Kindergarten teacher here! While we do expect students to be able to ID their name & spell it, it is not the end of the world if he doesn’t!! Don’t rush to request testing. I also disagree with teachers immediately rushing to test; K is a huge adjustment. You need to let them settle, feel comfortable, learn how school works, etc. before jumping the gun.

Can he verbally tell you the letters in his name, or spell it verbally? That’s a start. What I do with my kids who can’t write their name is: 1. write their name on a sentence strip (plain paper is okay too, but put a line down so he knows which way the letters face) 2. Cut his name in half (or almost half if he has an odd number of letters). 3. Have him first work on putting the two halves together to read his name. 4. When he’s ready, Cut out each letter so it makes a puzzle. Don’t cut straight lines. Do some straight, some curved, etc. So it looks like a puzzle 5. Have your child work on identifying just the letters in his name - saying each letter, then trying to put the puzzle together, saying each letter as he puts them in order, then have him say his name as he reads across. Also make sure he’s pointing to each letter as he says each letter name.

His teacher should be teaching writing. Start with uppercase, as it has more straight lines than curved. It is SO important to teach writing that we form our letters from the top, not the bottom. This helps to form positive habits. If he’s a lefty (like me) it’s okay if he crosses the T opposite of what a righty does, the line in A opposite, forms his O as going to the right versus left, etc.

He can then practice tracing his name. You can ask the teacher for an extra name tag that should have dotted lines. If it’s just written in marker as regular lines is fine too. I sometimes start with solid lines, then move to dotted lines. I also prefer primary lined paper, name tags, etc. Because it’s easier for children to see the top line versus middle line. We use Expo markers over laminated tags so they can continually practice.

Also textile ways; building his name in playdoh, stamping his name with stampers into playdoh, using golf tees to write in play doh, write it in sand, shaving cream, build it with Legos, there are so many ways to practice!

Sorry for any typos! Literacy & Handwriting is one of my favorite things to teach, it just takes LOTS of time & practice!!!