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.

I think it shows she really pays attention. There is no way I could have written that at 8! Lovely how she has really thought about the fire then zoomed out and then there is this kind of spiritual, eco message in it. She might like to try drawing it as well - I wonder if she has a future in films or creating computer games! You are right to be proud of her.

I agree. It's ridiculous to suggest the child might be 7 or 9!

It's a lovely bit of prose, and it shows that the writer understands the science behind wild fires, about how a fire feeds on oxygen etc. There are also deeper moments with the fire in the mind bit, and the descriptions are quite advanced for a primary school child to write without any input. It also depends on their own reading level and what they enjoy tp read, and what they're studying at school, to know as some of it is specific as how a fire will react to wet leaves, why the leaves are wet etc.

I'd say the content while not the spelling errors are secondary school level, if written without help. It's lovely, you have a talented mind on your hands :)

Regardless of whether it was a prescribed exercise I also think she has talent and needs developing.

How is it ridiculous to suggest the writer is 7 or 9, when the writer is 8?

12/13

Yep, I read that after I posted. I'm very surprised!

I would say 8-10…. This sort of work is typical of kids in my child’s class. Also - it sounds like she reads a lot - so unsurprising she can write like that. Why are you asking tho OP?

Around 8-10 ? Pretty standard for that age if there are no special needs

Ignoring the fact this is a pretty great piece from an 8 year old and every one who's saying it is average is batshit, most concerning is that you're happy to accept that your son is very bright and above average but when faced with evidence that your daughter is also very bright or even "gifted", you're trying your hardest to think of her as average

Her English teacher will be pleased. It has many adjectives, emotive language and other literary devices needed to help her get a grade 9 when her GCSE examiner examines her work against a checklist.

As a reader, it left my mind blank. There was no need to conjure an image; it was all done for me and as I write this, there is nothing to remember about it.

I liked the word "sated", though. That alone would have made me stop and think.

I'd like to see it stripped back a bit myself, so my brain can engage with it and do some work.

She can't imagine it with any accuracy, originality or truth. She doesn't have any real understanding of what's happening. She's copying what someone else has told her or what she's read or watched about a forest fire.

If she was asked to write about what it's like to be caught in the rain without a coat or find herself in the biggest building she's ever seen she could draw on her own experience, thoughts and feelings, not some second-hand poetry.

Please, please, please don't keep telling her how clever she is. That's a great way to get her to stop trying. I was continually told I was a clever kid which, according to this thread, has made me mean-spirited and cynical.

Do tell her she's produced a piece of writing that you really like and are very proud of. Praise what she does, not som innate talent detached from her efforts.

I’d really like to post the poem that got an A* for a dd of maybe 12, and which her English teacher wanted to enter in a competition.

But I’m not altogether ashamed to say that it was entirely written by me, late one evening when dd was tired and in tears at her inability to come up with anything ‘poetic’. 😂 😈
I never kept a copy, though.

We teach 11+ and this is typical of 11+ students, so 9 or 10. Those are the ones who will pass and go to the grammars (top). The punctuation and structure would let it down though so I think 8-9 sounds about right. She is definitely grammar material. But gifted is definitely too far.

ChatGPT?

Possibly aged 10 but the spelling is poor and it I don't like the mixed metaphors. The vocab is good and I assume your dd reads a lot to have such a good vocab.

But drawing on some "second-hand poetry" can be an excellent way to explore your own writing, a stepping stone to a writer finding your own unique voice! Even for adults on creative writing classes, and of course for children.

I certainly think the class has been looking at some similar writing, but this little girl has done some lovely, flowing work with it and you can see the talent as well as the external influences.

I'm seeing a few posters critiquing this work as if it was that of an older writer submitting it for publication. Of course it isn't entirely original, and has some untransformed (or inadequately transformed) elements from what she has read or been taught, and too many advjectives, etc. But that is because she is an eight-year old who is playing, not a polished author or a jaded older student who is striving for the best.

It is a happy, relaxed exploration with words. Lots of children draw pictures that have that energy, but not so many achieve the same mind-state by playing with words. So I think creative writing might be her "thing" and give her lots of pleasure as she grows older.

My thoughts exactly.

If it's any help @Fluffylikeacoconut I have experience of working with and supporting parents of gifted children as well as preparing children for common entrance exams.

It's quite normal for them to be 2 years ahead of their peers (especially if they are already in private ed.)

However, that's a long way from being 'gifted'.

I'd encourage your daughter and praise her but not set too much store on one piece of writing.

Out on a limb here. Spelling is poor, a bright 13-14yr old possibly older. Quite sophisticated vocab.

OP, please be careful with her. My mother once told me I had a limited vocabulary. I certainly don't now, but it hurt and it stuck. I too was overshadowed by a very clever older sister who specialised in Maths and Sciences. If a teacher mentions 'gifted' please take them seriously.

Me too & I agree!

Possibly, at a push, one of our greater depth writers might produce something like this - after much editing & adult guidance!

The content is very impressive - few spelling & punctuation issues, though.

14 or 15

People have v bright kids if their 6/7 year old writes like that (mind blown!), as some have suggested!! Before knowing the age (and assuming its written independently) id have said bright 12+ at least.