How Do I Teach My "Lefty" How to Write Correctly?!?!?!

Hi A., I'm a pediatric occupational therapist. The last 13 years I worked in the school district with children with fine motor and writing delays. At 3 years old, I'd be really careful to not push him too hard yet. He is still developing his hand dominance, which often times is not really established til closer to 4 or 5 yrs. old. Right now, I'd suggest giving him "bilateral tasks", fine motor acivities that requires the use of two hands working together (i.e. stringing beads, roller pin with playdough,...). Have him do fine moter tasks that require a "tripod grasp" (using thumb, index and middle finger together). A marker board hung up on a wall with fat markers will exercise his shoulders and upper arms, needed for stability for fine motor development. Upright visual stimulation will also help with visual discrimination for combining verticle, horizontal and diagonal lines for letter formation. Hope that this helps. S.

He's probably having trouble more because he's only 3 and less because he's a lefty. My son is almost 4 and can make big letters but his grip is wrong and they're all over the page.

We practice with paint brushes, play dough, scissors, stickers, Mr. Potato Head, leggos, trains, musical instruments, sand, puzzles, cars and dolls to help build his dexterity.

He thinks we're just playing but I know he's learning and building hand strength. By the time he's 6 I expect his grip will have improved enough to properly hold a pencil with out any real struggle.

BTW, he's ambidextrious and so am I. I expect he'll switch back and forth like I did. No one had to teach me to write left handed I just did what felt right.

Hey A., I am ambidextrous. I hold my left hand "properly," and my right hand in a way many people have never seen. I constantly hear how beautiful my writing is, especially cursive. Unless the school is going to make a big deal, I would suggest letting him hold a pencil however feels comfortable for him.

I am not sure there is a wrong way for him to be writing. I think the "lefty" things are over-rated. I guess my question would be what kind of a grip does he have? He is 3 years old, he will eventually get a comfortable grip for himself to make it easier for him to write.

A.:
Don't worry, I'm left handed and write pretty good. For a 3 year old, he still workimg on his grip. The most important thing for me when I was learning was to till the paper to my right so it's on a line with my left arm. This worked perfect. Please let him try and he will have much easy way on writing. He will NOT need to twist his left hand.

Good luck.

A couple of things I have used in the classroom that you could easily do at home are getting a cheep plastic plate and using glitter glue to make lines like note paper on it. Once dry put some sand (sugar or salt work too) in it and have him practice the letters drawing them with his index finger. Another idea is putting a dry erase board on the fridge and letting him write on it. Hope this helps.

He probably just doesn't have the skill yet to hold a pencil properly. My oldest son was in kindergarten this past year and the kids were learning then the correct way to hold them. I would recommend though trying to show him the same way you hold it just with the left hand. My husband's family has several lefties and they all hold theirs differently. Most of them have the "hook", as some people call it, and horrible handwriting. However, my sil is a kindergarten teacher and a lefty. She holds her pencil and writes just like a right handed person does and has the best handwriting. Her oldest son who is 6 is also a lefty and she showed him how to hold a pencil like she does and he has really good handwriting too. Anyway, you can work with him slowly on it, but don't expect too much out of him yet. I would get so frustrated with my son in the beginning (and he's right handed), but he eventually found what was comfortable for him and can write well now.

my mom got these things called "Rocket pencils" because he was having a hard time gripping pencils correctly. Not sure where se got them...I think it was a teaching supply store. but they work

As a 'lefty' myself I had a very hard time as a kid. I finally learned that if I turned the paper to the right about 45 degrees that it helped my handwriting a LOT! Sometimes I still turn the paper completely to the right (so the top of the paper is on my right, the bottom of the paper is to the left and the left side of the paper is on 'top') So, instead of writing "left to right" I'm actually writing "top to bottom". It also keeps my hand from smearing over what I just wrote. That's usually why lefties have a curled up grip (so the hand doesn't smear the writing) My Great Grandmother and my teachers kept trying to get me to use my right hand and it was very confusing as a kid, but it never worked! Unfortunately there are still a LOT of things that are only made for Right Handed people and like the rest of us 'lefties' your son will learn how to adapt in his own way. Check online for some stores that cater to 'lefties' and you'll probably find some good stuff, including left-handed kid scissors and notebooks that open to the right! Good Luck!

Three to four year olds are just learning how to grip and write, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. What's more important is that you support your son's left-handedness. Some parents try to make their children change, which is the worst thing they could do.

