What age child wrote this ?

[Star1223]

I recognise it is a wide spectrum but just wondering what the average thoughts are, am wondering if my sons age is consistent with his writing ability.

I don't help him with the spellings, as the school wish for him to use the Phonics sound to spell.

The spectrum of ability is so wide, it can be very hard to tell.
DD2's writing and spelling was like this as a young 4yo, but she was well ahead of her peers. DD1's spelling was similar and her handwriting would definitely have grown to this size if not reminded to keep it smaller and within the lines still at 7yo. She was behind (due to then-undiagnosed SEN which, amongst other things, causes pain whilst writing), but not by a huge amount and this was totally out of step with her advanced reading level. As a result of the ages my DCs were writing at this standard and how they were graded at the time, I would assume the expected age for this work is going to be 5-6yo.

FWIW, 10yo DD1 has mostly caught up to expected levels now with the right support in place. 8yo DD2 has continued to be as much ahead as she was ('following her line on the graph'). Her handwriting and spelling has been better than DD1's for a couple of years, but the gap is smaller than it once was due to DD1's improvement.

Why do some teachers think that ‘being a teacher’ means that they can speak for the entire population of children? If anyone asks a question on here and it’s answered a teacher, they always act like they’re somehow superior and that their experiences must mean that they’re right and everyone else is wrong. A teacher has already answered and said a younger age than you. The average answer on here has been 5, not 4. And in my experience 5 is about right.

5 or 6.

Wrote a reply but lost it. I agree with a previous teacher pp as a teacher myself - I'd have guessed this as Y1 too. It's great he will receive extra support. I don't think it can be described as very very behind at all. There is plenty of time to catch up.

He could be behind in other ways. How is he socially/ physically/ verbally for example.

Unfortunately, she really shouldn't be seeing writing like this in Y4 except from perhaps one or two children on the SEND register. It is likely the class needs more handwriting input. I say that as a Y4 teacher in a challenging area (75% of my class is pupil premium).

@Janedoe82 he is fine (to my knowledge) in those areas but definitely struggles in a large class environment ie doesn't focus and lacks concentration
Am grateful for him going on the SEN register as I'm hoping it results in smaller group learning which should help him catch up : )

5-7

I would have said 5 maybe 6.
Don't worry op. In my experience it's only England who focus so much on the academics so early.we are in a different uk nation and its much more laid back.
My older dd was still writing like this age 8 or 9, and does have mild dyslexia diagnosis now. But her writing age 6 was not readable.

Maybe because teachers are in contact with more more children and therefore are more familiar with how they work and learn than the average adult?

Given the time of the school year, I would say end of Reception

I wouldn't say he is very behind if this is done at home. Try to get him to write on the line. His spelling isn't all that bad. How is he predicted to do in the phonics screening test?

I would have guessed 6 in year 1. His letter formation is good as is his phonics recognition. The rest will come later as the muscles in his hands develop.

I thought this hahah. The only 4 year olds I know haven’t started school yet and can do some basic letter formation, have a go at their names etc. I’d be really impressed if they could do this in a year’s time and they’d be 5 by then! I worked a lot with children with send and there were a not insignificant number of year 7s who wrote like this in mainstream school (not that that is ideal).

Yes, exactly this. It's very similar to my year 1 dd, who has just turned 6. We were told she was in the lower half of the 'expected' range, but still in the expected category for her age. She still very much writes using phonics, rather than proper spellings. Her two older siblings had quite a bit more sophisticated writing at the same point in year 1, but they are both the older ones in their year, whereas dd is one of the younger ones. The only thing that my dd does a little better, is she writes in straight lines quite well. But apart from that, they're quite similar.

OP I don’t think your DS is massively behind. I’ve attached a photo of my DS’s handwriting from about half way through Y1. His writing has always been his weakest area but it did come on massively in Y2, and he ended up getting expected in his Y2 SATs which I wasn’t sure he would at one stage. He’s now in Y3 and his writing is never going to be beautiful I don’t think but it doesn’t hold him back.

I have just posted a reply, comparing that writing to my dd. And interestingly, She lacks focus and concentration in class too. She is on the 'watch list' for possibly being ND, but then, both her older siblings are autistic, and they both tended towards being hyper focused, and their writing was always advanced for their age. Plus, as mentioned above, they are the oldest in their years, as opposed to dd, who is one of the younger ones. They are all very different, despite all being ND.

4 or 5

Looking at the piece of writing in the OP I would say:

• Those lines on the paper are quite narrow. It would be quite difficult for a younger child to stay on/in them when writing.
• He's using his phonics knowledge to write "dadee" and "tday".
• He's remembering his full stops at the end of his sentences.
• He's able to form and write actual sentences.

So even though he needs extra support to keep up with his peers, there are also some positives in there too.

Writing is about so much more than handwriting though. It's spelling, punctuation, grammar, composition, handwriting, word choices, writing for effect, tenses, characters, settings etc etc. Handwriting is important but only one tiny element of whether someone is on track or not.

Because they know the national curriculum for a start. Many responses on school threads are pointless because they are so out of like with curriculum expectations. To be fair to that poster, many pps had commented the writing looked like that of a 4 year old.

My child could not write their own name without making a mistake until they were in year 2, but went on to get 14 GCSEs.

Still got rubbish handwriting, though.

With the greatest of respect, I think your comment about not helping at home is the most telling. You don't need any special training to sound out cat etc. I can see your son understands his letter sounds and his writing is a very good attempt. I'm not suggesting you spend hours going over stuff at home but a little encouragement from you and games such as I Spy, will go a long way to bridging the gap.

Reception

Well it’s a lot more than my 5 year old can do and not as good as my 7 year old- so 6 sounds about right to me!