Year 1 writing samples.

[Gekkoforprimeminister]

Hi! Is anybody willing to compare year 1 writing samples? Have attached my ds writing sample.... He can write more (maybe 2 or 3 sentences when pushed) but this is an idea of his level.
Teacher says she's happy with his progress but we're having him assessed for dyspraxia and I can't help feeling he's a fair bit behind. Also does anybody have good ideas about how I can move him on?
He's just turned 6 so not especially young in the year.

Teacher being happy with progress (e.g. Improvement) is different from being at the right level.

TBh I can read it which is a lot better than my severely dyspraxic six year old son.
You could try write from the start course from amazon.
Some suggestions here to help too.
www.fantasticdyspraxic.co.uk/help-with-handwriting-10-ways-to-help/

Great link Tomorrow, thanks!

Yes I know progress isn't the same as achievement, sometimes I find it hard to get a blunt answer from the teacher who is a nice lady and always answers kindly. She's lovely but in terms of perusing ds' diagnosis it doesn't give me much to go on which is why I'm hoping mumsnetters can help a bit.

This is ds’ writing.

He looks like he can spell ok though? Has he struggled in any other way or just his handwriting? Hope you don't mind me asking as some family members have made me feel a bit precious seeking a diagnosis.

His reading, maths and spelling is fab and he is very bright. He is able to aquire new skills very easily and retains info well but physically he is a little/lot behind. We never actively sought a diagnosis of DCD/dyspraxia and were actually seeking an SPD diagnosis as he has issues with the school bell.
The oT tests showed that his balance, gross and fine motor skills were very low though. Thankfully though he wasn't affected verbally.
They suspect he is gifted/2e and has DCD, SPD and probably is also probably on the autistic spectrum.

He hit all his EYFS goals last year.

My son's writing is very similar. I can't find a sample as he does so little of it at home. He was behind in all areas on eyfs except maths. Waiting for asd assessment and OT assessment. I also have a daughter in year 1 who's writing is much better. The waiting lists are so long for these things, so if you think it needs persuing, do it now. In our area asd assessment waiting times are 2 years + and OT is a year.

OT near us is five months and 32 weeks for asd once you are accepted. We started this whole journey also two years ago.

Almost, not also. Sorry burnt out atm.

The waiting is horrible isn't it! Feels like it is never going to happen and in the mean time you are just left to get on with it

That sounds difficult, Tomorrow, hopefully he'll be able to access the right support so that he carries on achieving. We're on the waiting list for assessment but I'm not expecting it to be quick.

Flyinggoose I had to bribe my ds with a wagon wheel to get him to write that
He's improved a bit in writing spontaneously recently but it can still be a struggle. Our poor ds' they're young still aren't they?

That looks typical of a child that age. You will see a lot of variation though depending on how much handwriting practice the children do at school.

Looks fine to me.

I assist in a yr 1 class and there is a big variance between handwriting at this age. There are some worse and some better.... but the main thing is that they are practicing often, trying their best and hopefully they will keep improving.

DD is year 1, we got to see some of their work recently and there's a huge range. DD is at the upper end writing paragraphs in nice cursive (neater than DS in year 4!), so I won't show you as not expected level at all. Your DS would be within the range.

For improving, I'd give him much wider lines and encourage him to stay in them. When DS was struggling we printed him some out with construction lines on too - so base line to write on, top of small letter, to of tall letter. And look carefully at pencil hold. DS tends to hold his pencil so short he couldn't actually see what he was doing, and also to press too hard and make his hand hurt.

I’ve seen much worse.

Assuming it says ‘the stars and moon came out at night’ -

It’s legible, there are spaces between the words although the letter formation needs work. There’s a capital letter and a full stop and most of the spelling is either correct or phonetically plausible.

It seems like it’s the amount that he’s writing that’s the issue. Which might be explained by the possible dyspraxia. Does he write more at school when he’s asked to?

Gekko I know no different tbh as he’s an only. But I know I will have a fight all the way through his schooling to get him the education he needs.

Rafals, he can write more at school, he added a second sentence to this after a short break. Think he'll do about 4 eventually and they make sense:
The moon and stars came out. The moon shone and the mouse came out.

That's the second part.... But he's slow to do this and needs little breaks so he'll struggle higher up the school.

Second part.

1st picture is DS who was 6 yesterday.
2nd picture is DD who is 4 1/2.

But my two enjoy writing and do a lot of drawing/colouring. So I think that helps.

DS does his 10 sentences at the same time (usually say before it's due in!)
DD will usually do 3 one day and 3 the next.

Placemarking to show mine later.

My DS is just turned 6, in Year 1. Handwriting is a massive Thing with his teacher, so they do lots of it, very intensively. He has lovely writing, but I do sometimes worry it's at the expense of other learning.

Wow Miaow and 123 those are really good! You must be so proud of them