Will this be easily corrected in reception?

[ClutchingPearls]

DD2 is nearly 4 and will be starting reception in September.

She writes her name upside down and back to front. Writing from right to left. So if you turn the page 180° its correct.

She won't correct it. Dot to dot letters she will with a lot of coaxing write correctly but she trys with every stroke to revert to her style.

Should I be concentrating on correcting it? or is it something that will click into place once she starts school? We need to work on other areas to get her ready for school, so don't know if this is something important or not.

[BoringTheBuilder]

Just relax and let her do what she wants with pencils/pen/paper
Work on understanding that is important to be on time and with the right uniform.

[formicaqueen]

only worry is she is 7 and doing this

[SminkoPinko]

It will come in time. Don't worry.:)

[mrz]

It is worth keeping an eye on rather than worrying.
If it continues in reception and is causing problems I would want to investigate to see if there was an underlying reason and I certainly wouldn't leave it until age 7.
You could try an eye test but mention visual processing rather than sight.

[cece]

DS1 used to do that and he went on to reverse lots of his letters numbers. he was still doing it in Y2 but now in y4 he seems to have stopped it.

[blondefriend]

My DD was 4 in December and was doing it until around her birthday (ish). I didn't correct her at all and suddenly it's just come. She is now loving writing. I never push her (except for Mother's Day when I made her write 4 cards) but she is now always coming to me with little notes and letters. Just praise, praise at the moment.

[SminkoPinko]

Do they do much writing in reception? I think my boys played in the sandpit and ran about mostly! Then in year 1 they started making them learn things more formally and they were both horrified! Do they do the learning writing stuff earlier these days? My daughter starts reception in Sept too so I will find out then, I guess. She doesn't write anything but I haven't worried about it too much.

[mrz]

Did your boys not learn how to form letters and numbers in reception SP? Did they not learn to read and spell words?

[SminkoPinko]

I don't think so, mrz. It was pretty much all play based, iirc. Few years back now (my boys are 14) so I may have forgotten important details but certainly there was very little in the way of formal teaching and no reading books or anything like that. I think they might have done letter sounds and counting in between running around? One of the boys could read- he learned without being taught- and the other couldn't at all but neither fact was particularly noted or commented on till year one when all the traditional 3 Rs stuff started and the running around stopped. I really do remember year one as the sea change "start learning stuff" year and reception as play based with no pressure to learn anything other than not killing each other. Do I take it things have changed dramatically?!

[mrz]

Are you in England? because even under the old Foundation Stage as it would be then children were expected to be taught to read and write and add/subtract and were assessed on their ability to do so at the end of reception.

[mrz]

These are a few of the Early Learning Goals from the 2000 Foundation Stage Profile

"Reads a range of familiar and common words and simple sentences independently"

"Attempts writing for a variety of purposes, using features of different forms"

"Holds a pencil and uses it effectively to form recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed"

"Uses phonic knowledge to write simple regular words and make phonetically plausible attempts at more complex words"

[SminkoPinko]

Yes. I'm a Londoner. There was a baseline assessment at the end of reception to see where they were at for the start of the proper literacy teaching, I think, rather than to test what they'd learned that year. But maybe they were being taught more than I realised. I liked the emphasis on learning through play though and their teacher was lovely. Probably the best teacher they've ever had, actually. They both seemed to thrive and it was a lovely start to their school life. Year 1 was a bit of a shock, especially for my non-reader at the time but he picked it up by about half way through the year and all was well. Is reception more formal these days, would you say? (sorry ClutchingPearls- bit of a thread highjack!)

[mrz]

The new EYFS profile says

^"Writing: Children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which
match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They
write sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are
spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible."^

[SminkoPinko]

Twin 1 could do all of that by 4 years and twin 2 not till over 6 years but in reception it did not appear to be an issue either way. Perhaps the relaxed style of the class fooled me into thinking that not much formal teaching was happening when it was all going on behind the scenes though.

[SminkoPinko]

Wow- my daughter doesn't have any phonic knowledge, afaik! She knows her name begins with M but that's about it. Oh well. Perhaps they'll teach her all about it in reception, then.

[cherrycarpet]

I wouldn't worry about it too much at this stage. I've worked as a TA in Foundation and can reassure that your DD will be doing plenty of structured writing and phonic exercises once she starts school. It goes alongside the 'learning through play' ethos which runs through the EYFS. The teacher will have a rigorous 'tick-list' system to ensure each child is reaching the expected targets.

The main thing is that reading/writing should be fun and creative at this stage. Maybe get your DD to 'write' using different textures eg. in sand etc. Also sharing stories which are attractively illustrated can really help.

A lot of children can't read or write much at all when they start in Foundation so the whole class will start from scratch anyway. Writing words 'back to front' is very common in 4 & 5 year olds. You'll probably be amazed at how much she'll progress in that first year. Just focus on the fun she'll have at school in Foundation and all the new friends she's likely to make.

[Ferguson]

Hi - exTA (male) here :

It isn't too common to reverse or transpose letters or words, but I think for some children in the early stages they just see the SHAPES of letters or words and the orientation isn't of relevance for them. Just as a PICTURE of a cat or dog would still be a cat or dog no matter which way up the picture went.

I had a child who, if you worked with him, facing him across a table, he could, if he wanted, easily write something 'upside down reversed' so the person opposite could read it. An adult would find that immensely difficult to achieve! But he also wrote perfectly normally for himself.

So, as others have said, don't worry about it at this stage, but Yes, maybe have her eyes checked, just in case. I'm sure she will grow out of it quite quickly.

[ClutchingPearls]

Thanks for the comments.I will watch, wait and see. Shes happy with what she writes so it sounds like shes recreating the shapes any which way.

Her sisters due for a eye test soon so may take her in too.

Thanks for the reasurance.

[ash979]

Whenever she is going to write put a mark where to start on the left side if the page, I think you'll find she will then write the letters and word the correct way! They tend to write backward etc when.they start at the right hand side of the page