He can't write... so what!!!!

My son, Ben, has a very difficult time writing. He can only write some letters and they are very large... not at all what is necessary for many of the 1st grade workbooks out there. He also panics when I suggest writing. I am constantly trying to come up with activities to help him show me what he actually knows without making him overly anxious about the writing. I also want him to be able to do some of his work independently. I don't have the patience to dictate EVERYTHING for him, so I needed a way for him to do it by himself. Here are some ideas that have worked so far:

Ben might not be able to write, but he CAN glue. I look for worksheets that have categorizing or gluing activities to check for comprehension of whatever lesson we are working on. The picture above is categorizing living and non-living things. The look on his face is pride that he was able to do this on his own.

On worksheets that don't have cut/paste options but have a list of things to choose from, I write them on paper and cut them out for him. Then, he can paste them in the correct place independently. Prep time: about 2 minutes. Benefit: watching my little boy who has been frustrated by having to always have help for everything become excited when he can do it by himself.

Not your average 1st grader's workbox. Most 1st graders will have a pencil, eraser, scissors, crayons, etc. Benjamin has a giant glue stick, stamps for letters and numbers, ink pads, and a tiny marker to help with his fine motor skills. I like to think of this as his "independence box."

Completed math work... it's amazing what he can do on his own with the correct tools.

Spelling words: magnets and a magnet board. This was day one of spelling for this list, so he was copying the words that I wrote for him as extra, hands-on practice.

Busy at work doing his spelling...

Do you have any other independence building ideas for non-writers? I would love to know!