Hi.
My DS has just turned 7 & is starting year 3 at a new school (he is moving from infant to primary) in September.
His teachers have never commented on his handwriting and he was given a 2b in his SATS for writing. However, I think his writing is appalling and hasn't improved since he was in foundation year. If anything, it's got worse!
When he brought his project books home at the end of the year, I was really shocked by his work. They seem to work in books without lines a lot and in these books, his writing is pretty much illegible. The sentences go all over the page at different angles, the letters start of small and then become huge, there are huge crosses that he's put through his mistakes and it just looks a terrible jumbled mess. Several letters, such a 'p' and 'b' are mixed up or back to front. He was showing me and saying "look, my work is rubbish" and I can understand his frustration (although I am always positive with him and would never tell him how terrible I think it looks!).
He is doing well with reading & was in the highest reading group in his year. He had a 3 for reading in his SATS. I know that he listens well and is really interested in his school projects so it is frustrating that he is unable to put this across. I've seen him writing stories on the laptop and when he has done typed work it is really lovely to read. He has often complained about writing being too hard at school but is not the sort of child who will ever ask for help.
The school he had just left had a ''no homework" policy and it was extremely difficult to get feedback from his teacher. I have tried doing handwriting practice at home but he gets very frustrated quickly and rips his work up because it is "rubbish". He is the same with drawing and he also struggles to hold his cutlery & tie shoelaces, so I am wondering if he is just slow up develop co-ordination?
My questions are : can anyone recommend books we could use together at home? Something ''fun" would be ideal as I don't want it to turn into a battle or to make his writing into a big issue.
Also, is it worth speaking to his new teacher in September? I tried last year and his teacher fobbed md off and said there was nothing to worry about. I got the impression in his last school that there was a massive focus on the 'gifted and talented' children and also in the children who were very behind but that children like mine were left to get on with it.
The new school has smaller class sizes and a fantastic reputation so I am thinking this good be a good time to address the issue. I worry that they will think I an being a pushy parent (I really am not!) because no-one else has flagged this up as a problem. However, I know that my DS is capable of a lot more and I think he needs help now to stop his frustration growing.
He also tries to write in 'joined up' writing because that's what he has been told at school. It seems ridiculous to me that any child who has not mastered basic script should be told to move on to something more complex and I would like him to have permission to stick yo the basics until his confidence improves. Does this sound reasonable? Any ideas are appreciated...