How old would you assume the child who wrote this was?

[AloyNoraWarrior]

My DS is 9 in Y4. He’s very upset as he said some children in his class have been laughing at his writing. I know he is behind because his school report last term said working towards expectations for every subject. But I’m thinking it must be bad if other children are noticing.

He does have ASD and we are waiting for an ADHD assessment. Last year I asked his teacher if could be assessed for dyslexia because he writes his name incorrectly, but they said they don’t assess children for dyslexia anymore.

I was just wondering how his writing compares to other children his age as I’m not sure what level it should be at. The photo represents his best effort. The second line of the poem is ‘when I am a pest’

In terms of not assessing for dyslexia that's not to say the school shouldn't be putting in place additional support as needed.

Schools no longer do formal assessments because there's a cost associated and the outcome doesn't really inform what happens next.

It doesn't really matter if a child has a 'label' of dyslexic or not; if the handwriting doesn't meet a particular standard they should be being given support. This can extend throughout their school life with interventions such as more time for exams or the use of a laptop to type work rather than write it.

If you're concerned, OP, I'd worry less about a formal assessment and ask to speak to his class teacher and the school's SENCO to see what support is in place to help him with his handwriting. Also a good opportunity to discuss the other children and their shitty attitude.

I agree that cursive handwriting is a waste of time for many children.
DC2 is year 4 and we have certainly had similar handwriting in birthday cards etc so I wouldn't be unduly concerned.
If his joined up handwriting is not legible then its very sensible of him to print. I would discuss his pragmatic solution with the teacher.
He sounds very lovely and some of his classmates less so. I would also discuss this with the teacher..

The poem is beautiful and the content is fine. Honestly though the writing is probably below expected standard for y4 especially if that was slow and trying hos best. Go with your gut and push for the investigations you feel you need. My DH had to resit a year at uni because no one could read any of his exam papers so he failed them all. It was only then he got a diagnosis through student support as he is extremely intelligent and had until that point been able to compensate for his dyslexia. Once he got provided with a laptop for exams his grade suddenly shot up and he found life much easier. Getting a diagnosis for anything in this country is a long winded and painful process. I've found, however much I hate doing it, that you constantly have to push to get anywhere.

can you tell him I would kill for his writing!! He has a similar style to my dad who was a journalist most of his life. Sorry he’s in a class with kids like that

What a lovely poem.

I'm the best part of 60 & still have to really concentrate to write neatly.

Unlined paper?

No chance!

Looks like he doesn't always form his letters correctly-that would neaten it up.

Fudgeball123

Muscle memory! It can be a game changer. Not for everyone though. Do a bit of research though. Lots of before and after pictures on the web. We had a go and now my child is a testament to it working.

I couldn't agree more and wish our schooling was as enlightened. Unfortunately cursive handwriting is in the curriculum and part of the SATs assessment at KS2.

Blame Gove and his ilk. They're all stuck in Victorian times thinking a gentleman and lady need copperplate or they'll never advance in society.

My son is 9 and writes similarly.

That writing is very, very like my son's, he's 13 now but it's been the same forever

He's dyspraxic and uses a laptop now at school. we've more or less accepted handwriting isn't for him. he can at least now focus on what he's trying to record, not how he does it.

Cursive is horrendous, my 6YO is really struggling and simply can’t do it. But it’s hardly surprising given that almost every font she sees in books etc is not cursive. Baffles me - my 13YO didn’t learn cursive!

♥️ Beautiful poem

Changing the subject but it's more clear than the GP I worked for.

What a lovely poem. It would be good to get it in a nice frame on your bedside table, desk, or similar. That truly is something to treasure. What an amazing DS you have.

As for handwriting I feel children vary a lot. In primary schools they often focus on cursive only for secondary schools to prefer them to print. I wouldn't worry too much about the handwriting. It has good spacing and the letters are all of similar size which is good. Legible at all so I don't think there's much to be concerned about. The primary school focus on cursive creates a lot of unnecessary stress in my opinion.

