Writing sample - how old is this child?

[MrsIssissippi]

I’d be really grateful if you could say how old you think the child who wrote this is?

The task was the children were shown a photo on the whiteboard and told to write a description of what they could see.

I think the child may need some additional support, but I’d be grateful for feedback from other teachers/parents.

Thank you

[Appuskidu]

I’ve seen children from Y1-Y6 with writing like this.

What exactly are you hoping to achieve from this survey?

[LEMtheoriginal]

My dd is 12 and I'd be thrilled if her writing was like that. She is dyslexic but actually pretty bright and whilst it holds her back she manages really well at school.

[MrsKCastle]

Anywhere between about 5 and 8. If it's a child any older than Y2 I would agree that further support would be beneficial.

[Cabawill]

I'd say Year 2 or Year 3 about 7/8 years old. They've made a good attempt at spelling chimney phonetically and at joining up the writing. Would be a lot neater on lines paper I think.

[Sittinonthefloor]

Yr 1, possibly 2.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

Lines would definitely help.

Start/first term of year 2 would think. But a couple of things make me think this is an older child. I don’t know how much of that is coming from your original post though.

You can’t really judge from one piece of work either.

[Glitterbugsparkle]

Is this your child? I have no knowledge of child development so can’t comment.
If your are this child’s parent fair enough. I hope you get the advice you need and speak to their teacher.
If you are this child’s teacher you are an unprofessional disgrace. You should not be posting their work online. Seek advice from a more senior or experienced colleague than yourself.

[flippityfloppity]

Really hard to tell tbh. My brightest kid has the worst handwriting of all of mine, by far, always has.

[ferrier]

More like age 9-10. Handwriting could easily be of that age. Sentence construction sound but lacks complexity (writing to a formula?) Description good. Spelling well below expected for that age

[lostinspaceyetagain]

It isn't a young child. KS2 - Y4?

[follybodger]

My child is year 7 so high school and his writing isn't as good as that

[MrsIssissippi]

Thanks for the many responses. It’s really helpful. He’s year 3. Good call on the lined paper for start.

Don’t worry, he is my child! I am teacher, but I teach older children so wanted some more opinions.

[Lifechallenges]

I would have guessed year2/3 and my DC would be like that without lined paper

[Afreshcuppateaplease]

Op can you post a sample on lined paper? Is he struggling otherwise? Left or right handed?

I was told by a teacher it takes boys longer to write neat as muscles develop different to girls

I have boys aged 8&9 and dont think yours looks too bad

[Izzy24]

Age 7 - 8

[SkyIsTooHigh]

I'd look for examples on lined paper before judging. Sentences are simply constructed but their spelling and grammar is good.

[Glitterbugsparkle]

Phew. That’s ok I thought from your op it was your own child and I wouldn’t like to think of my child’s work being put online without my consent. Sorry I think I was a little harsh.
Hope you get some good advice from people who know.

[SallyGardens]

It's a lot better than my dyslexic and dyspraxic 12yo could produce on paper.

[Systemoverload99]

Put a highlighter on the lines and get him to write using that as an aid. This has really helped with the children I teach.

[MissBeehiving]

My DS is Yr 4 and dyspraxic and his handwriting looks similar.

[cathycake]

From what you've said instantly thinking its an older child (maybe 10-11) so putting a few things together I would gather that child is just learning to join up writing and looking at the photo the same time as writing this down

Agree with others that there are no lines on the paper either to help child.

To be honest this looks pretty much like my doctors writing

The child certainly seems to know what's going on in the photo , yes the word chimney is spelt wrong but that said chimney isn't a word in every day use either.

Just a little surprised though that you would post someones child's writing on a forum. I can only imagine if the parents saw this and it makes me uncomfortable judging a child's work in this public manner.

Can you not tell from your experience as a teacher and even ask your fellow colleagues? Have you discussed this with the parents before posting here? Or indeed have you informed the parents of your intent to post here using their child's work?

[cathycake]

Apologies x post , now I can see you've put that it's your child

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

I don’t actually think it will take a lot to fix OP.
The spelling is fine for yr 3.

He’s got basic sentence structure pretty much sorted, which can be the difficult thing to fix. Use of compound sentences and varying sentence openings a bit is what’s holding him back, although I’m wondering if that might be task dependent.

Handwriting practice probably wouldn’t go amiss either