DD is 5 and this is her handwriting...

[SwingingCatsAround]

... It's shockingly bad.

She was 5 in December. Her reading is much higher level.

I'm not concerned about the mirror letter/spelling, but the construction if the letters.

We're trying to get her better, but she will resist writing at any opportunity, gets cross if we ask her to correct her grip.

She has strong fingers and good fine motor (sews with tapestry needles, can do buttons up etc) she plays with play doh, tongs, tweezers, loves squeezing anything and everything lolol

What else can we do? It won't magically get better will it?

My son is now 15. He has had many years of OT and other interventions.

His handwriting is now beautiful (he can’t handwrite a lot due to deeper issues but what he does is lovely) in my “must use tripod grip” kind I still cringe when I see him writing but he has found what works for him and his hands.

I genuinely think that most 5 year olds would not have a clue what writing a review means 🤔Can confirm that my children many years ago had rubbish handwriting until about 8 ish . All very successful adults,went to decent Universities and getting on with their lives .
OP I really advise you to relax and enjoy time with your child and not compare etc X

Here are some of her recent drawings. These have improved hugely since September. Her colouring is better too.

Let her hold her pen however she wants - everyone is different. Mine were constantly being ‘corrected’ at school - wound me up no end! We’re all different and do things differently. Mine were hyper mobile and suffered proprioception difficulties, hence the need to hold pens in their own way.
They were also constantly ‘corrected’ at lunchtimes as they held their cutlery ‘wrong’ - their crime? They held them left handed yet they’re all right handed 🙄 They’re now all adults and still use cutlery left handed 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm not sure what you're trying to get at here. Can you explain? It's normal handwriting whether she is in a class of 5 or 35. It just takes some time for the fine motor and muscle memory to develop.

Teachers expect more these days. It's not me knocking the child it's the teachers. It's a way to get funding for the school. There are children who can read and write for their age. It's not only in secondary schools they are separated according to ability it's also happens in primary schools. Ops DD will be with a teaching assistant who will work with her. All I can say to the op is good luck.

The only way around it is for the op to do additional work with her child and try to make it fun.

She needs to play not write! It will come in time, there's no rush. It won't affect her chances of getting into Oxbridge or anything!

Kids develop at different ages I wouldn't worry she is fine. They will push to get her assessed it's up to you if you feel she has learning issues that she can't work past. If you believe your child just needs time and nurturing then don't give in. They may not want that but 9 times out of 10 they do.

I think that I can understand where you are coming from. We saw a huge improvement between R and Y1 but this was also with a lot of voluntary practice. Looking back I am astonished at how much her writing changed.

I do think that there is a huge range when they are so young. If you want to do anything at home, I would focus on letter formation and do it in fun ways. Bath crayons, chalk outside when the weather permits, large sheet of paper on the wall, that sort of thing. Something that makes it fun rather than a chore. Please don’t let this thread get to you. No one here knows you, your child, or your intentions. You know yourself and your child best.

Teachers are working to SATs deadlines by the end of year 2. The teacher feels she won't be ready in time for the year 2 sats if she is this behind. If her words are not readable then they can't mark ker work. I have gone through it with 4 children you need to wear a bullet proof vest when entering the schools.

Absolutely normal for 5

Her drawings look age appropriate, have a look at if she can draw diagonal lines, a cross, x, square and triangle (age norm for drawing a triangle is 5 years 3 months - the others usually come before). She needs these before focusing on handwriting/letter formation.

Lots of activities to strengthen the her thumb, middle and index finger and work towards a dynamic rather than static tripod grasp - posting, threading, small crayons ect. Theraputty is great for strengthening and fine motor activities. If she’s resistant to pencil grips & feedback on her grip I’d stop for now and make it fun.

In reception the focus should be play and developing underlying skills for writing. Sadly lots of teachers are give unrealistic targets like cursive writing in reception and then it gets passed on to parents as an area to improve on when their child’s skills are age appropriate in the first place.

OP you’ve had a pasting which I think is unfair!! there’s no harm in asking and you’re clearly not berating your child and forcing them to write lines in the evenings to practice. FWIW DC2 is v similar age and has very neat writing (I’m surprised as she’s a leftie and I was told by other parents it takes longer for them to write neatly!). I wouldn’t worry about the writing but I’d encourage games or activities with writing involved if possible! This is DC writing for comparison (5 2 weeks ago!)

Sorry- here!

She is fine. I wish Britain would stop making 4-5 year olds attempt writing. Its making some of them /lots of them?/ unnecessarily miserable. And their parents. It doesnt make much sense to me. Most other countries start writing at 6-7 years old. Some home schooled children start even later.

There seems to be pressure from the school.

That’s why I asked whether the school was State or private - but OP hasn’t answered..

Ah I understand. I thought maybe she was copying the adult-written words.

I have several degrees from “top” universities and would be considered reasonably successful in my field. My handwriting looked like that at age 5. The only thing that held me back was being constantly criticised for poor handwriting, the actual writing came fine (caught up with my reading) in time. Probably quicker if I hadn’t been so self-conscious.

I guarantee also, no-one would stress about it if your DD was a DS.

State

Wow they wrote LOADS

I completely adore her use of the "J" sound. "Jroping" makes complete sense 🥰

The drawings are good for age 5

Those drawings are superb. Lots of detail, very clear lines, and the animals and flowers are very identifiable.

Please don't worry at all about her ability to put her thoughts into shapes and symbols on paper. She is doing really, really well.

It doesn't look like a strength/motor issue.

Op is your DD in a private school? I cannot imagine a single state school teacher implying this is behind or "shockingly bad" for midway through reception. Its a legible, phonetically plausible sentence. Its absolutely fine/average for this stage.