Grade 1 teacher suggested handwriting tuition. Is that normal at six?

pebble_moon_68151 Oct 2026

At the PTM last week my son's class teacher said his handwriting needs work and that 'many parents put them in a handwriting class'. She was polite about it and did not push. I can read his writing, mostly. I do not know what standard is expected at this age, and I would rather not add a weekly class if a few minutes at home would do the same job. For those who have been through this: did a class make a difference, or did it settle with time?

1 comment

sage_quilt_54741 Oct 2026
We did it at home with our son at about the same age: ten minutes a day copying one or two lines from a book he liked, never worksheets. By class 3 it was fine. But whether a class is worth it depends on what exactly the teacher is seeing. Letter formation, spacing, speed and pencil grip are different problems. Grip is the one where I would have wanted someone trained watching him; the others we managed ourselves.
- pebble_moon_68152 Oct 2026
  That is a useful way to break it down. I'll ask her which one it is before we decide anything.
- pebble_moon_68153 Oct 2026
  Asked through the school diary. It is mostly spacing and letter size; he runs words together. Grip is fine. We tried the copying yesterday evening with a page from his dinosaur book and he did it without any fuss, which I did not expect.
- pebble_moon_68153 Oct 2026
  The teacher's note also said quite a few children in the class are at the same stage and it usually evens out by the end of grade 2. So we are holding off on a class for now and keeping the ten minutes.