to think my son's handwriting (at 11) is really quite bad?

[PenNPaper]

I'm not knocking my son, im just genuinely wondering if it's bad. Some teachers claim that it could be neater, but they are still able to read it. Im actually struggling to!

Just wondering if this is actually quite average for his age? I'd have assumed a little neater.

Nothing wrong with it and if I was his age I would be annoyed at you showing it off to a forum of strangers - even anonymously and online. You should respect his privacy.

Although it is perfectly readable, I would be asking the teacher about why his hand seems so unsteady. The SENCO should be able to give some advice as it is impacting on their learning if they are not completing tasks.

I'm the only person who can read my writing. I've been the wrong side of 50 for some time now.

Someone once commented on my writing, i told 'em it was encrypted and they happy. Noone ever copies my notes til i write them up.

For the record, i can also read print that has the letters jumbled up.....

P.s. Hope you find lots of things to praise about his work, as well as being afraid that the writing is not neat enough...

I agree with Iamcheeseman. It's legible, which is a plus point, but it isn't what I would expect of an 11 year old.

Have you noticed other issues with his fine motor control or co-ordination?

Legibility is fine. But it's obviously a less than natural process for him - it looks like he needs a lot of time and effort and a tongue sticking out to remember how to loop etc.

Does he write lots? What is his hand/eye coordination like generally?

I agree with a PP that it is the unsteadiness of it that might raise concerns. As far as legibility goes, he is better than many adults, but it does look as if it causing him more effort than it should.

I have weak wrist joints (Ehlers Danlos syndrome) and my handwriting has suffered. Does his wrist (or his fingers) actually ache? Mine hurt so much that I only write by hand if I have to.

Could it be that he's so worried about writing neatly that his writing is actually worse and unsteady?

What does it look like if he's asked not to worry about it and be fast?

It would be considered 'scruffy' at ds's school, but they are very strict on handwriting ( ordinary state school). This has its downsides though as ds's work is always considered a mess despite his best efforts and his writing being perfectly legible ( he's only in year 2).

It looks fine to me and perfectly legible. I don't think that hand writing is very important outside of school. My right hand is quite weak (due to a health condition) but it doesn't cause me a problem as everyone types nowadays (thank god for computers!)

It's better than both my sons who are teenagers - they now use laptops as it isn't readable by teachers/examiners and is hard going for them too.

Looks fine. Handwriting is a dying skill anyway. It really wouldn't surprise me if they stop teaching it all together in the next couple of decades. How often do you write? Everything is on a screen now, even at the dentist earlier they'd switched to tablets.

It looks ok to me, I don't know why schools in some areas push cursive writing as I think it can often look quite messy.

My son's writing was a lot worse than this at same age. It got so bad that by the time he sat his highers he was allowed to type his essays

I don't think it's cursive that's caused the issues. I think it would be the same if he printed.

It looks like he's had to use an awful lot of effort, even in the letters that aren't joined. It doesn't look like it was particularly comfortable for him.