Very reluctant writer

[Musication]

My DS is 5, turning 6 in July. We have been living abroad for a few years and he has been in a school that runs a Jan-Dec school year - as such he is only half way through year 1. Covid issues are bringing us back to the UK in just over a week, and he will attend school for a few weeks before going into year 2 in September.
My issue is that his writing is really terrible compared to his reading (orange level, very expressive) and maths (beyond expected for all all areas in his recent report). He also absolutely hates writing. He mostly writes phonically plausible words and know a handful of tricky words. My biggest issue, however, is that he really hates it and takes a lot of coaxing. When he does write it's very brief and rushed so he can finish sooner. He hates thinking of ideas, he doesn't have good letter formation and his writing is very big. He still gets b and d the wrong way round pretty much every time. He is left handed (like me) which I'm not sure is helping. In reception he struggled with crossing the mid-line and would swap hands when he reached the middle of the page, but he's stopped doing that now and always writes with his left.
Does anyone have any ideas of how I can help him without going on about it or turning it into a battle? Any online resources or anything to help him? I'm kinda dreading coming back to the UK as he's going to get this 'summer born boy' label and I don't want him to get stuck with that as I think he is generally able enough and it all evens out in the end.
My other child is a winter born girl that did reception and y1 in the UK and was always well ahead so it's the first time I've worried about it!

You could be describing my July Y1 boy to a tee (apart from the left handedness). I'm not concerned and I'm usually concerned about most things education being a teacher - he is doing well in reading and maths so unless there is a specific learning difficulty (which in your case is probably related to being left handed and still only 5) the writing will catch up is my line of thinking. Not handwriting I know but my boys spelling in particular has come on incredibly well since he started playing minecraft. To begin with he used to ask me how to spell the words for what he wanted but I always made him sound them out, so he stopped asking. He's now able to spell words like horse, iron etc. I'm assuming this will translate into his writing.

Ds hates writing and he's in Y5. He's almost certainly hypermobile and holding a pen is an issue. Give him a keyboard and a quiet environment and he'll produce good stuff. His spelling is good and he has great ideas.

@Oilyvoir thanks for this - it's reassuring that it's not just him! I am also a teacher but secondary so my knowledge of average in KS1 doesn't really exist. I don't believe he has any learning difficulty - like your son he is strong in maths and reading. Coming back from abroad doesn't help us either because he's not been in a British school (although lots of the learning is similar).

@PastMyBestBeforeDate what are the symptoms of hypermobility? My DS holds a pen very tightly and a bit awkwardly. Do you have any experience of those pen grip things?

I'd say you are describing a typical year 1 boy! Lack of imagination and can't think of ideas. I'd say as long as he is reading this will eventually translate into his writing. I wouldnt worry too much, maybe make his teacher aware that you know this is an area that needs to be focused on and you're trying your best at home.
At home I would practice spelling the 100 high frequency words first. Once he's got these, he will have a good base to start. Dont expect him to wrote a story, ask him to write a caption or a sentence.
I think girls have naturally more flare with their imaginations and writing. (Just my opinion as a year 1 teacher)
Good luck with the move

@Lullabymummy17 ha great to hear this from a year 1 teacher. My older child is a girl and LOVED imaginative writing. He is a good reader and enjoys it but seems to lack confidence in having an idea. In this school they follow the British high frequency words alongside an American writing programme which requires them to write 'books' all the time. He hates it because it's like 4 pages long and he gets overwhelmed. I think he should be doing shorter bits of writing but I can't remember what kind of things DD was doing.
I will definitely have a chat with his teacher once he starts in a couple of weeks - I'm sure it won't be the first she's seen of it.

My DD was a bit like this, not quite so extreme, still dislikes writing but has got used to the fact it is unavoidable (she is coming up to y6).

I have to say the English curriculum is fantastic when you get to about year 4 because of the (much-derided) toolkit approach to writing. As they are really led through the nose to choose vocabulary and sentence structure selecting the right grammar etc so they don't have to sit and think of brilliant creative ideas. It makes the whole thing so much easier.

Anyway at this age, I would back off the writing as it will only cause upset. Make writing part if normal life instead - so for example, ask him to write something on a shopping list for you, ask him to write a list for Santa or his birthday wish list, get him to write birthday cards to your family instead of you doing it, get him to make labels for seeds when you plant them, and so on. Don't nag about spelling, make that a separate thing. If he can see that writing is useful it will help, I think.

My son was like this at the beginning of this term. Writing was barely readable, inverting d's, b'a and S's and just generally not interested. But he is a brilliant reader and great at maths so I wasn't too worrried. He is so much better now though- we have been zoom schooling all year as schools are still shut here, and in the packs
we got sent by the school was a penpals exercise book. He does a page every weekday and it's made a big difference. He know enjoys writing if it's not in a structured way during the class - he's been writing little letters to us, invitations to his birthday party, birthday lists etc. It is a Cambridge resource, have attached the link for you to have a look if you wanted to get some resources to help.

www.cambridge.org/gb/education/subject/english/literacy/penpals-handwriting-second-edition-series

@cakebythepound1234 thanks so much for the link.

@Musication ds is incredibly bendy. He's double jointed in his hands and his joints go past the typical extensions. He had bowel problems when he was younger that I think may be linked.
The pen grips do help when I can persuade him to use them. Sloping writing surfaces can also help.