I AM right, I know I am, please will you all come and confirm it?

[LiegeAndLief]

Ds is learning to write and is forming his number 5 like an S. I have tried to teach him to do the downstroke first, then the roundy bit, then take his pencil off the paper and go back to do the top flat bit (all very technical, hope that makes sense). This is the right way, yes?

Dh says this is madness, and he should just start with the top flat bit and continue to the downstroke and the roundy bit all in one go, so writing it just like an S but making it look like a 5 by being a bit more angular about it. Surely this is wrong? I have vague memories of being severely chastised for forming a 5 like that as a child and being told it was lazy and would look like an S. Dh convinced he is right. Neither of us will back down. We are probably scarring ds for life. I put it to you (to tell me I am right).

And yes, the long winter evenings do fly by in our house

Right, have checked with ds and dd.

Interestingly (and I use the term loosely ) ds does it like my dh and your dh, but dd does it like me and you OP.

Are we seeing a mostly male/female split here?

Hmmm

Team OP here :)

You are right. I taught it like: 'draw the back, draw the belly, put on a hat'.

I do it all in one go. DD1 does it all in one go, DD2 is only 5 and is currently formulating strategies as she is a lefty and is all over the place! DH never writes so I have no idea :)

You are definitely right, LAL.
And you, PurpleRayne.
All properly depitcted 5's are done top-stroke last, I can't bear to think of wonky, soft cornered fives done top down.... I could go on.

It doesn't matter as long as it looks like a 5 in the end. I used to do the down stroke followed by the round bit then go back and do the horizontal lid. Eventually I was writing so quickly that I missed out the down stroke, just did the round bit and went back to do the flat bit but it looked like a round bit with a diagonal lid. I knew it didn't look like a 5 (sometimes I read is as something else) so I started to do it the S way with a flat bit at the top. At least I don't misread it now.

Best to ask the teacher how they're teaching them.

I was taught the same way as you were.

I couldn't really bring myself to ask the teacher when I went into school today.

"Excuse me Mrs X, my husband, 200 people on the internet and I don't seem to be able to agree on how to form a 5. Could you please enlighten us?".

I haven't read the whole thread (obviously, 22 pages on how to write a 5 is a bit much...) but you are right, dh is wrong.

I thought everyone did it the RIGHT way "down, round, then pop a hat on the top"

It is quite distressing to see how much handwriting anarchy there is in the world.

Team DH. Why 2 strokes when 1 will do?

I write a 5 your DH's way with 1 stroke.

1 - with a long flick at the top (the German way)
2 - curly
3 - flat top, curved bottom
4 - use both ways
7 - with line
9 - curly, like an upside down 6

As a former reception teacher I can confirm that YANBU. The correct way to form a five is with two strokes and it is how children are taught to form it

But I still use one line because I am a lazy arse

YANBU - that is how it is done. Flat top.

It needs to be clear as to whether it's a 5 or an S. And if writing it the DH way, it's very easy to round the angle between the top horizontal stroke and the down vertical stroke, which makes it look like an S. Doing the down vertical stroke first and then adding the top horizontal stroke afterwards makes it much easier to create the 90 degree angle which distinguishes between the two symbols.

I wish I had paid more attention to my DS's writing, because for some reason he wrote the number 4 starting from the bottom upwards, which made his 4 look very much like a 9. But by the time I realised that, it was entrenched, and he couldn't change it.

It really isn't about ease of writing, it's about clarity.

Team OP!

Not at our school.. it's the all in one way. And this is how I was taught 42 years ago! What's really irritating is people doing 6's from the curl upwards!

Down the stick, round the tummy and put the hat on. THat's a 5 for you.

It is not the same as an S (just like a 8 is not 2 little o's sitting like a snowman).

Down the neck,round belly and put his hat on!