Dd (Y1) writing too slowly ... ?!

[imaginaryfriend]

Just had parents evening which went pretty well with dd being praised for art, reading and spelling. Maths is a bit iffy but she's not a numbers girl.

The main problem the teacher outlined academically was dd's slowness in completing written tasks.

Is this a common problem for Y1 kids? The teacher said not to worry about it too much but to encourage dd to speed up with her work as it will become more of an issue in Y2.

So ... any fun ways I can help her to speed up a bit? Or just let it go?

She is still very young, does she do anything else slowly? (get dressed, eat meals etc)

If she is a child that has her own speed for life (I have one in my class ) set her small, easy to reach targets... I wonder if you can get your shoes on before the big hand on the clock is on the 7 etc etc

If speed is just an issue with writing, hopefully her teacher has made sure she is sitting properly at her table and holding her pencil properly, and dd should speed up as she matures.

Yes it is a common problem.
Yes infant teachers get their knickers in a twist about it.

Eventually kids all more or less catch up with each other - usually around the age of 8.

Not worth worrying about, from what you've said.

Ponderous does not describe how long it takes dd to do certain things! Except she's very nippy when she's running, climbing and playing with her friends. She's not lethargic or lazy, just ponderous and very easily distracted by other things / her imagination.

Your description of a child with her own speed for life suits her down to the ground! The thing is that what she does do is very good, it just takes ages to get there.

I had the opposite said

My dd2 is Y1 (aged 5.5) and was praised for her reading, numeracy, science etc but apparantly her handwriting and artwork is shocking

Apparantly her mind works far too fast for her hands and she doesn't pay enough attention to detail (her artwork is lacking detail and she doesn't keep her writing on the lines and forgets to put in full stops and other punctuation).

Her presentation is poor, I must admit, but jeez, she's 5 ffs. I'm just happy she's enjoying writing full stop!!

Don't worry IF - if your dd is happy and acheiving then she's doing fantastic

plonker, when I came out I had a chat with a friend whose ds had the same comments as your dd. Almost everything said to him was the opposite to what was said to dd!