What is my son’s name?

[AcrobaticAlphabet]

So I have NC as when you’ve got it, it’s the final identifying piece in my posting history.

This is what he wrote when I asked him to write his name down today. What is it?

My dd used to write her name backwards at that age. Not as well either - it includes an h which would look like an upside down Y.

I really am incredibly proud of my lovely son to see his letters so clear when we struggling practising shapes just a few months ago. I feel like his copying and memory skills are doing really well. But I also really want to avoid the pitfalls I struggled with at his age and beyond so any suggestions really are appreciated!

He’s lovely, inquisitive and keen to learn if it’s breezy and light so I want to figure out the best tools for his personality early.

Jacob?

Ahh just seen it’s Tobias - how cute!

@speakout

Well done him, but early success in literacy is no guarantee of eventual outcome. Early learning methods can often be by route rather than understanding, so I wouldn’t be cheering just yet

Maybe, but I’m going to be cheering regardless because any success is still a lovely thing to see, no matter of the eventual outcome. My parents didn’t celebrate any of my outcomes (other than bragging rights: or worse, put downs) so I will be proud of every thing: however small, however understated.

Sailor, Cyrus or Jacob.

Jaison right?

Aww some PP's are such buzzkills. For sure be happy at his achievements.

Satan

When my DD was about 5, her class had to write and draw out the Christian "creation story" (You know, "In the beginning" "And there was light" and all that). At the time her letter G looked more like a b, and she would get b and d the wrong way round all the time (only natural - a chair is still a chair if you turn it the other way!). So we had the adorable story of bob, and how bob made the world, and then on the last day bob rested.

Maybe, but I’m going to be cheering regardless because any success is still a lovely thing to see, no matter of the eventual outcome. My parents didn’t celebrate any of my outcomes (other than bragging rights: or worse, put downs) so I will be proud of every thing: however small, however understated.

Well said 👍🏻

@ClawedButler In bob we trust.

I think there are fewer things on this Earth more lovely and heartwarming than little kids' writing. Some of it actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it. I recall going to a primary school hall for an event, and on the wall were one class's versions of The 3 Little Pigs. To this day I still spell "hooray" (for the wolf had fallened in the pot) as "hray". Perfectly logical, really!

ahahahhaa

yes. Thou shalt have no other bob but me

Little DSis is left-handed. Wrote her name the wrong way round

She's still left handed but gets her name right these days.

Barry

@AcrobaticAlphabet

He’s actually not left handed, as far as I can tell. But despite trying otherwise he does still hold the pen in his write hand with his left hand wrapped around it. I’m hoping school will drill that out of him though I used to get told off from holding my pen wrong and I still do, many many years later

Caps - well I have no idea it’s wrong. He has got 4/6 lower letters though (even if they are wrong) so I’m hopeful it will be fixed

If you get a biscuit tin or a celebrations tin with a flat lid and put a bit of fine sand in it you can then tip the sand onto the lid and get him to use his finger to write the letters, the tactile touch helps some children .

You can buy packets of cheap decorating brushes from the pound shop, useless for decorating but great for dipping into a seaside bucket of water and writing or drawing on the outside wall or pavement .

The reason he is holding on to the pencil with both hands is that his muscles aren’t yet quite strong enough to grip the pencil firmly and move it in a controlled way. They will strengthen more as he gets older, he already has very good control for his age, many children his age only manage to make fairly random marks on the paper. Using a pencil is hard, you have to get the pressure right, control the direction, remember the shape of the letter , all while using different muscle groups in your fingers, hand, wrists and arms, it’s a very complicated skill.

If you want to help him to remember to start writing at the left hand side of the paper you could put a paper clip on the left hand side to remind him. Some people put a dot, I prefer a paper clip because I have known children who carry on putting their own dots long after they don’t need them!

@viques Thank you! Your post is both reassuring and very helpful. It’s new to both us for him writing and it’s hard because I don’t know what the expectations are right now. Sometimes I think he’s behind, other times I think he’s doing brilliantly. I have no other small children (from friends or family) to gauge from so I love posts like this.

I will try the paper clip approach and see how it goes. Thank you

Are you sure? Have you checked his scalp?

Bless so cute.

I think that's really good for 3!
It's completely normal for children to write backwards, or get the odd letter or number backwards for a good few years when they are learning.

Some maths training I went on (I'm just a TA) showed us the Chinese characters for 1-10 for two minutes to memorize, then we had to write them from memory. It was an excellent reminder for just how tricky it is to get it right when you're learning.

Ah that’s lovely OP! Why are people so negative. Isn’t everyone a bit proud of their kids? If we can’t be as their mums then who can be!

I had zero idea you aren’t supposed to teach them to write their name in capitals…oops!

My Dd is 3.5 and recently started writing her name. She copies things quite well, like drawing animals etc. But her name she starts off way too big and then ends up doing what your little one does, puts the letters back at the start of the name.

Guess her name..! I blanked out the top where I’d written her name to copy.

Matilda?

Yes @WalkersAreNotTheOnlyCrisps! This is about our 15th attempt at making a Father’s Day card lol.

Aah she’s doing really well 👍🏻

I was always told letter formation is the first skill, and reversing letters and mixing up letter order is quite usual in emergent writing. It’s not my area of expertise, but my experience accords with that.

OP’s DS is only little. He is doing well.

What a shame the thread wasn’t allowed to stay light hearted.