How bad is this writing?

[Lindtnotlint]

I have posted before about my DD, currently on holiday between YR and Y1. She is the weakest writer in her class and we have been trying to help her over the summer but she isn’t exactly keen! I am trying to work out whether she is just lagging behind a good peer group (and maybe I could relax?) or whether it is more than that. Her report from school was quite negative. :-(

Picture of her writing attached - this is unsupported and of her own creation done on her own. It says “wons upon a tim ther was a ber kald haw and hse was helfel. The eend.” (Translated: “once upon a time there was a bear called Haw and she was helpful. The end.”). I have no idea why the bear is called Haw

It’s obviously not amazing but am interested in how people who have a bit more experience would think about that level of writing. Please give it to me straight either way!

She is 5 and 2 months.

(And I know I should probably relax anyway regardless! but it is quite hard because the gap between her and her peers at school is so clear).

Better than my son who is about to go into yr2 and has dcd. Can hardly read his.
Looks similar to his classmates at end of rec though.

Also please be aware that it takes a huge amount of time, effort and understanding for a child to reach that level (even if it doesn’t seem to be that way when looking at it). She deserves lots of praise and encouragement for what she has already achieved and what I’m sure she will be able to achieve next year and beyond. X

That's pretty good for her age. DS2 really struggles with writing, he's 7 next month and going into yr3. Most of them catch up.

I could read it although I thought a bear called haw was Barracuda sounded out phonetically.

I'm going to go away and cry now (not really - I know we're fucked going into Y1 barring a miracle - especially considering the teacher we've got). DD2's between R and Y1 and her writing is just fucking terrible compared to that - phonically it's there but she simply can't record it in written form (dyspraxia).

She'd be at a similar level to the first one phonics wise - but you'd never bloody be able to read it at all cos all the letters would be shoved on top of each other (we have letter-parking issues).

I try not to compare, try never to look at the display boards of other kids writing and there are parents on the playground who are really over the top with bragging that I give a wide berth to. Her reading's well advanced from lots of her class, and her phonics are really secure (which is incredible considering she has speech issues as well) so I figure fuck it - the writing might be hard going but at least that one will be the easiest to work around with technology in the future if she's gotta struggle with one of them.

Once you get her writing on lines that'll look a lot neater anyway (loads of nice lined paper with borders you can print off on the internet). I see she's mastered the universal indicator that she's got bored with writing and had enough of sticking "the end" right at the bottom so no one can ever ask her to write more!

Please don't worry about it.

The flip side of the coin is my ds2 (12) who had the most beautiful cursive script and won prize after prize for his writing from YR onwards.

He's just finished Y7 and his writing is, to be frank, a bloody mess. It's illegible, barely sits on the lines and is a disaster. He doesn't close any of his loops, I can't tell his 'f' from his 's' and it's getting worse as he gets older!

she's doing really well. please chill out! their handwriting improves loads in year one ime. x

My sons writing is worse than that and he’s in year 3 going to year 4 in sept. He and his teachers have trouble deciphering his handwriting sometimes. Even when he’s trying his best to write slowly and neatly it’s awful to try and read.

I agree with bubblysqueak. She seems fine and probably above average in a good state primary. Take care with the comparing at this age. They will quickly become sensitive to it and skilled teachers will divert it as it doesn't help with progress. There will be plenty of pressure later. At this age learning should be fun, so that school is associated will positive experiences. Many children develop fine motor skills slightly later but still do very well (and get excellent exam results).

I think your issue is, perhaps, not your child's actual attainment (as others have said, if this is unaided writing and typical of your DD's general work it would meet expected standards for end of Reception) but the negativity of the school.

If it is a genuinely selective school (as in, many more applicants than places) then the school's expectations may well be above 'general age norms'. How is your DD doing in all other aspects of the curriculum? If the writing is her only 'relatively weak' area, then between you and a sympathetic and supportive teacher she will probably be OK. However, if the school is genuinely such an academic hothouse that she is an 'outlier' when attaining at an average level, and the teacher is negative about her attainment, then you might want to think whether, long term, it is the best place for her.

