Does anyone else's summer-born 2017 reception starter have no interest in holding a pen / writing / drawing?

[dodi1978]

My son will turn 4 in August and start in reception in September. He has never shown much interest in pens / writing... when he takes a pen, he still pretty much takes it in his fist, and everything he puts on paper is unrecognisable.

Two days ago, an acquaintance with a son of similar age (also summer-born) who will go to the same school than my son from autumn posted on facebook a picture her son had drawn and written "I love you mummy" on. Meanwhile my son is still practicing his dinosaur roar .

Did anyone else have a kid like that, and did they get interested in writing once they started school? I should add that he is a totally bright child, loves having stories read to him, can recount complete episodes of Paw Patrol with embellishments which usually involve dinosaurs, recognises numbers up to 10 easily, loves building stuff.

Also, we work full-time whilst the other mum is a SAHM and possibly a bit of the Asian Tiger-mum type, so I am sure she has lots more time than us to engage him in learning to write and draw.

Please do not worry

On the working versus sahm - I have been both - always way more organised as a working mum so don't sweat it.

My sons were not interested in drawing or writing - now the year 2 boy has taken off - so please don't worry.

I think a great vocab - reading stories and all that sort of stuff is great

Andante when your child starts you can ask the teacher.

One idea would be if you child loves paw patrol or dinosaur then print out some colouring sheets and get him to have a good at tracing - but please do not worry.

I think having a keen interest in reading and being read to is wonderful. Embellishing stories is fantastic as it will help with his learning so much.

Thanks everyone! In my heart I know he'll be alright.

I think he'll be the type of student who is described as a bright boy, but who will be incredibly lazy when it comes to doing homework....

My advice would be get him some triangular pencil grips (you can buy them on Amazon) and carry on reading to him and hearing him read every day. Go to the library, the bookshop and let him chose books. Get caught reading, and enjoying it! Longer term, restrict screen time - TV and gadgets - and keep them out of his bedroom (pref. until he goes to uni).

look up MRZ's posts in primary education for lots of ideas about improving pencil grip. and as i was told decades ago, LEGO, lots ofplay with lego to get fingers working manipulatively.

OT recommended stubby bits of chalk and wax crayon.

oh and I have had just turned fives come in never having had any interest in drawing before school.

lots of language play, poems rhymes, silly songs etc, to get him listening to sounds.

sound guessing games.

They all go at their own pace so try not to worry, if you'd like to encourage him in this area there are a few things you can do.
Play dough is great for building hand and finger muscles, you can make your own at home and keep in the fridge, also if you can get some plastic children's tweezers that he can use to pick up small objects with that will also help.
Mark making with different materials like finger painting, using fingers to make marks in shaving foam and sand etc is also good encouragement.
Physical play where he can use his arm muscles and develop balance will also benefit.
He'll be right where he needs to be in no time at all.

My April born son didn't really draw before starting school but he had spontaneously taught himself to read cvc words (eg dog, cat, van etc) just finishing year one and he's still not much of a drawer and his handwriting is not his strongest point but he's not far behind his class mates. They all have different strengths, different interests and different rates of developing. It is not a competition or a reflection of where they will be in a few years time.

I know it's hard, OP, but please try not to worry. One of my children was way behind - possibly even more so than yours - in first years at school; she's now a PhD and a senior research leader at a top university.

Children develop at different rates. What's important is to keep them enjoying things like stories, making things, finding stuff out . . . without giving them any pressure about arbitrary developmental stages.

Happy is always more important than jumping high through educational hoops, and (somewhat paradoxically) is also more efficacious for educational achievement in the end. Keep him (and yourself!) happy with the stories, building, dinosaurs and everything. He'll be fine.

I do remember worrying - it's only natural. Try not to, though.

