Fourth Grade Writing Expectations

My fourth-grader's writing is very sloppy, and she misspells a lot of words. On top of this, her sentences are only three or four words long. If I ask her to write a sentence, she finds it very difficult to put words together. Is she displaying age-level behavior with her writing skills? -- Anxious
Answer: Your daughter's writing skills should be judged on the basis of what is expected of students at the end of third grade. Her handwriting at that time would need to be considered legible with correct spacing between letters in a word and words in a sentence.
As far as spelling goes, by the end of third grade, most schools would expect students to at least spell one-syllable words correctly. She also should be able to correctly spell the words that were on last year's spelling tests.
Your daughter also should be able to capitalize the first word in a sentence and use appropriate end punctuation of simple sentences. She should be able to vary the length of her sentences.
Parents often evaluate the skill level of their children by using adult standards. Talk to your child's teacher to find out if your child's writing meets the school's expectations for her grade level. You also will find it helpful to look at the writing of other students in the class. If your daughter's work is not up to grade level, this is the time to discuss how it can be improved.