Malone on writing the wrongs

I’d organised the child to see her friend whilst I attended parents evening. The sproglett cried “she makes me swap my moshlings!” I didn’t feel it was the right time to explain the etiquette and childhood tradition of game cards. She has been wrapping them up and giving them away to people so I didn’t really see what the problem was. Surely at least with swapping you get one back?

I must remember to teach the child the ways of capitalism. I’ll put that on the ‘to do’ list. (Last thing I need is worrying about her making a living as an adult. I’m suddenly imagining her banging her pot along Western Road wearing orange hoping for some Krishna love!) I manage to drop her off at different friends, arriving a sweaty mess, still holding her munched tortilla wrapI’d made. “You might want to put that in the bin” said my boyfriend.

I felt that it was a good for us all to hear what the teacher had to say as then my boyfriend would think I was less mental when later bribing my child with a crisp to write her surname repeatedly.

The teacher said exactly what I thought she would, summed up as “her writing is illegible…” The teacher tried to make me feel better saying “every day she brings joy”. All I could see was my my child unemployed and it was all my fault. “I don’t do enough with her” I said. Thing is, she’s tired after school so I don’t push it. If she wants to draw or watch telly she can. But now she’s way behind everyone else and I feel terrible. I remind myself she’s only five.

“Adding all these tails must be so confusing for a four year old”

I’m still cross at the school for teaching her ‘cursive script’ from age four. Surely writing only joined-up has scuppered her attempts and knocked her confidence? I wonder how she can even know the difference between the tails of the joining letters and the actual letters. Why didn’t they just teach her what the normal letters were from the start? Adding on all these tails must be so confusing for a four year old who is only just grasping what a letter is; who can’t read yet and has just learnt how to hold a pen. For some kids it works I guess, but I don’t think it worked for mine. They are giving her extra help with writing at school but I feel bad, have I let her down? When we try to write together she refuses to listen to me, I guess she’s sick of this one person telling her how to do things. Perhaps this is an example of how lone parenting has affected her academically. Hopefully when me and the boyfriend move in together there will be a more structured unit for her to draw on for guidance. At least my dream of her becoming a doctor hasn’t been ruled out as she has the compulsory ‘doctor’s handwriting’…