boys writing

[beautifulbabies]

What do you think is a normal amount for a 5 year old boy to write before losing interest? My ds who has just finished reception will write a couple of sentences then he's had enough. Do they just build up stamina over time?

I think it varies. My friends 5 year old dd recently wrote a 5 page story in one sitting, but i assume that is exceptional.

I does vary greatly from child to child (and not just with boys), on the writing subject and the motivation

Based on the amount of complaining I had when DS (end of Y1) was doing his thank you cards to teachers, about 3 words.

That has made me feel better. I spoke to a friend whos dd is in my ds class and she said her dd was driving her mad writing all the time. Just made me a bit paraniod, i don't want my ds to struggle in year 1.

My DS has just finished reception too and is not a keen writer either.

it was a real effort to get him to write a thank you card to his teacher and all he had to write was "thank you from XXX"

But he loves to read so I guess that not all children will love everything iyswim

Well, thats what I tell myself anyway!!

Hi,

I have a 5 year old boy and I try to encourage him to write something everyday during the Summer hols, he's not keen though, we're trying the scrap book idea. Day 1 he wrote "Swimming Pool" (that was it!) Day 2 "we went bowling" and so on. So about 2 or 3 words per day.

I'm hoping eventually he'll get the writing bug!

Try giving him the start of a sentence and get him to write as much as he can in 5 minutes - anything he wants e.g. pink elephants dancing into space with mouseketeer attendants, whatever!

If he does that every day it will encourage him to be creative and to write quickly - works for my ds who's 10. He'll then be able to apply it in the classroom to topics provided by his teacher.

My DS (6) loves writing. When he's in the mood. Usually before bed, when he's used up all his residual energy. He loves football and went through a phase of copying out all the player's names and teams.

Maybe try focusing on getting him to write stuff he's interested in. My DS hated doing cards etc when he was in Reception.

Hi, in my experience, it's just not worth pushing with writing.

It's realistic to get a child of this age to write a sentence of about 6 words. Fine motor skills still have a long way to go for most, and may be the crux in handwriting ability, and in any case, lots of practice lies ahead in yr 1 and yr 2.

There's plenty of time, so probably best to leave well alone if he is resisting.

When In Reception, my DS1 wouldn't write at all without being pushed and wasn't keen on reading either. He didn't really show much interest in either until he got to Year 3 when he was coming up 8. He's just left primary and got one of the top marks for literacy in the school. I worried about him and felt he was under achieving all through Key Stage One but the truth was he just wasn't really ready until Key Stage Two. Many of my friends have sons who have been very similar and all have achieved well at the end of primary school. I think it's a good idea to encourage your DS but if he's not interested, don't push it as it will just put him off altogether. As long as his teachers aren't concerned then I would just make sure you read to him as much as possible so that he has the ideas and vocabulary to use independently in his writing when eventually he's ready.

Maybe one word, I would have thought.

Unless there is some medical issue, writing improves with maturity and better fine motor coordination, even if the child doesn't do any writing practice whatsoever. Sport is also good, because they need to have good gross motor skills to sit in a stable way before fine motor skills can be used.

So I don't think you should risk putting him off writing by making him practice. Five is very young.

If you are concerned about writing, see whether your child would spend more time playing with Lego or other small toys than he already does, and that should help. Small strong magnets such as Geomag build hand strength quickly.

My DS1 is just 5 and its a struggle to get him to write anything. He'll moderately happily trace over a thank you card of maybe 6 words. And can write his name and single words. Reading's the same. He has come on in leaps and bounds since starting reception so I'm pleased with his own personal progress.

My ds has just finished year 3 (he is 7 nearly 8). They are expected to write about a page. They have this weekly lesson called 'The big write' where they practice writing.
There are quite a few children who manage about half a page - and then some who write tons.
so at 5 I wouldn't expect too much. I remember my ds just about scrawling down a sentence or two!! (his writing wasn't great either)
concerntration is hard when they are 5 as well (not that he is much better now!)

I would agree with all the posts here - my DS has just turned six and only now is he really showing an interest in writing. And yes he definitely built up stamina and interest over time, helped I think by me just praising whatever writing he did produce to the skies and telling him it was wonderful, even when it wasn't

For example for last year's thank you letters (so end of reception) I just about managed to get DS to write the name of the person the letter was for, and his own name at the end of the letter. I wrote the actual thank you for the present bit; no way would he have managed a complete sentence. This year, with only minimal encouragement, he's writing three-sentence thank you letters no problems at all, and some lucky relatives are even getting a picture thrown in too (which would literally have been unheard of last year). Admittedly though we only manage to get one or two letters done at a time but hey, it's progress.

beautifulbabies the absolute best advice I can give is to ignore what anyone's DD is doing - never compare a boy and girl of similar age! It's a huge generalisation but as a rule girls are often SO much more enthusiastic about writing than boys are, and as a result a lot more advanced.