What age could you child write their name?

[jlm122]

Hi, admitting upfront that I may have slight PFB syndrome, I have one child and her grandmother(dads dad) is always saying she's 'forward'. I think she's comparing to her older cousins but obviously if this is true there are possibly things I could be doing to further encourage her, yesterday she wrote her name out with me telling her each letter of the name as it's quite long, but she wrote all the letters down clearly. She turned four in august so youngest in her year, would this seem 'forward' to anyone else or just average?

Sounds within the range of 'normal'. I was nearly 5 before I could write my own name, in reception. I am a winter-born child with a fairly long first name and I didn't have a formal nursery education prior to starting school. I remember I was one of the last in my class to master it. Didn't hold me back, by the time I was in junior school I was on the top ability table of my class and the top maths set of my yeargroup as well as in a special programme group of children identified as G&T across the junior school (early 00s, I don't think they do things like that these days?).

My DD is 3.5 and showing interest in reading and writing, partly fuelled by doing phonics etc at her nursery. Im happy to go with any interest she has but it's not something I'm remotely interested in teaching her at this young age unless it's led by her. As a summerborn child we've taken the decision not to send her to reception until she's 5 too so there is absolutely no rush for her to learn to read and write. She does already recognise a few letters though and likes to write her name using me doing a dot to dot of it for her to join haha.

3-5 is when the vast majority of children master name writing. Length of name and nature of graphemes needed to write the name can make certain names easier/more difficult to write independently.

Name writing is one of our non-negotiables for Autumn Term born children transitioning from Nursery to Reception (without SEND). So the expectation, in our school at least, is certainly to be able to do so approaching 5 years.

My son was the only one in his class who couldn't write his name when he started school. He was 4.5 and I had just never thought to teach him it and he had missed loads of preschool due to covid. My daughter can write her name at 3.5. I don't really bother with encouraging reading and writing before school as don't see how it benefits the child but her preschool are always getting her to write her name on things.

3 is the average, most kids starting school the first things they learn are their names the alphabet, counting and addition/subtraction

It also depends on the name, I went to school with a Philomena who thought she was thick because everyone else could write their name before her, which in a class with Ben, Jane, Sara, Connor etc I can understand.

So if your DD is Lily or Ann she's about right, if her name is Countess Consuela-Niahm-Charlotta then that is pretty impressive.

My eldest went to preschool at 3.5 and she learned how to do it there. They’d write her name down and she would copy it. Sometime between 3.5 and 4 she could write it from memory without copying.

When she went to preschool I took my youngest to a playgroup once a week for some socialising. It was run by trainee early childhood teachers so they could practice on some real kids. On the first day DS sat down at an arts and crafts section and the teacher asked if he could write his name and he picked up the pencil and wrote it. I nearly fell over because he’d just turned 2! No idea how that happened because nobody had taught him, he wasn’t copying it from anything, he just did it.

@IHateCoronavirus, I'm intrigued by the concept of "non-negotiable" for children of this age. What would have happened to my son at your school? He was diagnosed with ADHD, but not until he was 8, and his difficulties might well have just been due to lagging fine motor skills. His cousin has dyslexia, diagnosed age 12, as it presents atypically. SEND aren't always known at age 5.

TBH my kids I knew when mine were little could write theirs before they started school. 2-4 wouldn't be that unusual IME.

My 2 were about 3 but it was far easier for the one with a 4 letter name with very simple letter shapes (think straight lines & circles) than the one with a 10 letter name with a lot of different letters!

Sounds like your dd is doing really well if she can hear you say the letters and know what to write / how to form them.

Name writing is still something we practise in my y1 class - at the start of the year around 6/30 still weren’t securely writing their first names. Obviously Covid has interrupted things the last couple of years so that’s a bit higher than usual. But you always get 1 or 2 not doing it yet at the start of y1.

I don't really understand why children are taught specifically to write their name, so long before they're expected to be able to begin to write in a meaningful way. I suspect I could get DS (3.5) to do it if I got him to copy it out over and over again etc but I don't really get why I would - being able to write one specific word and no other feels more like a party trick than a meaningful skill?

