Y1 child needs help in writing

at 5 years old, exactly what kind of writing are you expecting from your child?


I'm a teacher - and I hate to see young kids pressured into doing any sort of "formal" writing at this young age. at 5, they don't HAVE to be writing that much - instead they should be focusing on enjoying school, loving books, and learning all the new words that they can in a fun way. Pressuring them to write at this stage is, in my experience, a sure fire way to get them to actually HATE writing later.


Research supports very clearly, that students who READ a lot more, have an easier time writing. I would instead spend more time reading with your child - at around 6.5, or when they are in the first grade, is a better time to get them interested in writing.


If you are ABSOLUTELY sure that this is a path that you want to go down, i'd start with something VERY VERY small...perhaps writing about the weather of the day - and start with modeling sentences. There are lots of online samples and help for this. (a good starting place http://bogglesworldesl.com/kids_worksheets/index.htm)

Hi Aquarius,


Have you had a chat with your son's teacher? My child is also in year one and there is a huge range of abilities in his class.


Some children came to the school with very sound knowledge of literacy and others hardly knew the alphabet.


I personally wouldn't stress too much about it and would think all children have their strengths, perhaps another child isn't reading at the same level of yours????


Chat to the teacher, I'm sure he or she will put your mind at ease.


All in good time........


Cheers! @@

I have seen this a lot in k1 as well. It is a good idea to keep the pressure off, make sure that he thinks it's a game and not a test. With boys sometimes it really helps to make it a fast exciting game. Perhaps he would like to practice making sentences on the computer sometimes. Then another day set a timer and after you have decided a sentence together verbally he can see how much of it he can write in 2 minutes. We call it a Quick Write.... the point is that he is trying to beat the clock and it is finite and will not drag on forever (good for Mum too). Get a kitchen timer he can watch it count down. Later on he can make his own sentence for a picture or object. If he really hates to write keep the focus on having him explain verbally to you what he wants to say about things he has read to keep his comprehension coming along. Other fun mediums for writing like a little whiteboard and markers with a rag so he can easily rub out anything he wants to change are good.

You could also play games in the car with this, like you say a sound - oooo like moo and he writes it down, then progress to words another time. Or sees how many ryhming words he can find for a word you pick - start easy with cvc words like cat, mat, hat, hop, lop, pop. All kids seem to love whiteboards. Let him draw with big chalks on the sidewalk or concrete somewhere. Girls love making invitations and books etc, but my boys loved filling in scores on football drawers or writing the names of the family on the calendar or helping me fill out a diary, make a record of their toys or favourite collection of pokemons.

Try not to worry too much aquarius. Boys are often slower to develop in this area - and I've seen many times, the fear of failure paralyzing students to the point where they would rather NOT try than to TRY and fail. So many of the fun game time exercises Ness has listed above are great. His teachers at school are trying to meet their standards, but every child really is different.


I'm sure if you posted for a tutor who was a Native English Speaker, you would get lots of replies. I used to be a writing teacher in HK, teaching privately, and what you are describing is not unlike what I experienced with older kids either. I think for your son, a teacher who had lots of experience with younger students, and not necessarily a "writing" focused teacher would be good. Obviously he has some confidence issues in this area, and wants some attention (like the bit you gave him in the short car ride) and so someone who has a great rapport with young boys and can quietly give him confidence would be good.


Good luck! If you continue to be concerned, there is a book by Mel Levine called "A Mind at a Time" which focuses on all the different ways children's minds learn - and some of the possible potential blocks that a child may experience and some possible solutions. It's more a case study book, but VERY interesting in terms of some of the ways that our current educational system and standards prevent kids from excelling when they could with small minor adjustments. AS Ness said, making the games fun and short, possibly make it easier for your son to perform, rather than having a piece of paper where he has to complete something as it is given to him.

Is he a left or right writer?


What i do with my youngest who's 4 is just print from the internet some writing practise sheets and leave it in their toy room with a pencil and she does it when she wants, no pressure. I also get her to write birthday cards to her friends, which she loves doing.

I work in an ESF school and have done for 8 years.


Which hand deosn't make a lot of difference, just that lefties find it a bit harder sometimes, and people think they can't write as their writing may be not be as neat as a rightie.


May i suggest then, that if he isn't motivated to write that that reward charts are introduced and say something along the lines of 'just think how proud Nanny/Grandpa/your friend in the UK will be when they seen you've written your name in their card/bottom of letter/on your picture. I generally find that if you stress the point that it will make someone happy, then the motivation will kick in. Some may say this is wrong, other may agree, you just find out what suits you and your little one.


Oh and also get some triangular pencils, get him to choose them, this helps.

aquarius30.......you are most welcome.


I have been in situations with my kids (they are two totally different beings one very easy, the other VERY spirtied) and i used to think i was theonly one going through it, until i found this forum and had the bottle to post things.


I now teach my kids, NEVER be afraid to ask for advice or ask a question, no matter how silly you think it may sound, it's my job as your Mum to find it out if i don't know it!

Hi Aquarius, I am a primary school teacher and also have a son in year one. We've had the same problem and I'll be able to write more soon, but it's Sunday and I'm preoccupied today. However, I have a lot of ideas. one is to simply get a book. let your son choose a special book. every morning, he can wake up and read a special message from you. something like Hello my son. Today is Monday and I enjoyed our weekend together. I hope you will draw me a picture in this book so I can look at it when i get home. it would make me so happy to know that you drew something special for me. here is a picture i drew of you. Label the picture if you want and this should encourage him to draw a picture of you. he can then draw you a picture and copy some of your words. maybe label him as having a big heart, nice shoes, or whatever. i found that by encouraging my son to draw and improve his very poor fine motor skills, it helped encourage him to want to write. if he asked me to write for him, i would and it seemed to make him want to do some on his own. Also, my little cutie pie needs to be told to do some things. He's not always internally motivated, so sometimes i get him to dictate a story to me or a note to daddy or grandma. We keep it very simple and I write it very lightly for him and he has to trace the words.It looks like he wrote very neatly and he feels proud. to start, i find it's best to ask him to draw a picture and maybe give him praise for that.

i also love treasure hunts. the first clue might tell him to look under a chair then under a couch, etc. until he finds something like a candy. after playing this a few times, you'll be amazed how quickly he will want to write clues for you to find the treasure, etc.

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to try to help.