Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Is this ok writing for a 7yr old boy?

29 replies

angelstar · 04/01/2008 14:13

My ds wrote us a note the other night and this is pretty good writing for him. I just wondered if most children have terrible spelling at this age. He always spells how he sounds it.

Ay Fiyol poliy plees send bac from ----

hir is a pees of ptyp to wrayt bak

I have just spent ages teaching him the difference between b and d so am pleased they are all the right way around.

He also gets muddled writing numbers after 10 her tends to reverse them ie 12 he writes 21

Will this all just get better as he gets older?

Thanks

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

MinkVelvet · 04/01/2008 14:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

witchandchips · 04/01/2008 14:17

well cod's spelling is exactly like this!

Niecie · 04/01/2008 14:19

I have to say, my DS is 7 and he has trouble with handwriting (he has AS and dyspraxia) but he is able to most words he wants to write properly, even if you can't read them very well. However, I understand that it is still quite common for some letters to be done back to front.

Are you worried about dyslexia? How is your DS's reading ability?

MinkVelvet · 04/01/2008 14:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Elphaba · 04/01/2008 14:29

Gosh I don't know - I'm not sure how most 7 yr olds write. Ds1 is 6 and he would have written that all correctly (i.e. here is a piece of paper to write back). I don't know if that's unusual though. I just don't know. Therefore my immediate reaction is that that is quite poor for a 7 yr old, but I'm only comparing to one child that I know of a similar age.

Does his teacher raise any concerns?

MinkVelvet · 04/01/2008 14:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Blu · 04/01/2008 14:34

DS is 6.5, Yr 2, and he would probably have written 'pees' 'payper', 'rite'.

TheIceQueen · 04/01/2008 14:35

Until I read Elphaba's post I was loathe to post - my DS1 was 7 in September (YR2) and I would have thought that quite poor - he was a slow starter at school - but it had mostly clicked by this time last year (when he'd just turned 6).

If I was you I would speak to the school, firstly to see how they're teaching these things (eg the numbers DS1 was taught in reception!) and secondly to see if they think there's a problem.

Original poster

angelstar · 04/01/2008 14:35

He is in yr 2 so not long turned 7. He can't read very well, sometimes he reads ok and sometimes its a nightmare. He does have an IEP but school won't really tell me much about why he has the IEP just that its for literacy and numeracy.

I have a dd who is 8 now and at 7 she was way ahard of her brother but she has always been very good at writing/reading so its hard to tell and everyone is always telling me that boys are slower to develop.

I have no idea why he spelt paper that way??

I am a bit concerned that he may be dyslexic. I have no idea why he doesn't write "I" as its in his top 10 words and he is supposed to know all of them.

OP posts:

tortoiseSHELL · 04/01/2008 14:38

Ds1 is 6 and in Yr2, he spells most things, if not correctly, at least plausibly - but he gets lots of 'tricky' words right. I posted some of his writing on here recently - will see if I can find it.

Original poster

angelstar · 04/01/2008 14:40

Ds is a bright child it just doesn't go from his head to the paper very well. He speaks well and is very articulate. His year 1 teacher told me at the autumn parents evening that when you talk to him and then see his work its like 2 different children.

OP posts:

MinkVelvet · 04/01/2008 14:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Blu · 04/01/2008 14:42

angelstar - have you had a meeting with the person who arranges the IEP - presumably the SENCO in partnership with his teacher? You ought to be given details, so that you can support what they are doing at hme.

He seems to have a grasp of phonetics, all the spelling is , imo 'plausible' except 'ptyp'.

Original poster

angelstar · 04/01/2008 14:42

I also probably didn't phrase my previous post very well.

Its not that the school won't tell me anything, but I feel like if I keep asking them I will be annoying them and will known as a parent to avoid iykwim

OP posts:

colditz · 04/01/2008 14:42

ring the school, ask for a meeting with the special needs coordinator to discuss the iep, this is your right as his mother.

