Many times, however, I have seen children who appear to be dysgraphic because their handwriting is barely legible but who really just need direct instruction in handwriting. An excellent program designed by an occupational therapist to teach handwriting skills is Handwriting Without Tears by Jan Z. Olsen, OTR. You can get more information about the program on Olsen's website or call 301-983-8409.

Has your daughter made the switch from printing to cursive? It's important for her to start off with good instruction when she makes this transition. Handwriting Without Tears comes in both print and cursive versions. Another good handwriting program is Phyllis Bertin and Eileen Perlman's Handwriting Program for Cursive. It's available from Educators Publishing Service at 1-800-435-7728.

Also, third grade is not too early to begin teaching your daughter touch-typing skills to bypass handwriting difficulties. I like Diana Hanbury King's Keyboarding Skills program, also available from Educators Publishing Service. Once your daughter has learned the placement of the keys through King's "alphabetic method," then she can use a more conventional typing program that is computer-based, like Ultra Key. It is available from Meizner Inc.1-800-342-3475 or from Scholastic at 1-800-724-4811.