How old is this child - a handwriting spelling one

Except your own kids handwriting. Give them a break.

Thank you!!
Very well put. 2 out of three wasn’t bad! I did write “writing” twice in the post🤣.
I am just delighted it is not in my nature to point out minor spelling mistakes that others make.

I am. It’s great.

I think you have misread some aspects of this thread. But great you are mortgage free. You must be really pleased. Well done.

My high horse is about Shetland sized thanks.

Because the whole thread is intended to make other people feel small about their children ?

your high horse is calling you it’s missing your lofty persona .

and my life is mortgage free great. :-)

Friday night on Mumsnet. Guaranteed to bring the mean girl pedants out after a glass of wine.

If your life is so good right now - or maybe should I say write now, why is your only contribution to this thread intended to make someone feel small?

We all rush to write posts after busy weeks and auto correct fail or misspell, some people are dyslexic, some people haven’t got perfect spelling all the time. Sorry about whatever it is that has grated your gears this week that made you post.

Writing

I have replied already further up thread, but just wanted to add my son’s experience…

His writing was significantly worse than this at this age and was assessed in year 3 as having SpLD in spelling, writing and fine motor control (code for dysgraphia).

They advised teaching him touch typing and he was given a little laptop to use in school. He was allowed to do homework in creative ways such as PowerPoint presentation or recording videos of him reading out loud.

His secondary school used Chromebooks in most lessons and he was allowed to type. He got extra time in his exams.

He is very bright indeed, and taking away the stress of physically writing helped him to shine. He’s now in his 4th year of an integrated masters degree at a top university, receiving top grades.

I am so torn with my son is it laziness or he just can’t do it. During Covid his hand righting was neat but he says that was because there was no rush to take notes etc. He got 100% in a summer test and I was so shocked at the writing that I could not understand how he got the 💯. He has just started GCSES so I am going to keep a good eye on his writing as no point in being smart if someone marking your test can’t read it. I will put your tips to him!

You are very welcome. One thing I forgot is teaching the importance of white space on a page. Deep margins around a page, double or triple line spacing and a good spacing width between words makes difficult handwriting easier to read.

OP you have gave me hope for my son. His writing is awful but he is really intelligent.

A GCSE boy???
his writing is bloody awful but in his mind doctors can’t write and they are smart 🙈🙈🙈

How you know she is definitely not Dyslexic? Has she been assessed?

I was a TA for year 6 for a few years and my initial thought was year 4. I've seen similar handwriting for year 6 students too!

but this is not ‘normal’ writing for a year 6. Having seen the whole of our yr 5 classes work last year only one looked like this and it’s a child who receives special help.

Compared to my daughter - yr 2. But I don’t think if it’s year 3 you should be massively worried. The spelling is good. It is very shaky though - could she have dyspraxia

My son has had a hell of a journey through education with handwriting. Eventually we all realised he had dysgraphia. He’d struggle to write as neatly as your daughter now. The diagnosis didn’t help as most people think it’s not a thing and that he did lazy, scruffy work (right up to supply teachers in 6th form) and/or as parents we didn't put the time in.

Things that helped: triangular or chunkier pens with a fine narrow point. Writing in capitals. Forget joined up as much as you can. Focus on number formation, my son did maths and physics and you will get extra time in high school but can’t use laptops. Handwriting books for older kids/adults. My son became so reluctant to write because he felt criticised about his writing in school (it was peer marking that upset him most), I found some really good American books on Amazon that encouraged him to practice and were fun. Can’t remember what they were, but they were mystery solving based. Ask that your child’s work is not peer marked (kids can be unintentionally mean).

He’s now in year 4 of a vet med degree so has done brilliantly and still writes as little as possible, but rarely needs to. He does write the most lovely, neat for him, birthday cards because he knows they make me well up (as I know a neat birthday card takes him absolutely ages).

Dictation?
To a Year 3???
It's a skill in itself - listening, processing AND writing.
Back off - PLEASE.

There are obviously a few spelling mistakes, but this is normal for a 7/8 year old surely? I think that's fab writing for her age. The tone of the writing is great too.

She sounds a lot like my son.

To offer a bit of reassurance, he's now 12 and just gone into secondary (Scotland) and has caught up with a lot.

Tying shoe laces was like he had alien hands. Only really cracked it this summer.

He can't do joined up writing but there doesn't seem any focus on it here and in reality he's probably going to either type things or fill out forms that require you to print the words anyway.

We got him a Chromebook and he was happier writing stories and making slideshows on that. If you want the skills of imagination, punctuation etc is it worth trying to find alternative ways to keep her engaged rather than making writing a battleground?

It might also be worth getting a more advanced colouring book to help improve pen control without the pressure of writing. We got some from this range which were more advanced than basic colouring but not off putting like the adult ones with loads of sections https://amzn.eu/d/afaIYp0

Should add he has dyslexia and is on the pathway for ADHD diagnosis. My handwriting never progressed much beyond this level genuinely but I was a straight a* student and considered gifted

Primary 3?

Because my 7.5 yr old boy is primary 3 and is faint if he produces writing as good as that

Looks pretty similar to my dd's handwriting who has also just gone into Y3. She's a leftie which I think has created extra challenges and handwriting has always been the thing she struggles with most but we're not particularly concerned about it. She's progressing and she'll get there in the end. Besides I've got an aunt who is a ridiculous over achiever (like double first from Cambridge, made millions in finance and now runs a hedge fund type over achiever) and she holds a pen like a toddler and you can't read a single word she writes. Hasn't held her back. 😂

42 if my handwriting is anything to go by.
Realistically 10 maybe?

I see dyspraxia, not dyslexia.

Her spelling is average for her age.
Its the fine motor skills..the lack of uniformity of letters, spacing and many self done corrections mid-stream of getting a letter done.

Most kids with dyspraxia have the accommodation of
a) a teacher who writes what they dictate or
b) typing on a tablet

No one uses handwriting these days so it is not a necessity. Instead of worrying about her handwriting being behind, start getting her accommodations so she can express herself to the level she has the potential for. You have already said she excels at oral and verbal communication- that tells me she isn’t behind her peers in terms of learning. She just can’t write it out by hand. Which no one has to do today. We all type or say words digitally.