"She Can't Copy From the Board Fast Enough"
To us, slow copying from the board is often slow writing. The handwriting or the spelling may not be automatic yet. Have your child's eyes checked. A child who cannot see the board clearly needs that found.
TL;DR
- To us, slow copying from the board is often slow writing. The handwriting or the spelling may not be automatic yet.
- Some children write far more slowly than classmates. Others start neat, and the writing falls apart after a few lines. In our view, both are worth raising with the teacher.
- In our view, the first step is usually to work out what is hard. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first. Have hearing and vision checked. A child who cannot see the board clearly needs that found.
- Handwriting, spelling and getting ideas down each get better when taught. Handwriting improves most consistently with handwriting practice; motor work alone has not been shown to improve it.
Why can't my child copy from the board fast enough?
To us, slow copying from the board is often slow writing. The handwriting or the spelling may not be automatic yet.
Some children build letters in an unusual order, such as from the bottom up. To us, that can make writing slow even when it looks fine.
No study we hold looks at copying from a board.
Neat is not the same as fast
Some children write far more slowly than classmates. Others start neat, and the writing falls apart after a few lines. In our view, both are worth raising with the teacher.
Neat writing can still be slow. One US study looked at 900 schoolchildren (Graham, Berninger, Weintraub and Schafer, 1998). In their stories and essays, speed said little about how clear their writing was. We could read only its summary.
What to check
In our view, the first step is usually to work out what is hard. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first.
Have hearing and vision checked. A child who cannot see the board clearly needs that found. Does your child's hand often hurt when writing? In our view, tell the teacher, and your child's doctor if it keeps up.
What helps
Handwriting, spelling and getting ideas down each get better when taught. Work on handwriting, spelling and composing side by side. Handwriting improves most consistently with handwriting practice; motor work alone has not been shown to improve it.
One review looked at help for handwriting fluency (López-Escribano and colleagues, 2022). In that review, handwriting help made writing more fluent than no help or unrelated lessons. Its authors say many of its comparisons were too small to be sure.
Use real tasks, like a note or a list. In our experience, practice that feels like a test gets put off. Stop before your child is tired.
Our page on writing difficulties has more.
When to ask for help
Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.
- Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
- Schoolwork well below what school expects.
- A teacher who raises a concern about learning.
- Extreme upset about schoolwork.
- Complete avoidance of school or learning.
- Hopelessness about learning.
- Sadness or worry that lasts.
- Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
- A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.
If no skill has gone, start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.
Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.
In the classroom
Watch her copy from a page on her desk, and from the board. Tell her family what you see.
Ask whether her hand hurts or tires when she copies, and tell her family.
Key Takeaways
To us, slow copying from the board is often slow writing. The handwriting or the spelling may not be automatic yet.
Some children write far more slowly than classmates. Others start neat, and the writing falls apart after a few lines. In our view, both are worth raising with the teacher.
In our view, the first step is usually to work out what is hard. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first. Have hearing and vision checked. A child who cannot see the board clearly needs that found.
Handwriting, spelling and getting ideas down each get better when taught. Handwriting improves most consistently with handwriting practice; motor work alone has not been shown to improve it.
Write a short sentence at the top of a page. Your child copies it underneath. Watch the writing, not the clock. Notice whether it starts neat and falls apart.
”What to do tonightWhat to use next
An overview of processing skills. Our work on each runs alongside reading, spelling or math instruction, not in place of it.
Listening practice, built to run alongside reading and spelling instruction, not in place of it. No study of this program exists, so nothing is claimed for it on reading, spelling, attention or social skills.
Common questions from parents
Why is my child so slow at copying from the board?
To us, slow copying from the board is often slow writing. The handwriting or the spelling may not be automatic yet. Have your child's eyes checked. A child who cannot see the board clearly needs that found.
My child's writing is neat. Can it still be too slow?
Neat writing can still be slow. One US study looked at 900 schoolchildren (Graham, Berninger, Weintraub and Schafer, 1998). In their stories and essays, speed said little about how clear their writing was. We could read only its summary. Some children build letters in an unusual order, such as from the bottom up. To us, that can make writing slow even when it looks fine. Handwriting improves most consistently with handwriting practice; motor work alone has not been shown to improve it.
Should I get my child's eyes checked if copying is slow?
Have your child's eyes checked. A child who cannot see the board clearly needs that found. Some children avoid close work, rub their eyes or lose their place. In our view, that is a reason for a full eye exam. Ask for one that includes near vision. Tell the eye doctor that copying from the board is slow.