Kids handwriting practice 8 to 11 years.
What to expect at this age
By age eight, your child should be able to write legible lower and upper case letters. The letters should be evenly spaced and be the same size and shape. They’ll try to balance speed and legibility in their writing.
By the age of nine, a child’s writing is more legible. They will have fewer letter reversals. The formation and spacing should be consistent. Your child’s writing will have control. They’ll notice more details and care more about how their work looks.
By 10, a child should have clear handwriting. It should look the same for all writing tasks. The letters will be the same size, shape and be on the line. They will be able to write at some speed and maintain legibility. Their writing will be close to the margins and they’ll be using indentations. And they will be beginning to develop their own personal style.
By age 11, although still in junior school, your child will be writing more maturely. Their writing will have punctuation. It will have even size, space, and alignment. This will be true even when writing long pieces. They’ll be writing faster. They’ll also have the energy to finish longer writing tasks. Your child will still be developing a personal style. But, they’ll be paying greater attention to the look of their writing.
What a teacher is expecting to see
We have the following handwriting examples given to us by some lovely teachers. They show the standards they expect. These are images from an “average” student and not the “best in class” student. They will be expecting increased legibility, consistency and quality. By Year 6, all this is expected whilst writing at speed.
What support your child might get for handwriting at school?
Often, most schools give no more time to practice. Your child may be lucky. They may be getting thirty minutes a week of handwriting instruction. Thirty minutes a week will not fix anything.
Some schools in Year 4 provide 1 hour 30 minutes of instruction on touch typing. In Year 5, there is no support for handwriting or typing. In Year 6, emphasis is on spelling, punctuation and grammar, known as SPAG. Again, nothing for handwriting. By now, these skills are expected to have been mastered.
Why handwriting practice matters
For children, aged 8 to 11 years old, speed is often thought to be the primary problem. In truth, it is the size, spacing and appearance of the work as a whole that needs attention. Children at this age are very keen to get everything right. They are also keen to show their independence. A tricky combination.
From age 8, children are keen to be independent. But, this means they don’t always want advice from a parent. They may try to rub out a lot of their work and want to use frixion pens to rub out the ink. This can mean they take longer to write as they look for it to be perfect.
Children at age 10 often feel they are being asked to write faster in school. They may say they lack the time to fix their work because they need to write in a short amount of time.
All practice at this age is important. It must balance their interests with specific handwriting needs. At this age, a child can easily become disengaged. They may feel that handwriting is beyond them.
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Our handwriting solutions for you
Supporting your child
Here are 3 ideas that you can try at home. These are things we do when helping children this age to help keep handwriting practice fun.
Challenge with Long Names
Ask your child to write very long names. For instance, Bangkok’s real name has 168 letters. The longest place name in Wales has 58 letters. Doing this will improve their ability to form letters.
Discover Weird but Fascinating Facts
Fuel your child’s curiosity. Use strange and intriguing facts. They can be on any subject. Children love facts from Guinness World Records, science, and the Earth.
Engage with Thought-Provoking Questions
Invite children to respond to debate-style questions. For example, consider asking: Does “Legend of Zelda” beat “Minecraft”? Or choose “Would you rather” questions. They are a lighter option.
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