Duckie does the same thing, it's not laziness but rather a writing issue that can be addressed with Occupational Therapist (OT) services. Here's some info I pulled from my school district's website:
Philosophy of Handwriting Development
PHILOSOPHY OF HANDWRITING INSTRUCTION
Learning to write demands the integration of cognitive, motor and perceptual skills. it is a complex process that needs to be taught systematically at developmentally appropriate stages.
Sound handwriting instruction is essential for the development of effective learners. It forms the basis for communication through written language. At the beginning, forming letters is a cognitive skill. As students become fluent, letter and word formation should become more automatic. Then less cognitive energy and attention will be spent on the mechanical part of writing and more on the content of writing.
Students with handwriting difficulties take longer to complete assignments and are unable to produce written language at the level at which they are able cognitively. Poor handwriting skill development negatively affects written language development. Problems and poor habits need to be remedied before they are well established. Direct handwriting instruction and monitoring of handwriting skills will help to reduce the number of difficulties. This should include letter formation lessons, practice opportunities, as well as feedback on performance. Our goal is for all students to reach a functional level of mastery.
HANDWRITING PERFORMANCE COMPONENTS
Sensory/Motor Skills:
Body laterality, Body and spatial awareness, Directionality, Visual perception, Visual-motor integration, Postural stability, Postural control, Proximal stability, In-hand manipulation, Hand separation, Hand strength, Movement and position awareness, Motor planning, Ocular motor control, Bilateral integration, eye-hand coordination, sensory integration, tactile discrimination
Cognitive Skills:
Memory, Attention, Orientation to letters, Sequencing
Psychosocial Skills:
Self esteem and concept, social interaction, values
Occupational Therapy
School based Occupational Therapist (OT) sessions focus on building sensory motor foundations,
fine motor skills and prewriting/writing skills. These are some of the main
areas we address:
KINDERGARTEN:
-Recognition of upper case and lower case letters; naming, matching,
beginning sounds
-Making upper case letters in various media; sand, paint, cutting sticks,
chalk, wooden pieces
-Letter puzzles, letters in feely boxes, letters drawn in air or on child's
back...
-Writing upper case letters on paper, writing numbers
-Hand skills: refining grasp patterns for small items, pencil grasp, hand
dominance, hand strength, wrist extension, hand arch
-Prewriting skills: tracing, coloring, drawing, copying basic shapes,
dot-to-dot, lacing, scissor skills
-Sensory motor skills: posture, balance, reflex integration, bilateral
integration, awareness of body in space
-Outdoor games to play with friends in the neighborhood (hopscotch,
chalk drawings, jumprope, kickball...
FIRST GRADE:
- Writing sentences with punctuation, capitals, spacing etc.
-Letter sounds, rhyming, letter chunks, sight word recognition
-Letter placement on writing line (tall letters, small letters, below
writing
line letters), formation of letters
-Visual-Motor skills: coloring, cutting, drawing, tracing, dot-to-dot
-Hand skills: hand strength, grasp patterns for small items, hand
dominance, hand arch, wrist extension
-Sensory motor skills: posture, balance, reflex integration, bilateral
integration, awareness of body in space
-Outdoor games (see above)
SECOND GRADE:
-Stress lower case letter formation, letter placement on line
-Writing samples stressing letter formation, spacing letters and words,
writing mechanics/parts of sentence
-Word chunks, rhyming, sight word recognition, decoding words
-Visual -Motor skills: coloring, cutting, drawing, tracing, grasp patterns
for small items, pencil grasp, wrist extension
-Sensory motor foundations; posture, balance, reflex integration,
bilateral integration, awareness of body in space
-Outdoor games (see above)
Third Grade:
- Cursive writing using the Loops and Other Groups multi-sensory
writing program
- Cursive practice using cursive BINGO, scrabble, hang man, crossword
puzzles, word finds, mystery writing and near-point/far-point speed writing
- Visual skills, hand skills and large muscle coordination activities using
ball and target games
- Some third graders learn computer keyboarding skills using software
typing games (look for typing CD's for your child to practice with at
home if they are learning typing in Occupational Therapist (OT))
Fourth and Fifth Grade:
- Learning and improving computer keyboarding skills; working on
both speed and accuracy to allow them to complete school assignments
At home encourage these skills through outdoor play and
games or hands-on activities.