Boys and Handwriting

[zeke]

My son is 4 yrs 11.5 mths old and at the end of his reception year at school.

His handwriting is not good! He can form most of the letters well enough (well, it is possible to tell what they are) but tends not to bother with gaps between words, worry whether letters are in the correct order etc.
Certainly compared to the older girls in the class his handwriting is very bad and maybe just bad compared to the rest. Spelling is phonetic.

His reading is absolutely fine (can read turquoise band 7 with little/no help), but I have given him a lot of home support with that.

My question is do you think this is:

a. a boy thing and he will get better in his own time
b. due to lack of adequate support at home (if this is the case then he will be on handwriting boot camp with me over the summer!)
c. a general ability thing

What are your experiences of boys writing in reception class?

That looks good BoysAreLikeDogs! I shall order a pack, too!

I use the penagain pencils with SEN children they do help children with poor grip.

He has an extreme grip, with index finger wrapped around the pencil rather than as part of the triangle IYSWIM

I thought I had tried everything, but never seen this penagain before

Worth a short, I thought

Your ds is tiny!
My ds's handwriting has improved a lot this yr and is very good I dare say ( he is just 7 and has just finished the first yr of primary in Italy. Previously he attended 6 months of reception and 6 months of yr 1 in the UK), but that's because all they do in Italian schools is writing (a bit obsessively)

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