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.

As a former yr6 teacher the content is very good for a yr1 child especially a young yr1!!!

In terms of the actual handwriting, you haven't gown it, but when I was training, we had a lecture on child development and actually there is a bone/ligament/muscle (can't remember which) that form in children's wrists around the age of 4/5 and is known to develop later in boys than girls, hence why boys often have worse handwriting than girls in their younger years.

You need to give your child time to develop in his own time, he is only 5. In Scotland he would on just be starting school, whereas in Scandanavia he would still have a few years before he started....

We expect too much from our children at such a young age, and it doesn't help that our education system is based on comparing our children against national averages and their year group peers! It's like comparing chalk and cheese, especially at the age of 5!

And also, think about some of the logic here. You seem to be saying that what used to be expected of yr 3 is now expected of yr 1. That's clearly nonsense - how on earth could children be miraculously expected to suddenly reach the level of a 7-8 year old at 5?! Some of the curriculum might have been rejigged, but a 5yo isn't ever likely to be writing like an 8yo whatever the content of the curriculum. Your expectations are way out.

He is not "hopeless" at writing.

What a horrible thing to say.

Vile. Vile. Vile.

Hi Notmymuse, I've been hesitant to post. I was hoping this thread would just die away. Instead it's been rolling on and on with even more people proclaiming stealth boast, ffs.

I posted a couple of years ago with very similar issues. Thankfully I received helpful reassurance without any negativity.

The similarities between our posts include age/year of DC, using the writing on wall as a benchmark and being told by the class teacher that our DC were bottom / towards bottom of the cohort.

So many posters have said writing on the wall should be ignored. But how is it not relevant when peers are so far ahead? It's not like DC don't notice this for themselves or compare themselves to national standards rather than their peers

And to ignore the views of the class teacher - really? It's great if a teacher only makes national comparisons but in my experience comparisons to the place in the class are normal. I regularly read posters saying their DC is bottom or top of the class. Even if it's not everyone's experiences it's not that unusual either.

FWIW Notmymuse I think you identified the problem when you said he'd moved to a school with far greater emphasis on writing. His peers probably have a combination of far more practice and likely better motor skills (for now). You now know that he's doing well against national standards and if you can follow his lead so that he enjoys doing any writing he feels inspired to, you will pave the way for him fulfilling his own potential. HTH.

Erm, I think posters on this thread were mostly appalled at a small boy being deemed "not academic".

Ludicrous.

How is the writing displayed on the wall not relevant? You don't know the circumstance under which the writing on the wall was produced. It could well be work that gas been corrected and rewritten in best handwriting or it could be work produced with adult support ... You don't know!

When my DS was in Y1, I found his writing to be illegible. The teachers' could read it but I couldn't make head nor tail of it. This was largely due to lack of spaces, random capitals and the phonetic spelling.

And because he didn't enjoy the physical act of writing, he would skimp on content as much as possible.

However, at no time did this prevent the teachers' from correctly spotting that he is academically able. They looked at the whole picture of how he was working and learning and the writing was only a small part.

He is now in Y2, his handwriting has improved no end, I can read it and now he enjoys putting pencil to paper, he is writing some great stuff. He continues to do well academically.

OP, who is conflating handwriting ability with academic ability? Is it you or your DS' teachers? Because either you or they need to change your attitude.

In the meantime, look at ways of boosting your DS self-esteem and resilience so he doesn't lose heart and feel that other children are "better" than him.

He is 5 ! bless his little heart and to me there doesn't seem anything wrong with the text, can't see a picture though

I am a year 1 teacher.

I would be pleased with that from my average ability children.

Looks on track to me, stop worrying.

Give him a break! The work is legible, with good grammar and even an adverb. If you are that worried, download some handwriting kits (tracing letters, basically) and practice, and speak to the teacher about how they plan to improve his fine motor.
For a 5 yo though, I am impressed, and v unimpressed at his teacher for sending you the signal he is so far behind.
Well done him.

You can see that he is using his phonetic knowledge to sound out words as he writes. Even though he hasn't chosen the correct graphemes you can still read what it says. A lot of children choose the wrong graphemes at this age, but that is because the English language is so complex and has so many options.

I hope after reading these responses that you're able to offer your son the heaps of praise he so deserves. At the age of 5 the single most important thing is that he learns to enjoy learning. If he's disappointing you already, he will really struggle.