a good one.