How old is this child - a handwriting spelling one

[13456few]

DC has just gone back to school and I asked her to practice her writing while I dictate it to her. How old do you think this child is and whst school year do you think she has just started? My concern is she is behind.

I have a child who just gone into year 5 and it's similar to what she and her friends were doing in year 4. However it could be from year 4-6 as every child is different. I'd say year 4

Year4

5?

My daughter is just going into year 4 but is somewhat behind with her spelling.Her handwriting is similarly neat but letters not formed to be so legible as your example and certainly many of those words would be spelt incorrectly.
She is left handed, autistic and potentially dyslexic though.

😂

I think the posters putting 3 or 4 or 5 etc mean YEAR 3, 4 or 5 btw. Not age.

The handwriting looks fine for year 3.

If you are worried about fine motor issues then I would recommend activities like playdoh and loom bands, as well as things like paper cutting/tearing.

About 6 or 7?

The only reason for her to fear she is behind is because she's picking that anxiety up from you. Stop pressuring her into writing. My daughter is ND (diagnosed as AUDHD). At Primary school, she was always behind, and we were convinced it would always be so. She did not do particularly well (understatement) in her Y6 SATs. But then from Y7 onwards, she has blossomed. It all suddenly fell into place, and now her spelling , punctuation and grammar are very good (almost perfect). She is now 14 (going into Y10) and on track to get good GCSEs (good, not stupendous! Predicted 5s and 6s but a 4/5 in Maths). She struggles with handwriting still, and she is slow to get ideas onto paper, but will be allowed to use a laptop for exams. She does not choose to read or write for pleasure.
My point is that kids find their own strengths eventually, and her attainments may not live up to your initial hopes, but she will be fine. Encourage her interests, (mine is heavily into, and good at, Art and Music), and try not to worry about her attainment levels until she is older. She will find her own level.

To be fair, I've never said that he writing was poor. She compares herself to her peers, I don't even know what their handwriting is like.

A few people have mentioned laptops at secondary, we have asked thr school for a diagnosis but they have been pretty rubbish and slow about it. It's been over six months ans they still haven't submitted anything. Will try to speed them up as a diagnosis might unlock additional support down the line.

I see dyspraxia, not dyslexia.

Her spelling is average for her age.
Its the fine motor skills..the lack of uniformity of letters, spacing and many self done corrections mid-stream of getting a letter done.

Most kids with dyspraxia have the accommodation of
a) a teacher who writes what they dictate or
b) typing on a tablet

No one uses handwriting these days so it is not a necessity. Instead of worrying about her handwriting being behind, start getting her accommodations so she can express herself to the level she has the potential for. You have already said she excels at oral and verbal communication- that tells me she isn’t behind her peers in terms of learning. She just can’t write it out by hand. Which no one has to do today. We all type or say words digitally.

42 if my handwriting is anything to go by.
Realistically 10 maybe?

Looks pretty similar to my dd's handwriting who has also just gone into Y3. She's a leftie which I think has created extra challenges and handwriting has always been the thing she struggles with most but we're not particularly concerned about it. She's progressing and she'll get there in the end. Besides I've got an aunt who is a ridiculous over achiever (like double first from Cambridge, made millions in finance and now runs a hedge fund type over achiever) and she holds a pen like a toddler and you can't read a single word she writes. Hasn't held her back. 😂

Primary 3?

Because my 7.5 yr old boy is primary 3 and is faint if he produces writing as good as that

Should add he has dyslexia and is on the pathway for ADHD diagnosis. My handwriting never progressed much beyond this level genuinely but I was a straight a* student and considered gifted

She is definitely not dyslexic but I do wonder about dispraxia or something similar. Her fine motor skills are definitely behind. It took her ages to be able to dress herself, buttons, we haven't even attempted shoe laces yet.

Unfortunately her school has not been very helpful. Their teacher left mid year and as she isn't a bother in the classroom, all I get is she needs to work more on her writing. However, when SENCO and I tried to put together a case for diagnosis, quite a few different things came up, like her swimming, use of language, that she can be bossy and doesn't move on easily. However, Dd herself is sad that she can't climb the same as the others, or do crafts or write and I wonder whether that was part of a bigger picture.

She sounds a lot like my son.

To offer a bit of reassurance, he's now 12 and just gone into secondary (Scotland) and has caught up with a lot.

Tying shoe laces was like he had alien hands. Only really cracked it this summer.

He can't do joined up writing but there doesn't seem any focus on it here and in reality he's probably going to either type things or fill out forms that require you to print the words anyway.

We got him a Chromebook and he was happier writing stories and making slideshows on that. If you want the skills of imagination, punctuation etc is it worth trying to find alternative ways to keep her engaged rather than making writing a battleground?

It might also be worth getting a more advanced colouring book to help improve pen control without the pressure of writing. We got some from this range which were more advanced than basic colouring but not off putting like the adult ones with loads of sections https://amzn.eu/d/afaIYp0

There are obviously a few spelling mistakes, but this is normal for a 7/8 year old surely? I think that's fab writing for her age. The tone of the writing is great too.

Dictation?
To a Year 3???
It's a skill in itself - listening, processing AND writing.
Back off - PLEASE.

My son has had a hell of a journey through education with handwriting. Eventually we all realised he had dysgraphia. He’d struggle to write as neatly as your daughter now. The diagnosis didn’t help as most people think it’s not a thing and that he did lazy, scruffy work (right up to supply teachers in 6th form) and/or as parents we didn't put the time in.

Things that helped: triangular or chunkier pens with a fine narrow point. Writing in capitals. Forget joined up as much as you can. Focus on number formation, my son did maths and physics and you will get extra time in high school but can’t use laptops. Handwriting books for older kids/adults. My son became so reluctant to write because he felt criticised about his writing in school (it was peer marking that upset him most), I found some really good American books on Amazon that encouraged him to practice and were fun. Can’t remember what they were, but they were mystery solving based. Ask that your child’s work is not peer marked (kids can be unintentionally mean).

He’s now in year 4 of a vet med degree so has done brilliantly and still writes as little as possible, but rarely needs to. He does write the most lovely, neat for him, birthday cards because he knows they make me well up (as I know a neat birthday card takes him absolutely ages).

Compared to my daughter - yr 2. But I don’t think if it’s year 3 you should be massively worried. The spelling is good. It is very shaky though - could she have dyspraxia

I was a TA for year 6 for a few years and my initial thought was year 4. I've seen similar handwriting for year 6 students too!

but this is not ‘normal’ writing for a year 6. Having seen the whole of our yr 5 classes work last year only one looked like this and it’s a child who receives special help.

How you know she is definitely not Dyslexic? Has she been assessed?

A GCSE boy???
his writing is bloody awful but in his mind doctors can’t write and they are smart 🙈🙈🙈

OP you have gave me hope for my son. His writing is awful but he is really intelligent.