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Original poster

At what age...could your dc spell their name (assuming they aren't called something like Christopher or Elizabeth!)

52 replies

MNersanonymous · 05/04/2008 21:29

Just curious, when do kids typically manage to spell their name and maybe a few other words of 3 to 5 letters?

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TeeBee · 09/04/2008 15:48

My 2.5 year-old can spell lots of 3, 4 and 5-letter words, but does seem to have a very strange interest in learning to spell. We are a very 'book-loving' family, but am still quite surprised when he asks me to spell words such as 'bacon', them repeats it and remembers it. Hey ho.

Troutpout · 09/04/2008 15:53

ds was about 4.
dd was about 2 and a half when she started writing her name and also at 3 she began spelling words words like 'milk' as 'mik'

Troutpout · 09/04/2008 15:55

Agree with pesha.. if they do it early ..i don't think it particularly means anything more than that they were interested enough to do it.

cardy · 09/04/2008 15:55

My dd (just 4) has just learnt to spell and write her name, it does have 9 letters though!

chipmonkey · 09/04/2008 16:21

Ds1 when he was under 3. Ds2 when he was over 5. Ds3 doesn't have a clue about letters and he's just 3.

DuchessOfNorksSnowSpecial · 09/04/2008 16:39

DD could write hers by the time she was 4. (6 letters, mostly vowels).

DS could spell his name out loud at 3 (and several other words) but at 4.5 his writing of it is still barely legible. (7 letters).

MadameCh0let · 09/04/2008 16:40

My DD could spell her own name (just her own) at about 3 and a half. It has 6 letters.

ScoobyDoo · 09/04/2008 16:41

Ds was about 3 & he has 5 letters.

Smee · 09/04/2008 20:02

I've never thought about getting DS to even try. He's 3, recognises his name and is interested enough to write the first letter, but surely it's up to school to teach them to write (unless they're genuinely interested that is). I'm sure I read somewhere that various studies have shown that if they learn too soon it can actually hold them back?

Doobydoo · 09/04/2008 20:06

At 2.8 years.But a simple name[4 letters]

oxocube · 09/04/2008 20:08

Five. Which I think is pretty normal and acceptable He is a Matthew

oxocube · 09/04/2008 20:09

Just realised I ignored my older 2 kids in this but TBH I can't even remember They are now 10 and almost 13 )

morningglory · 09/04/2008 20:10
  1. I think it was something his nursery school taught him.
TheFallenMadonna · 09/04/2008 20:13

Blimey. DS couldn't write his name legibly when he started school at 4.2. DD (4.2 now) can write the first 4 letters of hers by herself, and will copy the remaining 5 (sorry dd!).

Neither of them showed much interest in learning to write. Or indeed for ds to learn his letters at all before he started school.

eandh · 09/04/2008 20:16

DD1 is 3.6 and can spell her name but its only 5 letters long and she only has 3 different letters so quite easy

MIL said that primary school teacher said to her that by the time dh had written his name (11 letters) they were half way through the lesson, apaprently he wasnt the fastest learner at school

IdrisTheDragon · 09/04/2008 20:18

DS is 4.4 and can't reliably write his name yet, but will have a good try (his name has 8 letters). And his middle name is Christopher, so I anticipate the whole thing taking a while

Kathyis6incheshigh · 09/04/2008 20:22

I'm not sure that 'what age do kids typically...' and 'when did yours...' are really the same question, hence you may not get the answer you want from this thread.
Thing is, MNers are probably not a typical sample and there's no knowing whether the MNers who post on this thread will be average or at one extreme.

What I really mean is, I wouldn't worry if I looked at this thread and thought mine sounded a bit later than everyone else's

Original poster
MNersanonymous · 09/04/2008 20:39

Kathy - totally agree. The answers to such threads tend to be biased towards the people whose kids did something quite early and perhaps a few who did it quite late. As such if it were a really serious issue I don't think it'd be the right place for an answer, but if it is just to satisfy a curiosity, taken with a pinch of salt etc. it's still very useful I find.

OP posts:
ChristopherandElizabethsmum · 09/04/2008 20:54

(Yes, they really are called that...)

Christopher aged 2.5. But he's autistic...
Elizabeth still gets s and z confused at 6.

Califrau · 09/04/2008 21:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lisa34 · 09/04/2008 21:11

my ds is called Christopher he could write his name fully by the time he started in reception, but he does have days when he writes Chris (his lazy can't be bothered to write days)

Blocky · 10/04/2008 10:38

DS 2.6 can spell his (relatively) easy name and surname. But adds the word 'enter' at the end as he learnt to spell it on computer keyboard

Kathyis6incheshigh · 10/04/2008 12:43

LOLOL Blocky.

MNersanonymous -

Bink · 10/04/2008 12:55

MNersanon - 2.9 is definitely early.

In the spirit of widening your info pool, ds was writing his name (6 letters) around/just after turning 4, and that was apparently good going, according to the nursery (who were incidentally quite relieved he'd stopped writing "Pinocchio" everywhere).

bozza · 10/04/2008 13:19

DD can write both her name and her pet form one of which is 6 letters and 1 of which is 5 letters (first 4 being the same) and has been able to do since being about 3 1/2. Her 'y' is pretty iffy though....

DS could deffo spell his 3 letter short form at 3 (maybe before) but could not write it 'til 3 1/2 or so. Couldn't write full form (8 letters) until he went to school.