Concerned about slow writing in Year 2

[betterperson]

I've been told by the teacher, my Year 2 child is very slow in writing. He is very intelligent and in he finished Year 1 with mark above average. Now the teacher is expecting from him to write more and faster. It takes him around 15 minitues to write 3 sentances. Do you have any suggestions how we can improve the writing. xxxwww.mumsnet.com/thl/5.gif

Ask the school or your GP to refer you to a paediatric Occupational Therapist who can assess your son to see if he is experiencing any problems with the physical and spatial skills associated with writing. If so, they can recommend exercises and specific types of practice to help with co-ordination, speed and fluency. Your son experiencing pain when writing (ask him- he may think this is "normal" and not have thought to mention it!) or having more of a struggle with letter sizing, formation and placing (on line rather than above etc) than most children of his age would be important signals that you should seek this sort of assessment as quickly as possible.

It's not just about "handwriting" practice as sometimes the difficulties need addressing at a more fundamental level (eg shoulder stability, spatial perception etc). This is not something many teachers have much knowledge about (I am one and didn't know about it at all) so it is worth getting an expert assessment. My friend who is a qualified OT can watch a child writing and say "oh yes, that's a shoulder stability problem or a problem with thumb flexion or whatever", whereas I still can't judge it very well despite her teaching me! I can do the standard letter formation and handwriting teaching, but have learned (from experience) that some children need a different, more basic intervention first. By year 2, it is worth looking into this imo!

Sarahfreck thanks for that massage. Definitely will look into it.