It's normal for a Yr 1 child to have writing that is barely legible, or isn't it?

[emkana]

dd2 is in Yr 1 and turned 5 in August.
Her writing is terrible - still struggles with letter formation, very messy, doesn't leave "fingerspaces", no full stops.

Please tell me this is normal and she'll be okay? It's just that dd1 was so different and doing so much more at this stage so I don't know what to think.

sounds pretty normal to me emkana,... ds1 has beautiful writing but ds2's is something else. Brought it up at parents evening and teacher said that wasn't a problem at all (plenty of others but hey! ) he's yr 3 btw

thanks inghoul

My Yr1 DD is like this but according to her teachers is generally 'very capable' so I guess they don't attach too much importance to handwriting at this age....

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yes, dd's writing isn't too good- she still sometimes starts at the wrong side of the page, it's really 'slopey' and she gets her letters the wrong way round.
She is left handed; I don't know if that is causing her some problems- she's really good at mirror writing

DS2 is yr 4 and still has awful handwriting!

yr 1 ds doing 'very well' 'top end of class' writing is barely legible and very 'phonic'

this is the time to keep all the little notes they send you - looks sooo cute

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DD in year 1 is a neat writer BUT to the point that she rubs it out till its right ( Takes after her dad)Much to the despair of her teacher as she takes so F**king long to do anything

Ds in year 3 is terrible really hard to see where one word finishes and another starts

Your DD2 is normal

She's very young, Emkana. Both my boys are August born and had/have terrible writing. Looking at something of DS2's that's on the desk here, his was about an inch tall, with fairly random spacing - he understood about finger spacing but forgot it frequently. His handwriting is still flagged as an issue, but it is legible now in Y3 and joined.

DS1 is doing extra handwriting practice with another boy in Y6 now.

Sounds pretty normal to me.

DS (yr 1)struggles with his handwriting still, even though he can read car repair manuals

DS1 has awful handwriting but is dyspraxic. However, I think part of the problem is that he is left handed which does make it more difficult, especially starting at the left hand side of the page.

It wasn't a problem whilst he was in the infants. I think that many children have trouble with leaving finger spaces and certainly the message about full stops wasn't reinforced until yr 2. It is also very common for children to write letters backwards at this stage.

Handwriting seems to focus on letter and word formation in Yr R, it seems, rather than on sentences and writing as such and your DD has only had half a term in Yr 1 so far - there is still plenty of time.

If you are really worried at the end of Yr 1 or want to try and help at home the 'Write from the Start' work books are recommended by DS's OT. They are for all children not just those with SN and can be quite fun.

Normal. I don't see the point in teaching children to write twice, it's easier for some to just learn joined up to start off with.

In many European countries they don't even teach writing till about 6 and a half. Really... don't worry

DD is Yr 6 and her handwriting only started to be legible in Yr 5!

DD is obsessed with finger spaces, but fits all the rest of your list.

my DS1 is in yr4, and is only just getting to have legible hadwriting. DS2 (yr2)....his name is understandable, not much else as yet (and he is a summer born too!)

the only two of mine who had decent handwriting were/are DD1 and DD3. In fact they were both told they had the best handwriting in their year, if not school (well, DD3 has just been told that at least).

DD3 is ever-so-slightly OCDish tho about her writing. one mistake and the whole lots goes into the bin, to the despair of her teacher and me.

Neither of my dc's had legible handwriting in Yr 1.

Y5 for DS1 too; that was the first year that at Parents' Evening I didn't feel as if I had to decode some kind of runic scrawls. DS2's is legible now (Y3) so I find it really strange when his teachers bang on about presentation.

It is completely normal. Ds2 is in Y1 and his writing is barely legible. His older brother was the same and only really got to grips with handwriting in Y3 when they started doing joined up writing.

Monkeyblue my dd is like yours! She gets so obsessed with how her writing looks, like it's a self-portrait, that she never finishes tasks in class and spends much of her time at home in tears when she has to write something. Better to be a bit flambouyant and illegible but confident than virtually non-existent.

Unfortunately if teachers go on about handwriting too much to small children they lose the confidence and become scared as well. Because DS2's content is very good, his teachers seem to think it's OK to put something negative about presentation on every piece of work, whereas less able children with messier work don't get the focus.

I just tell DS2 that writing neatly is tricky and takes lots of practice, just as learning to play an instrument takes lots of practice.

Yes.