The school need to address the bullying asap, and also I've never heard of this not testing for dyslexia stance. If school won't test for the dyslexia it might be worth reaching out to your GP to see if they can refer you to anyone.

No, no, no!

It isn't all that counts! Attitudes like this are what lead to kids not being diagnosed and struggling through life and never reaching their potential.

OP wasn't asking about the content of the poem, she was asking about his handwriting and yes, as a former teacher, I think it's below what would normally be expected from a child that age. He's mixing lower and upper case letters a little bit and writing is obviously an effort for him. I would be trying to seek support.

Honestly, it's quite offensive how people go 'oh never mind, dyslexia/ADHD/neurodiversity is a gift'. It's a disability and it needs to be treated like one so children get the support they need to achieve what they're capable of. I had parents with the airy fairy 'it's just the way she is' mentality and it had devastating effects on my schooling and mental health.

Another one who thinks that it might be a good idea for your DS to be assessed by an Educational Psychologist. With a full report you will have so much information and tips on how to help your DS achieve his potential and give your DS lots of coping strategies.

Also children flourish at their own rate and for lots of children handwriting is difficult. Perhaps a laptop for secondary school might help and especially for exams when he is older.

It is very sweet, but it is worryingly very far below the expectations of what a NT child would be able to write both in content and in presentation. You do need to get back to the school and push very hard for a proper assessment to be made. How is he in other areas, eg reading? If his reading is as behind he will be struggling with reading maths problems even if he understands concepts, and being able to access information and use it for humanities, science etc will also be putting him behind his peers.

At this point in the year I'd say lower ability year 1.
Can you try a different school? Private assessment? I know some schools definitely refer. School sounds a bit naff

@whinetime89 I would query it too. I’m a teacher in the UK and we did some dyslexia screenings on children last week!. That doesn’t sound right.

None of my children have readable joined up writing. 2 are teens one 9 they all just write without joined up and it's neat . I don't care as long as things are spelled correctly and it's neat. Too much focus is put on cursive as far as I'm concerned and the child then gets preoccupied with that rather than learning anything else. That's is a beautiful poem, cherish it and don't over think the handwriting.

Really difficult to say but anywhere between 6 and 10. I don't know if this is a real thing but I find that girls in general have much neater writing than boys. My 11 year old DD has proper adult handwriting but my 9 year old DS has very sloppy writing and forgets can't be arsed to join up letters and use punctuation properly, even though he knows how to do these things.

My husband is 44 and I promise your son'd handwriting is better and neater than his. He passed all his exams and has a good job. It wont hold him back. What a lovely poem. Frame it.

Not super neat but not terrible handwriting 🤷🏻‍♀️ there are all kinds of paper with special lines and workbooks if your child is self conscious about it. Nothing wrong with trying to improve themselves!

I actually think handwriting is an art form, cursive handwriting should absolutely be taught. But I don't think there's enough emphasis on practicing it, but demand it, so many have terrible handwriting. There are a lot of pros to writing vs typing, for example information is absorbed better.
Can he maybe try some cursive handwriting books just focusing on the formation of each letter?

Lower ability Y1? Okaaay. You don't work with KS1 children do you.

Your DS sounds lovely. I would frame that poem! It would do wonders for his self-confidence.

Sounds like a dyslexia assessment is a good idea. In the meantime, I would recommend these handwriting books. They were recommended to my DS, who has a physical disability that affects his handwriting, by an occupational therapist and they had a massive positive effect on him. You can just do a page or two a day and for my DS the progress was amazing.

www.glsed.co.uk/product/sen/motor-skills/fine-motor-skills/write-from-the-start/g248709?pk_cid=1&pk_keyword=G248709gls&pk_medium=multifeeds&pk_campaign=Google&pk_source=Google&pk_content=BusinessIndustrial&utm_source=Google&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInJmHmMb_9wIVDuztCh1WgQr4EAQYAiABEgK9mvD_BwE