Reception aged ds unlikely to be at expected level in writing

[foxtong]

My ds is really struggling with writing in reception and it looks unlikely that he will be at the expected level at the end of the year. I'm not convinced he will be in his reading either as it still seems very slow and plodding to me and he is still sounding out letters in ccvc words for instance.......but his writing is the most worrying. His teacher gave him him some letter tracing sheets to work on but he is fine with that- but any kind of writing independently is a struggle- he does not have the interest or attention span to concentrate and does not seem fully in control of forming all of the letter shapes although he knows them all.

I'm at a loss as to what to do and have arranged to go in and speak to the teacher next week with a view to finding out what support they can out in place for him in the transition to y1 and what else we can do at home. He is a sept baby so the oldest in his class yet I think his writing is probably amongst the weakest. I am a secondary head of English and I know how much poor literacy can impact upon students progress later on so I'm really concerned for him.

He is bright and has a fantastic vocabulary. He has thousands of books and loves being read to. It's hard not to compare
Him to his older brother who is in y3 and who has just sailed through and picked everything up without breaking a sweat. This feels very different and I'm desperate to know how I can help him.

Do any primary teachers have any advice? What kinds of questions should I be asking at school in terms of support they can offer?

I could of written your post last year as DS finished reception he was struggling with reading and writing. As we attach the end of year 1 he is enjoying and starting to independently read and his writing is coming along nicely. Try to relax he will get there

Ds1 could read, write and do simple arithmetic before he started school despite being young for year. Ds2 could recognise numbers up to 6 (from playing games with a dice), could recognise his name and knew which way up to hold a book but had very little speech and wouldn’t speak to anyone anyway.
They both got very similar marks at standard grade, ds2 had the edge in his higher results and looks likely to get the better degree. All the anxiety for nothing.
I’m letting Ds3 do his own thing completely and life is less stressful for it. I’m sure that if you read to him, play with him and let him be 5 he will be fine.

Bear in mind that in Europe and Scandinavia children don't start formal schooling until 6 and 7 respectively and they are not behind us by the time they leave school.

Totally agree. Sounds like kids are expected to be at a far higher level at his age than they are over here in Canada and my ds (who struggled to read until age 7, and then just suddenly "clicked" and went straight onto chapter books and whose writing is still illegible ) just got an A grade in a second year English Lit module at university.

Saying that, though, I'd be a little concerned about how not meeting his expected levels now (so ridiculously early) might cause him to get left behind if the teachers don't make appropriate accommodations for him? At least over here there's less pressure and more acceptance of kids "getting there" at their own pace.

We're struggling with this with DS too - his reading is great but he really struggles with pen control. Trying to do joined up letters is making his legibility so much worse because so much emphasis is placed on teaching them the joining stroke that it's the most obvious feature of his letters! He also struggles to do curves in the right direction.

Some things that are helping are games that involve a pen (noughts and crosses etc) and getting him to write things he wants on the shopping list. When we go places we try to get him to choose a postcard and write a few words to family. We've also let him start using a keyboard to pick out letters so he can get the satisfaction of writing messages that other people can actually understand!

I'm sure he'll get it in time (he's summer born and motor control has always been his weak point) but I do think the transition to year 1 will be tricky for him and I hope it doesn't get in the way of him getting stretched in the areas where he is strong. It's so tough when they're all so out of step.

Placemarking to come back to this once I've dropped mine off at school.

One big thing the OT did working on DD2's writing skills (she has a dyspraxia diagnosis) at a similar age was lots and lots and lots of work on a vertical chalkboard. The vertical surface makes the hand go into a much better position for writing without it becoming a source of nagging, and the natural resistance of chalk gives them sensory feedback.

I'll come back and look for the OT hand and arm/shoulder strength stuff when I get back from school runs as well - but DD2's writing was dire this time last year - letters crashed on top of each other and everything - and it's got a lot better since then - the formation's still iffy at times, but she's made expected level at the end of Y1.

Thanks for this advice, I have ordered some hama beads and an easel!!

I really don't want him to pick up on the fact that I'm worried, but at the same time I see 15 and 16 year old boys every day who can't write well and it's such a barrier for them and I'd really like to help him in any way I can.

We did lots and lots of activities with the OT on arm and shoulder and core strength as well - things like kneeling on all fours with knees under hips (they tend to pull them straight under themselves to stabilise themselves easily and it's stopping that) then building towers of blocks with one hand and then the other hand - my daughter found that really hard physically to start with until she built up strength. Also clothes pegs - using them one handed in one hand then the other just pegging onto the edge of a basket or something, and then handing two pegs or the peg the wrong way around and asking them to manipulate it in one hand only to do it, or giving a red and blue peg and asking them to use the one furthest back in the hand.

Another good one is those tiny spinning tops you get in party bags and the like - really good for hand and finger strength and dexterity.

It's not so much fine motor skills that hampers DD2's writing though - it's definitely motor planning related and spatial related. She's good with lego and the like.

My ds couldn't write his name until he was 8, he's now 19 and doing maths at top university. Don't worry too much at this stage x

My DD has vision problems too. It does seem that vision problems early in life can affect visual processing development: there are so many skills involved in being able to read and write. some background on visual processing disorders

DD's vision therapist recommended the Write from the start book.