What age child would you think wrote this?

[yoozer16427942]

My DS wrote this and after my DM saw it and made some comments I'm looking for some outside opinions! So what age would you think he is if you saw this.

6

Before reading the other comments, my first thought was a nine year old who you need to get assessed for dyslexia.

I work in this area so please come back and let us know as I am curious!

Thank you 🙏🏻

7?

My first thought was a 7 year old’s writing but not sure due to the spelling mistakes ( no judgement on that, just an observation)

I agree with others that it could be anywhere from 5-11. The spelling is poor so they could be young and haven’t learned how to spell these words yet and are giving it a good go. No capital letters but again may not have learned about these yet. But equally could be an older child who struggles with spelling. Given it’s a retelling of fairy story I’d suggest a child in Y1 or Y2. Cursive writing is taught from a young age in some schools.

Around 5/6?

I would assume at least Year 2 but probably older with something going in causing the spelling issue whether that be dyslexia or salt issues. Have they been in school in the UK all of their schooling life?

Thank you everyone, this has been very useful and interesting. DS is 8. Teacher has never expressed concern about his writing/spelling but has mentioned the whole cohort needs extra help with spelling. I've seen examples of writing from others in his class which has shown much better spelling but have also seen his work from school which is better too, so it's when he's at home that the spelling goes out the window. It's reassuring to hear from professionals who work in this area that it sounds like he's well in range for his age! DM was shocked by the spelling and said it was far behind where he should be but she hasn't worked with kids for 20 years now.

Dyslexia has never been suggested but he's not a confident reader, hates reading out loud and I remember it took ages for him to 'get' rhyming words (my 5yo understood rhyming from the age of 4). He's never had any interest in rhymes or songs. Loves books regardless but is very defensive about reading and doesn't do it out of choice unless it's listening to the Yoto.

Awaiting an assessment for ASD currently.

Thanks again!

DM was shocked by the spelling and said it was far behind where he should be but she hasn't worked with kids for 20 years now.

Have they stopped teaching spelling of common words by rote? DS's spelling could have been much worse if he had tried to spell phonetically from scratch.

No idea tbh - it's a struggle to get him to do homework and he doesn't tell us anything about school. I'm going to ask the teacher. But I think he just forgets what he's been taught and makes it up when he's on his own.

Yes, UK all his life. Awaiting ASD assessment.

Would definitely be interested in your thoughts after my update!

was it his reception and year 1 that was most affected by lockdowns? That cohort missed out on the foundations of phonics and as a result more of them are struggling with spelling. I would want to know that his school has a solid phonics catch up programme in place tailored to his age - more for the reading, but also to help spelling become more automatic and then writing becomes less hard work.

My DS is also 8 in year 3. His spelling is better than this although still not fantastic - he gets 10/10 most weeks in his spelling tests but doesn’t seem to retain the knowledge for very long after the tests … his handwriting is nowhere near as neat as your DS’s and he doesn’t do cursive yet. I don’t think this would raise massive concerns for year 3 but there is a wide range.

Having lined paper would help him a lot- not with the spelling obviously, but with structuring his writing. Lines quite close together, ideally.
I had to ask for this for my ds whose handwriting needed a lot of help. He’s at uni now and probably has adhd. He’s left handed and finds planning difficult as well. Trips over things etc

I also work in the area and also feel there are signs of possible dyslexia. Mainly because his composition skills seem to be much better than his phonics skills.

Same here. Writing is far better than my 8yo ds', but ds' spelling is better.

It reminded me of dyslexic DCs writing when they were around the same age. It’s not just the spelling, it’s that some of the sounds within the words are missing or the wrong vowel is used.

Dyslexia isn't just difficulty reading. My daughter is an avid and fast reader as long as the page isn't bright white. But she can't spell for toffee. She lives in a very literate family and her and her siblings have all been home educated. One is at uni now. She definitely has dyslexia, which manifests in many different ways in different people and, once she hits 16, we'll pay for a proper assessment in case she ever wants to go to uni herself and needs reasonable adjustments for assessments.

About 8 because there's a mix of joined and non-joined writing. If the concern is that the handwriting is not good enough I wouldn't worry, my year 5 child's writing is similar to the cursive parts, he is in handwriting intervention because writing is graded in the year 6 SATS, however my older son also had messy handwriting at the same age and now as a 14 year old, his writing is REALLY neat. It's one of those things that sorts ourself out and it's unfortunate it gets graded when it does, his teacher who is very experienced feels the same way and is not worried because the content of what he writes is good and that's more important so try not to be discouraged by the other children's beautiful handwriting. Also, boys do generally develop slower than girls when it comes to handwriting apparently.

edited to add - I didn't look at the spelling, I would be a bit concerned about that and investigate further, it could be he just doesn't care for it much and forgets to spell correctly or there could be some kind of learning difficulty.

DH and I have recently been through all our childhood stuff, clearing out the attic, and were comparing hand writing. This looks like my writing at 5, but DH's handwriting/spelling was still like this at 6/7. We have suspicions that DH may be dyslexic, but this was never raised as a concern by his school or parents. DH was very bright and did fine in school but reading/spelling/writing is much harder for him and I do wonder how he would have done with additional support growing up. Definitely speak to the school about getting an assessment so that your DC gets any support they need.

Why not get her assessed now for reasonable adjustments for GCSEs and Alevels?
Depending on normal practice in school she could start to use a laptop, and use dictation software, have a pocket spell - checker or even a scribe, depending on need.

Not in this country.

16 may be too late. For adjustments for GCSEs things like laptops have to be their usual way of working. Both of mine used laptops and got extra time in exams. DS1’s Uni accepted the Ed Psyc. report we’d had done well before GCSEs without question.