Discoveries

So, my imp has been having a hard time at school.  Impulse control is shot, and he's still having a hard time with writing (even though the spelling issue has been dealt with--two copies of his spelling list every day from Saturday through Thursday did the trick).  Until recently.  I found something that has helped, at least a little. 

Last week, he begged to use one of my pens he hadn't used before: my TWSBI Eco.  It's got one of the fattest grip sections of any of my writing utensils.  It's actually a little bit bigger than a Sharpie marker. 

And...his handwriting improved.  MARKEDLY improved. 

That pen has been living on my nightstand for more than a year.  Odysseus got it for me for my birthday two years ago (limited edition color of lime green, so it's hard to lose), and it's a comfy pen to write with.  However, since it's a piston fill pen (and a relatively inexpensive one), it does tend to spit up when dropped or jostled a lot.  So, since I love it, and won't retire it, it's been my journalling pen for a good long time.  I had it inked with Noodler's X-Feather, since my journal has pretty bad paper. 

I grabbed it last Tuesday to stick in my pen case, just in case the title company wanted black ink for the paperwork (they wanted blue).  It was still out when it was time for the imp to do his spelling copy.  And he asked to use it. 
 
It made a difference.  A big difference.  His handwriting is neater, more legible, and smaller than usual when using that pen. 

I considered that it might be just using a new pen, but no.  Repeated experimentation confirmed results. 

He said it was just easier to use the fatter pen, and he'd use the boring black ink if he had to, but he wanted to use that pen.  And could I get one for him, please?

It does cost more than I am willing to spend on him for a pen, at this point: a TWSBI Eco costs around $28-$30, depending on where you order from (and shipping costs may or may not figure into that, depending on where you order from).  I know there are knock-offs, but I'm not certain of the quality or size comparisons between those and my pen.  I am, however, willing to keep that one on my desk for him to use for his spelling copy, since he loves my fountain pens. 

As for pencils...those are still problematic, still a little skinny.  I went to Walmart this morning, and got a pack of grips, and a pack of mechanical pencils (that includes two Bic Velocity pencils--really fat ones).  We'll see if the fatter pencils or pencil grips help with his neatness and control.