Jaden (6) has always been messy. His room is a mess, his table manners are really awful, his drawings are more like scribblings and his handwriting is pretty much unreadable to everyone but me. He knows it and he doesn’t like it. In fact, several times after trying to write out a math problem or a sentence, he looks at his work and breaks out into tears. The homeschool curriculum that we’ve been using, SOW, puts a heavy emphasis on writing and so I’ve had to be very creative in adapting it so that he can still learn the subjects with minimal writing.
Last week, I discovered a handwriting curriculum called, Handwriting without Tears. I ordered it and am so very happy to report that after 2 lessons, Jaden was smiling from ear to ear because his letters looked like they were supposed to for the first time. And he was enjoying writing for the first time. So…if you know a child that is having problems with writing, check out this curriculum!! Jaden’s tears are gone. 
I’ve caught up on reading your blogs now. I enjoyed it; keep writing.
Elaina and Alissa both began early writing with pretty handwriting. Olivia has had poor handwriting until this year – age 8. All of a sudden her writing is great. She takes pride in it. I just never made a big issue of writing with her because it was stressful for both of us. Most of her lessons were orally completed, until now.
You are doing a great job with the boys!