Don't be fobbed with this - ask them what the iep is for, 6specifically6, and that if they are concerned enough to give him an iep, then are they going to refer him for an Educational psychologist's assessment, and when are they going to do this, and what action are they taking in the classroom, and what action can you take at home etc. tell them you wish to be kept informed, and that they are to raise such issues with you, his mother and primary carer!

Sorry, my shift keys are dodgy

colditz · 04/01/2008 14:43

i've neevr known a teacher worth knowing who minded concerned parents.

MinkVelvet · 04/01/2008 14:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Littlefish · 04/01/2008 14:44

I think that you need to talk to the school again. When you say "won't really tell me much about why he has the IEP just that its for literacy and numeracy" what sort of information were you hoping for.

They would not tell you anything specific like dyslexia as they are not qualified to make that diagnosis, but they should be able to give you more information! It sounds like they have concerns about his progress in literacy and numeracy and his targets on his IEP are working towards improving certain areas.

Have you met with the school SENCO? How often is his IEP reviewed?

Original poster

angelstar · 04/01/2008 14:45

I haven't had a meeting with the senco. Last term the teacher asked me to pop in for a minute. I went in when I was dropping the kids at school and the TA showed me the IEP briefly. I signed it and she sent me a copy home.

OP posts:

colditz · 04/01/2008 14:46

have a look at the iep. What are his targets and how do they intend to see that he meets them?

bookwormmum · 04/01/2008 14:48

My dd is 7 and she writes phonetically as well (but she really kicks off if her name is misspelt!). I do worry about it since she reads avidly but I was always a good speller myself so I don't really know how to help her. I've bought her those KS2 workbooks which she can do - it's just the spellings she struggles with.

Blu · 04/01/2008 14:48

angelstar - like yours, my DS is very articulate, can reason in a way that sometimes makes people's jaw drop, is apparantly the most able at maths in his class, was repeatedly described to me (off the record, they're not supposed to say this at our school, apparantly) as 'really bright' by his Yr 1 teacher, and as he needs to have 4 or 5 weeks off school for surgery, his current teacher has said pointedly that she 'has no worries at all that he will be at a disadvantage academically'.And yet it has been a real struggle to get him to read, and his writing is still big, irregular with a strong theme of 'emergent spelling'. I wouldn't be over-worrying in your shoes (unless someone suggests otherwise) but I do think it's crucial that they explain the IEP properley.

Original poster

angelstar · 04/01/2008 14:49

I think I will ask to see the teacher when they have settled back in school this term.

Littlefish - I know its for literacy and numeracy I guess what I'm not sure of does he just need a little help to catch up or is there maybe a reason behind it iykwim. I never thought that they probably can not tell me anything re dyslexia etc.

OP posts:

Blu · 04/01/2008 14:50

x-posted.
Angel - I think they will welcome concern and initiative fom you over the IEP - don't hold back!

tortoiseSHELL · 04/01/2008 14:51

I've found some writing ds1 did in about October - he has improved a lot since then, but this is the sort of thing he was writing then.

Onse a pone a time in a far away land theer live a hamsum yong prins. He livd in a shining carsle. Although he had any thing his heart wontid he had no love in his heart. but one winter's Night and old beger womne came to the carsle for shelter. Disgusted by her rags he tund her away. But she warned him not to be mean for beauty and when he mistook her again her ugliness melted away. To beatufel enchantress. the prinse trid to upolujis but it was to lat for she had seen there was no love in his heart and as punnishmunt she transfrom him into a hideous beast and as for that she put a spell on the carsle and all hoo live there. giving the beast a Magic Rose and she said his will bloom unti your twenty frest year if you lun to love.

(this is highly paraphrased from the film beauty and the beast, the vocabulary isn't all his! - but it gives you an idea of his spelling/word formation. He is a bright boy, very good reader, but does find writing much more difficult than reading. Why not speak to the teacher, ask if he's doing what he should be in writing, and if there's anything you can do to encourage it. Ds1 wrote the above in an exercise book I bought him, just for him to write stories in, to practise the writing, and that has worked well. )

Flip

1 2