Writing sample of child

[Jemmalee]

My youngest son has dysgraphia and this was not picked up at school so he was told off a lot for not completing his writing in time - or to an acceptable standard. This lead to anxiety around writing for him and it was so bad he actually began setting himself when asked to write. I took him out of said school and I have been working hard on helping him since. He has made enormous progress and just for my own reference I’m wondering what age people would guess he is. I’m proud of him regardless because he no longer fears writing and is beginning to enjoy it! Here are a few pieces of writing he completed by himself without any help from me. That in itself is huge progress. But what age range would you guess he is?

Based on your description any where from yr 4 to yr 6. Tidy hand writing but looks very deliberate and he will need to build up speed for the eventual GCSE years when it doesn’t need to be that neat.

The first sample maybe 10-12 and the second looks like an adult. I was going to say that after year 1 I think they start writing cursive but that handwriting definitely looks miles better than what my 6 year old produces (and her writing is fine according to her teacher). Both are very clear and neat and a million times better than my handwriting. Well done!!

Year 4/5

Looks great. The actual handwriting is neat and well formed and the only reason I would say lower KS2 is because it’s not cursive (although plenty on older kids don’t join!). Content wise it appears a bit ‘copied ‘ so hard to judge really as this ‘fact book’ style doesn’t allow for much flare. I’d be happy with that in any KS2 class but I’m going to take a guess at 9?

Wow, so neat! Much neater than my 8-year olds. No wonder you're proud!

My son is 30 and dysgraphic, you DS's handwriting is far, far better than my DS's. I am guessing your DS is secondary age? My DS had to have his written exams transcribed as his handwriting was so illegible to most people.

And just realised the second sample is creative writing. Good vocab and style but immature punctuation- 8/9 years

Based on the children I've taught, that could be anywhere between 6 and 16! Well done to you and your son. The leap he's made from fearing writing so much he wet himself to actually starting to enjoy it, is immense. Really, huge congratulations. X

8 or 9? Schools tend to insist on cursive so based in writing alone I would have said younger but the contents shows its older!

Hmm. I’d say 10. But that’s massively influenced by the writing style. It’s neater than my 10yo’s (and than my 17yo’s) but quite similar to my (dyslexic but neat) 15yo’s.

Seriously!!!! This child does not have dysgraphia

whoever told you that?

I’d say 10 based on the second piece.

I'm guessing about 7-8 based on similar handwriting to children I teach. Regardless of age, it is lovely and legible which is all that matters. Well done to your DS.

Thank you so much to everyone who commented, I really appreciate your encouragement too! He is 9 years old and if I showed the difference between now and just over a year ago it is a remarkable improvement which is all I’m really aiming for - gradual and comfortable improvement.
Someone above mentioned they don’t believe he has dysgraphia which is actually a huge boost in confidence because that’s what I’m ultimately aiming for - for his writing to be as close to “normal” as possible. But trust me, he has it. His letters were a mix of small and large with capitals scattered within the text. He would get many letters and numbers back to front such as p, 9, d, b, q, g and y. But most telling was the pure anxiety and fear, as well as the time it took for him to write only a simple sentence. He is such a bright boy with an eagerness to learn so it upset him so much.

At his previous school the classroom assistant once told him off for not finishing his writing and made him miss playtime and some lunchtime to complete it. That upset him because he said he was trying his best. This happened a few more times before he actually told me about it and I only found out because I became concerned at his reaction to writing during homework. He would have anxiety attacks about going to school and would wet himself when told to write. At the same time he was diagnosed with epilepsy and writing strangely seemed to trigger an absent seizure.

It’s been a complicated journey so the fact he now writes with happiness and confidence is wonderful to watch and I often secretly have a tear when I see how hard he’s trying and how pleased he is when he does it.

As somebody mentioned above, my aim is to simply get him prepared for GCSE speed rather than using cursive. My 18 year old doesn’t use cursive even though his was beautiful at age 9! So I don’t feel it is as important as speed and legibility.

But again, thank you so much for your kind words and your encouragement. It has been really tough at times (and even more so for my son of course!) so it means a lot.

That's lovely and clear. I'd be happy if I saw that on a GCSE script (ex-science teacher). I hate cursive, no point them being able to write quickly if you can't read it, which you honestly can't for most teens I've taught.

Also (you're probably aware but just in case) if you have a diagnosis he should be awarded extra time for exams - when he goes to secondary push for this to start asap and be documented so they have evidence to apply for it for the GCSEs.

At his previous school the classroom assistant once told him off for not finishing his writing and made him miss playtime and some lunchtime to complete it. That upset him because he said he was trying his best. This happened a few more times before he actually told me about it and I only found out because I became concerned at his reaction to writing during homework. He would have anxiety attacks about going to school and would wet himself when told to write.

How awful, I felt so sad for your son reading this.

I know highly successful adults whose writing is far less legible than that! His writing is really clear and well
formed!

I was going to guess at 10 or 11.

It's lovely handwriting btw! Laughing at the suggestion is was done by an under 7 tho.

Wow that's amazing writing, waaay better than my dd who is also 9.
You should so proud

No idea but I enjoyed the story about the little mouse!

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