To ask how old you think the child is who wrote this?

[Fluffylikeacoconut]

I suspect I might get some snarky comments but I’m genuinely curious - people with more experience than me (which is zero) - what age would this be ‘typical’ of. Handwriting is joined and very good.

I am typing it exactly as it is written - spelling and punctuation.

The fire lit a spark - not only in my mind but in a foot deep pile of sharp kindling. It began its first meal, desperate for the first taste of fresh air. It ate and ate until it was sated.
You could feel the tension, taut in the air as the fire grew and grew. Below, the river looked up mesmirised as it slowly crossed beneath a bridge.
The fire danced on, waltzing with the twiggy fingers of the trees, the soft silky coccoons of leaves and the old, moldy, spiky kindling. Ash floated around me like little fairys and once again the fire opened its menacing jaws. As soon as the fire strocked a bright leaf dripping with sap, its thin flamey hands turned to a cold silver and then to stone black. The fire turned and tried to flee before it suddenly disintigreated.
Now the old forest is gone but the ecosystem begins again, I watch the very first bud blossoms bloom. I savour the moment and watch as the old forest rises again, new and beautiful.

Must be pretty boring for a 9 year old. Don’t skip children’s literature because she’s super bright as the themes are really far more interesting to a child her age than Austen! All that can wait at least a couple of years!

I was going to say 10/11. Good from an 8 year old, well done.

She chose it from the bookcase herself and she loves it. She’s laughing along as she goes. She loves how gentle it is - nothing gory happens. She was doing a comparison with it and Jane Eyre last night (just in a chat with me, prompted by her questions) and talking about why the content is so different.She’s read many of the children’s classics already. I’m not worried about her missing anything.

My thought was , this is written by a child with a love of reading
keep up that , feed her books as and when her interest in one genre wanes jump into the next
schools miss that completely ime
well done to you or whomever got her into books!!!

These posts always prompt absolutely delusional suggestions (my child could have wrote this at 7)

I would say a talented and creative 11-12 year old at the very least.

P.s 8 is amazing, they’re very talented!

My oldest DS would write like this at 9/10 and the youngest who is currently 9 has the most beautiful joined up handwriting and isn’t far behind. It helps that they have been lucky enough to have amazing teachers in junior school and love English lessons.

I would say Y4, ideally. If they'd learnt some words in class it could be a Y2.

12 or over maybe 11

I was just about to post something similar. MN is nuts 😂

In the nicest way, this is a pointless question. Posters think ‘OP is showing off how advanced her child is, and is expecting us to say older than they are, so I will spite her, and perhaps show off how advanced my own children are, by saying a young age’.

Bingo, lots of posts saying 7 or 8 or other such bollocks.

I’m not saying for a moment that you actually are showing off, but that’s the psychology so you may as well not bother.

I now see that, crazily, your child actually is 8 OP!!

Doesn’t change my opinion one bit. The people guessing that sort of age were trying to spite you and show off.

Well done your child. That is in no way typical of an 8 year old.

8

I think it seems AIish because it is written by a child who has read a lot and is putting that into their writing. The only word I can think of is derivitave and that's wrong because it has negative connotations and I don't mean it in a negative way. But it's a very good piece of writing by a child who has learnt through reading etc what poetry is, what sounds poetic and how to conjure up emotions, smells, sounds etc on top of being taught techniques in school. It's an important stage before finding your own "voice". You learn by doing.

And it's veryvery good for an eight year old!

Doesn’t change my opinion one bit. The people guessing that sort of age were trying to spite you and show off

Or we have kids that age ourselves, or are teachers, and recognise the structure is one that is pushed heavily in Y3/Y4 of primary school. Lots and lots of “extended noun phrases” and similes even when it interferes with the flow of the story/poem. No noun unaccompanied by an adjective or three.

OP’s daughter has an excellent vocabulary, and this is a very good piece of work. But it is recognisably the kind of exercise that is set in lower KS2.

I was going to say could be year 5 or 6. But it’s good for those ages too. Well done the author!

Its lovely you should be very proud ☺️

Precisely. ‘Do you think this is an advanced thing for my child to be doing?’ has to be literally the most pointless question anyone ever asked on MN. And of course no one will ever admit to the ulterior motives at play in their answers.

Year 4 yes but year 2?! Surely they'd have to be some very advanced 6 year olds to write that?

A child who is learning about descriptive language and still developing the ability to use it?
Mid primary school perhaps.

You'd be surprised at the writing some Y2s produce. It's often better than some GCSE candidates 😂. What's missing in this writing is flow and structure. It has some complex vocabulary but doesn't use a variety of punctuation or sentence forms.

No, you're right. Good response. I have no idea what imagination means. I wish I did but... no, it's beyond me.

Wow OP, that is beautiful! Well done to your DC and well done to you too for raising a child with such fantastic vocab and creativity, very inspiring! 🤩