DD (4) is hard on herself re writing

[Laugs]

Just wondered if anyone else is experiencing this or has some advice.

DD has probably always been a bit of a perfectionist, but now that she's starting to write it's becoming very obvious. She's only in nursery, so the teacher has explained that their 'writing' will probably not look like the letters it is supposed to represent at this stage, they're just getting used to the idea etc. They could draw a squiggle and the teacher would be happy. But DD is very aware of exactly how she wants her letters to look and gets really annoyed if she makes a mistake. She's actually really good at writing, but every time we sit down she ends up flouncing off or getting upset because she think she's got it wrong.

How can I make this easier for her? She's so young and I just want her to enjoy it!

I spoke to her teacher yesterday, but she said 'I think DD is always going to be like that. It's very hard because she sets her own high standards.'

(Oh, why do they have to grow up? It was so much easier when I set the standards!)

We've had the same trouble with our six year old girl for two years. The best way we've come up with is to sit her down and explain that we're going to be doing work for seven year olds (or in your case, five year olds), so she knows it's going to be difficult. That way, she seems less irritated when she can't do it first time, and much more inclined to practice hard to get it right.

Plus, she has a real sense of achievement in getting something right that is supposedly 'beyond' her, rather than in simply mastering something that all her classmates have mastered.

If we're trying to reinforce something she's learning at school, we'll usually add on a little something to make out it's what they study next year while all the time mainly reinforcing her schoolwork.

Evil genius, me. Anyhoo, hope this helps.

Practice writing on something that doesn't last.

Either a whiteboard where you can rub it off straight away, or in a sand tray.

Often my DS will only do work if I promise to throw it away straight after he's done it :)

And make sure you always praise her for effort not achievement.