Family Product Reviews

3 Tools to Help a Child Who Struggles With Handwriting

Learn how I am using 3 innovative resources to help a child who struggles with handwriting and how the New Dell Inspiron 13 7000 Series 2-in-1 Laptop that I received for review is the perfect tool to help me do it.

3 Tools to Help a Child Who Struggles With Handwriting
As a mom, a preschool teacher and a classroom helper at my son’s school, I see a lot of kids who struggle with handwriting. I see how frustrating it is for kids who have this challenge, to have the words and answers that they want to express, but just can’t get the letters to form right on their paper.

I recently received a New Inspiron 13 7000 Series 2-in-1 Laptop and I am so excited about what an amazing tool it is for my own child who struggles with handwriting. It has so many awesome innovations that allow him to work on his handwriting while having fun.

• Handwriting Without Tears- this is a fantastic learning app to help kids work on handwriting while playing games. To use the app you need a touchscreen device, so kids can work on forming letters and numbers using their fingers. My son loves the “chalkboard” feature of the game, which gives you a piece of chalk as a cursor and you have to use it to write your letters. When it’s done, you get an eraser cursor and have to erase the letter. If you are successful, you gain access to the next level on the game.

I love the ease to use of this app and I love that I can access it straight from my Inspiron 13. This is because the screen of the laptop can fold over to turn it into a touchscreen tablet. This way, I don’t need a separate tablet for the kids to use touchscreen apps like the Handwriting Without Tears App. Plus with its 13.3″ display, and 10-finger capacitive touch, the kids can scroll, write and zoom effortlessly and frustration free.

3 Tools to Help a Child Who Struggles With Handwriting
• Windows Journal– Those with handwriting struggles (young and old) know the frustrations of taking notes in a hurry and then not being able to re-read them. Windows has a brand new app to help with that, that comes with Window 8, which was already completely installed and ready to go on my Intel 2 in 1. I think this is one of the most intuitive apps that I have seen for a long time.

In tablet or tent mode simply pull out the Inspiron’s built-in stylus and begin writing notes into the journal app. The app then learns your handwriting style and converts your handwritten note into typed text. This is such a fantastic tool for kids who struggle with handwriting because it allows them to write entire stories while working on their handwriting skills, and encourages them to focus on their letter formation so that the app can understand what they wrote.

For older kids, the Windows Journal app could also be used in class as a note taking tool. Because the Inspiron 13 has a long battery life and energy efficient processors and graphics, it could easily be used in class without needing plugged in. The Inspiron 13 also has the genius feature, “tent mode.” This allows it be propped up, on its tight hinges allowing you to use the touchscreen on a desk or hard surface. This makes it a great choice for students to use at their desks without having to balance a bulky laptop in a small area.

3 Tools to Help a Child Who Struggles With Handwriting

• Learn to Type- For students who struggle with handwriting, their creative writing skills may also suffer simply because it is hard for them to get the words that they want to say onto the paper. For this reason, learning to type can be an amazing skill for these students. As they learn to type effectively, it gives them an avenue for expressing themselves in freely through writing without being burdened with worrying letter formation. I taught my son how to type at an early age, and he loves it! It amazes me at the wonderful stories and creative pieces that he writes when he is typing on my laptop.

3 Tools to Help a Child Who Struggles With HandwritingThe Inspiron 13 is a fantastic computer for teaching kids to type because to has a really awesome keypad. It is seriously the easiest keypad I have ever used. The keys are so light and easy to press, while still being spaced well enough apart that you aren’t bumping into other keys as you type. Dell has put a lot of time into testing their keypad and it shows in Inspiron 13. They test commonly used keys for 10 million keystrokes and touch pad buttons 1 million times with no failure. This makes for the ideal keypad to teach young learners how to type.

The New Inspiron 13 7000 Series 2-in-1 Laptop, with all of its special features is a fantastic tool to have in the home for any young learner, but is especially intuitive and frustration free for those who struggle with handwriting. At at a price-tag of $599, it is also an affordable item for your home, or for older students to take to school. To learn more about its’ special features or to purchase one for your home visit the Dell website today.

#spon: I’m required to disclose a relationship between our site and Intel This could include Intel providing us w/content, product, access or other forms of payment.

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Emily Buys

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