First about 3.5. second is 3.5 now and no where near - they have only just drawn a circle! Though they were extremely premature so I've no idea when they might do anything. But even if they hadn't have been early I wouldn't be worrying by 3.5 that they couldn't!

@Hardbackwriter

I don't really understand why children are taught specifically to write their name, so long before they're expected to be able to begin to write in a meaningful way. I suspect I could get DS (3.5) to do it if I got him to copy it out over and over again etc but I don't really get why I would - being able to write one specific word and no other feels more like a party trick than a meaningful skill?

So agree with this. My daughter is 3.5 and when she shows interest/asks to do writing-type tasks I happily go with it, but it's not something I see the value in her learning right now tbh. There are many things I would like her to learn before she goes to school at 5 - confidence, assertiveness (she lacks both), how to play or do anything alone for more than a few minutes, how to wipe her own bum after a bowel movement, how to dress herself conpletely independently (she still can't do some tops and jumpers and also can't do socks or tights)...etc. I see those as valuable skills for her to learn ASAP, writing her name just isn't.

DD1 wrote the name she is known by consistently at just 4 (also August born). Her proper name she was still spelling incorrectly at 8 which is when she was diagnosed with dyslexia.

DD2 was writing her name at 3, backwards.

I never taught either of them to do it, but I have worked in a reception class and it is one of the things that they get need to learn and have to do each day (put their name on their own work). Those that need practice often get it during early morning work before registration.

@Hardbackwriter

I don't really understand why children are taught specifically to write their name, so long before they're expected to be able to begin to write in a meaningful way. I suspect I could get DS (3.5) to do it if I got him to copy it out over and over again etc but I don't really get why I would - being able to write one specific word and no other feels more like a party trick than a meaningful skill?

Your name is the first meaningful thing you will write, and it has a practical use - naming your pictures at nursery, signing cards - so it is writing for a purpose. Most children want to write their names. It's the beginning of being able to write more generally. You could teach children to copy out the alphabet first instead but that is a lot less motivating than being able to write something useful and personal.

Mine ranged from 3-5 years. However while one was good with letters another was better with numbers and another was much more coordinated than the others. Each child is different and will pick up some things quicker than others. Dc1 was very slow at new things until we learnt how he processed things best and then he speeded through.

Dd is 4 and started reception in September. She's still struggling to write! Getting the hang of reading finally, but writing is another matter. She can draw good pictures, but really struggling with writing. Her name isn't complicated either.
Teacher isn't worried.

My DS was able to write his long name at just turned 3. I remember teaching him the spelling with letter cards Blu-tacked to the wall then him copying it on a whiteboard.

Her diminutive at around 3ish. Full name in nursery and I kept being told off for giving her such a long name , when a lot of her classmates had 3/4 letters names

Writing their own name also helps with recognising their own name, so e.g. hanging up their coat on the right peg, finding their drawer / tray to put their work, etc

My first could do it at 3, good nursery support. Littlest still only 1, no sign yet

3 and a half but not with properly formed letters. They both have quite short names though and not difficult letters to write.

DD was probably just three. She was following the pattern though, it was only her name she could do.

She's just started reception too (though she has a September birthday, so is 5 now) and she can still mostly only write her name (6 letters) and the short version of her cousins name (3 letters) she can write most letters and recognise them, plus high frequency words like 'mummy' 'daddy' 'granny'. Again though, she's recognising those word by pattern and not actually reading them. If anything I think DD is behind with her phonics, we try but she has wrap around care as we both work, so blending sounds is the last thing she wants to do before bed!

Agree with you MeadowHay.

My two older children were both 5yo when learning to write their names in P1. Neither were interested in writing their names, picking up pencils, before then....both in top sets all the way through primary school.

It's not indicative of how bright your child is if they are writing their name at 2yo....

2 but it’s a very easy name to write. I think most children in reception can write their name though tbh.