I teach upper juniors in a state school, and occasionally receive children from local very academic private primaries (either when they have been diagnosed with SEN - in which case economic methods are usually used to manage them out into state - or when they won't show up will in the 11+ destination lists) who are 'average or just below'. Their confidence and self-belief is often absolutely shot to pieces, and they are often convinced that they are 'thick' and 'can't do anything' ... and that is quite a hard attitude to turn around.

You will know the school best, and also what the local alternatives are, but if she continues to be 'average' in national terms but 'a low outlier' in her specific environment,. you may want to think about an alternative school within the next couple of years, before her ideas about her own 'difference' become in any way entrenched.

She is definitely not a low achiever. I’m an Early Years teacher and she is doing well compared to the children who have just left my Reception class. I’d say her writing is pretty good for a YR child. She is meeting the end of Reception expectations - she’s writing sentences independently, she’s using the sounds she knows to write phonetically plausible words and she knows some tricky words. She is even starting to write her own story using story language. That’s amazing! She’s only five! Some people forget these are very young children, who are only just learning to write, and they have ridiculously high expectations for them. Please don’t stress, her writing is lovely.

She's using phonics and finger spaces and I can read all but one word so it looks fine to me.

Can you get her into a normal school? Where she is sounds awful. A negative report for a young child is a shit thing for a school to do.

what type of school is she at that makes that writing negative

My dd is only a bit younger than yours, although about to go into reception. I've bought a workbook (that matches the writing style I've been sent from the school she'll be attending) from amazon for 3-5 year olds and we're talking through the letter shapes and then she's doing a page a day.

Tbf her sibling is going into y4 and is doing an older version of the same book, as she's gone from (reluctantly) writing slowly and neatly, to fast(er) and sprawling. So it helps me for them to be working together.

This is the book and an example of dd's efforts in it if it helps.

I wouldn’t worry in the slightest, OP.

My DS has just turned 5, going into Y1 and his writing is exactly like that. I’m a qualified primary teacher (though no actually teaching) and would say your DD is average moving towards quite good. She’s using her phonics, her letter formation is good, spaces are correct and she’s forming basic stories. She’s exactly where she should be.

Plus, if it makes you feel any better, I have an older DS who is G&T, yet his handwriting is atrocious to the point where he was allowed to use a computer in his exams as it was illegible. He has no SN, I can’t tell you the amount of handwriting practice we’ve done over the years but it’s just not his thing. He achieved 5 A* GCSEs at age 11 so def hasn’t held him back, he just says his thoughts go way too fast for him to be able to get them down.

Fab spaces, and I could almost make sense of it (would have got the whole thing I'd it weren't for the oddly-named bear!) I think that's fine for a 5yo. I would just encourage her to write down some more great stories over the summer, my lot (6,6,8) love "making books" i.e. stapling a few pages of blank paper together and filling them with pictures and writing.

My 7 year old was writing like that at the beginning of year 2. My 5 year old in reception can write the occasional letter with support, nothing as good as that.

As a Y1 teacher I'd be happy if all my new class could write that independently.
How is she writing on lined paper?
I suspect she's being taught HFW as wholes hence the hse spelling of she (she's trying to remember the letters rather than the sounds).

DS2 is 5 years and 2 months. His writing is similar. I wouldn't worry. They are only young. We will try to practice over the summer. He does a lot of his letters back to front...

That is a lot better than my DS who has just left Y1 - he's under the OT

Thanks everyone for the reassurance. It is really helpful. All in good time!

And good luck to those with trickier versions of this. At the end of the day DD is very lucky, even if she would NEVER admit it

I am a year 1 teacher. I wouldn't be concerned.

More important than her handwriting is how she is holding her pencil, at this stage. If it's with an overly firm grasp and clenched fist, encourage a tripod grasp. If she can't manage that, visit the GP for a referral to paediatric OT specifically for fine motor skills IF school also have concerns in this area. Strengthening the muscles in the fingers and hand supports handwriting. Using (refrigerated) play dough, plasticine or Thera Putty is helpful here.

This is also a useful site: www.teachhandwriting.co.uk