Da hopeless at writing - here is an example.

[Notmymuse]

Further to my previous thread ds (5) wrote this today. He self corrected a number of times and at the end went back and changed 'to' to 'two'. It took him around 5 minutes and says:

Jesus went into Jerusalem. He had the last supper. Judas betrayed him. The Roman king put two criminals up together. 'Which one shall I release?' said the king. Sadly Jesus was crucified.

Apart from criminals - which is spelt insanely - I'd have been able to get the rest but the handwriting continues to be horrific. He's 6 in June. This looks quite behind to me. Should I press the school for some further help? Certainly compared to all the beautiful work on his classroom walls he is behind.

Why would it be a failed stealth boast??
I'm pretty sure he's just parroting the story the same way a child parrots goldilocks and the three bears. He would understand it and know what it all meant but he probably is just parroting it when writing.

Plus have you seen whats expected of year one children? A lot more than when we were at school. What was expected in year 3 has been pushed down to year 1 and 2.

Ridiculous thread. The child is 5 ffs. Just be glad he is doing well and happy to write. OP you sound bonkers.

Thanks a bunch!
I don't think I'm bonkers but I don't want my child to get left behind either.

Okay maybe not bonkers but honestly it really doesn't appear you have anything to worry about. Your ds is doing well, just be proud of him.

Oh ok OP, you're right. He's crap at writing, can't think for himself and didn't know how to spell criminals. Might as well give up on him now. Maybe try for another child and hope for better luck with that one? This loser better stick with sport. That better?

Not RTWT but, OP, that piece is way better than my DD could have done in Yr1.

She didn't read fluently till year 3. Well below average for her cohort TBH. Fortunately DH had been similar at that stage so he allayed my fears...late developer, high achiever.

She's now 16, at grammar school and working hard for GCSEs - expected grades good.

You really cannot judge how a child will turn out academically based on what they can do in KS1 (let alone reception year). Some children are ready to read and write at 4; some simply aren't till nearer 7 and it can be remarkably uncorrelated to their actual potential.

We put our kids into formal education too early in the UK.

I'm pretty sure he's just parroting the story the same way a child parrots goldilocks and the three bears.

No, this is better than regular retelling of a story. Many children would start all the sentences the same way, 'Goldilocks was in the woods. Goldilocks saw a house. Goldilocks went in the house. Goldilocks ate the porridge.'
He is doing just fine. Better than just fine.

Op, unless there are other issues that you are concerned about, that you haven't mentioned on this thread, I don't understand why you can't see how good that writing is.

If it is the school that are telling you that he is not doing very well, then I would honestly think about another school.

You talk about early intervention, as though there is something wrong with the way he is progressing - as I say, unless there is something else going on, from this example, it doesn't look like he needs early intervention.

And yes, I have 3 children at 2 different primaries, so see a lot of work done by year one pupils. I have experience in early years (preschool) and others, including a year 1 teacher who is also a senco, have said it looks like a good piece of writing!

Chill out op!
My ds handwriting was appalling. It was impossible to read last year when he was yr 1. It was a mystery to me how his teacher managed to decipher his work.
Dh and I used to just laugh about it because it seemed cute.
He is yr 2 now and his writing is coming along fine and he's doing really well.

This thread is bizarre. Your son is fine, but you sound absolutely obsessed with his "academic abilities" despite what people are telling you on this thread. You've already pigeon-holed him at the age of 5!! He WILL pick up on your negativity - I can't see how scrutinising the spaces between his words and concluding that his writing his "hopeless" is going to help either of you.

Can't you see beyond these ridiculous expectations? There's so much more to life (and your son).

I was told throughout primary school and high school I had scruffy handwriting and went on to get an A and A* in English at GCSE and A at A level. Don't worry.

and as far is handwriting is concerned, i've got 3 friends who had absolutely appalling writing throughout school, to the point i struggled to read any of their essays (it was a continuous joke amongst us). The one with the 'chicken' handwriting is now a high flying lawyer, the one with equally woeful writing is a doctor and the third has just passed his final exam (i think!) in plastic surgery. all three of them still have terrible handwriting, believe me your ds writing is ten times better than theirs, i only wish i could get hold of all 3 now to upload a copy of their writing to you.

Is this really what your 5 year old is expected to do by school?

I live in Germany and no 5 year old would be expected to write a story. Children don't start school here until 6/7 and the first 6 months are used to learn the alphabet and how to read/write basic words.

I know from reading MN that the UK starts formal education much earlier than the rest of Europe, but surely there are limits to what you can expect from a 5 year old.

You should definitely not worry, but rather be proud of your child.

OP what was expected in Y3 has not been pushed down to Y1.
The expectations for the end of Y1 are higher/different under the new curriculum but not that much higher.

Literacy wise expectations seem much much higher. Certainly if they are now expecting children to be the equivalent of a 2c (I know levels don't exist anymore but that is more or less what they seem to expect when you look at the criteria - an old level 2c) by the end of year 1 then goalposts have been moved.

Numeracy in contrast seems pretty easy.

I'm a Y1 teacher OP

www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/AssetsLibrary/SECTORS/PRIMARYASSETSNEW/Curriculum_Change/English2014Curriculum_changes_proof.pdf green is new content red is content removed.

Is there supposed to be a picture of the handwriting? What you've typed sounds great, I can't even see errors in it

But 2c isn't year 3 expectations and never has been. It's what you would have expected part way through year 2. That piece of writing isn't a million miles away from 2c, if it's not there already. There really isn't much wrong at all with that piece of writing for a year 1 child, let alone a problem that would require some sort of intervention.

You can't write him off as not academic at 5 because of the lack of a few finger spaces.

There was a picture when the Op originally posted, but it seems to have disappeared since then.

I think his writing would gave looked better if he'd had support of lined paper. Content was fine and spelling phonetically plausible.

Don't know where the picture has gone - I can still see it!

No I guess the expectations aren't in line with old y3 expectations but some of the content taught seems to have been bumped down a couple of years.

We will keep practicing anyway, he's made an Easter treasure hunt for dh and written the clues. If he's happy to do stuff like that - which he is as there's a purpose to the writing - then it will surely help in the long run with the fine motor.

No I can't - it's vanished. I know not why.

Thanks rafals, I was really confused!