My July born daughter is starting receptions too. She would much rather be running around in the garden or playing with her toys than sitting down to write or draw. She can spell the shortened version of her name and can copy mainly recognisable words but gets bored quickly. My son was the same and now, at 9, is above his level in reading and writing and on target with maths,

Don't worry, writing will come in time. My son is much more interested in having a football attached to his foot than drawing or writing at home!!

My September born reception child has only just started to get interest in last month.

My feb born ds only started holding a pencil properly after Christmas of reception
. He's now started writing little sentences.

DS1 (Feb baby) had zero interest in any kind of mark making before YR despite plenty of encouragement! He's now writing sentences and his hand writing is pretty neat too.

Mine is winter born and had zero interest in and even less skill with a pen. Never drew anything and could just about put dots on a paper if pushed. He's just got his reception end of year report and is exceeding expectations in most areas. Still doesn't like writing though! Don't worry, they've got loads of time to develop

My son is just finishing Year 6. He is a summer born boy who had no interest in mark making of any kind. Even up to Year 4 we would be lucky to get two sentences out of him. But, this year he blossomed. We just got his report and he got Greater Depth in writing!

Keep encouraging. Give him opportunities and encouragement. He will get there!

Agree with the others, don't worry.

He isn't behind. In reception schools are far more interested in them being able to dress themselves, go to the toilet on their own, carry their dinner tray, use cutlery etc than they are in them being able to hold a pencil.
He'll learn it at school, that's why he's going

He sounds really bright and engaged. I'm sure he'll be fine.

And (thinking of Bad Mother) maybe your friend 'helped' her son with the picture of the writing . FB only ever tells one side of the story.

There will be hundreds of parents around the country saying the same thing. It's not unusual at the start of reception

Thanks everybody! TBH, I don't really think he is behind... it just seems as if other kids are ahead if that makes sense!
In many ways I think that, not even being four, kids should be practicing their dinosaur-roars rather than writing letters!
We shall see :-)!

Please don't feel you're not doing enough - or label other people tiger mums etc just because their kids have taken to stuff earlier than yours. Some kids are just interested earlier. I've had one of each, and we're no more or less pushy with DC2 (well if anything less).

DC1 was like yours, couldn't hold a pen, hadn't drawn so much as a stick man before he started school. No reading or anything either. As far as writing goes, yes, it's been a battle, and was a slow start. We taught him to write his name at Christmas of reception when he wanted to write cards to his friends. By end of reception he got exceeding on the writing target, though formation and size was still messy a lot of the time. He can do lovely cursive now (Yr3), usually doesn't but he can.

We were extra alarmed when he started school as they were asking a child who couldn't draw a circle to do these complicated cursive letter formations. But even that seems to have been a good move for DS - when he later moved to a school that hadn't started cursive he was suddenly ahead of the game as his classmates had to learn joining from scratch in year 2, DS had already been doing it since the end of reception. Knowing DS's personality, if he'd started printing he'd probably still be printing now.

DC2 on the other hand learned to decode from and alongside DS. She was just turning 2! So of course she was reading & writing before preschool let alone school. And very happy about it, she's not a dinosaur roaring kind of child. Does meow occasionally though

When my son was little, he received a Christmas card from his friend that had clear writing in it and well formed letters. My son was only making marks at the time and I felt that he was really behind. Years later, his friend's disclosed to me that her son's development worried her so much at the time that she sat and wrote all his Christmas cards with him, with her hand over his, her son sobbing because he didn't want to do it, and all because of appearances.
Please don't worry - children develop at different rates and I'm sure your son's writing development will suddenly accelerate!

It's only been in the last few weeks that my summer born DD has taken an interested in drawing - now there are pictures all over the living room! One of her friends in the same academic year sent her a Christmas card with his name written clearly in it, which concerned me, but I reasoned she's younger and has a longer name.

My August born DS is just finishing reception. All through nursery he had no real interest in any mark making or colouring, preferring to spend all his time in their amazing garden.
He is now finishing reception and is writing simple sentences & has no areas of concern in his report. True, it came later to him than to some others but he's doing fine