When your son starts school, make sure the classroom is equipped, too, for a lefty. I grew up sitting in those right-handed desks, and as a result I write in a way that people say looks "upside down." President Obama also has that hook, and I'm sure it's for the same reason.

It's not always easy being a lefty. Give your son support, whatever you do, and gently help him adapt to living in a right-handed world.

He'll ultimately have to figure out on his own how he writes. At 3, all you can probably do is try to guide him away from any 'wrong' ways to do it. I believe just about ANY child that young -- 'righty' or 'lefty' -- would have trouble steadily holding a pencil. Their hands are quite small and their motor coordination is still developing.

Are you sure you aren't pushing his performance a little too much?

I taught at a preschool years ago and had a boy who was a lefty. I would sit across from him and help him with his letters - yes, that meant that I was writing upside down and backwards, but it worked! We would also give him lots of letters to trace, and sometimes he would use crayons instead of the pencil.

I'm a righty and so is my son, but maybe this will help. I noticed with my son that the big pencils were too much to handle. The length was more of a problem than the diameter. Have you tried letting him write with crayons or "stubby" (think mini golf scoring) pencils?

B.

Hi A.,

I'm a lefty and both my parents wrote with their right hands. They simply sat across from me and I "mirrored" what they did. Leftys tend to like mirrors and enjoy seeing things from different perspectives. Don't make this any harder than it is. It's great fun!

Regards,

M.
www.squidoo.com/ifyourbabycouldtalk

Hey A.,

My son, who is 2 is also a lefty, and he does everything with his left hand. My husband and I are also both right handed. Anyway, I found this website...maybe it'll give you some basics. :-)

http://handedness.org/action/leftwrite.html

My son is also left handed and at 8 and just leaving 2nd grade still has a hard time with writing. His writing posture makes his hand "hook" around so he can't grasp his pencil very well. By the end of this year we just tarught him how to position his paper. Most of his problem comes from not being able to see what he is writing. At least that's what my son has told me. If he writes a certain way he can't see the letters. He needs to position his paper and hold his pencil in a way that he can see his letters. My son slants his paper toward him in an angle and has begun writing without the "hooked" hand he had been using. He's getting used to it now. I'm glad he only writes and eats with his left hand and does everything else with his right hand or we would be having to teach him how to do everything. We were lucky though, grandma is a school teacher who is left handed herself and she has helped us teach him how to position his pencil and paper so he can see the letters he is writing. Good luck!

My son is a lefty too. I have been told to try Handwriting Without Tears. I was told that it was developed for lefties. I haven't tried it yet, as I was told this yesterday. But I have heard only good things about it! And its pretty inexpensive, too! I am definitely going to order it myself.

http://shopping.hwtears.com/category/prek

Hope this helps!

Honestly it might not be a left handed problem. My DD is 4 and still cant hold her crayons correctly and is right handed. I've work and worked with her. I have 2 friends who are preschool teachers and both have givin me tips on how to get her to hold it right but she still wont. They have said much of the things other hear have said. They also said to break the crayons in half so they are short and it forces them to hold the crayons corectly ( between the two fingers not gripping it). I assume thats what you mean by write correctly. I'm ambidextrous and I hold my pens like everyone else with both hands. I didnt really understand the question you didnt really say how he was holding the pencil

My lefty son had more problems writing mostly due to grip. We found a thick pencil by Ticonderoga that is triangular shape. It is sold only at Staples or Office Depot. It's black and the coating is slightly padded. The packaging says something about being the most comfortable pencil ever! It really does work well for gripping the pencil properly, but lefties have a lot more to deal with (smudging their own writing with their hand, spiral binding edges at their wrists, etc...) Good luck!

Children do not actually develop what hand they will write with until about age 5. at 3 my daughter was also using her left hand. dont worry about this too much. you can go to places like the parent teacher store and look for hand writing books for left handed kiddos. hope this help.

My grandpa was a lefty, and instead of keeping his paper straight in front of him, and curving his hand around the top in an awkward hook, he would slant his paper, the same way us righties do, only to the other side. When we write, our paper isnt straight, it's angled pretty sharply, but with lefties, a lot of times people put their papers straight or even slanted the way a right-handed person needs it. I think this is what A. C was saying also. But I agree, dont push him too much too soon. Just let him wrtie and draw for fun, that will make it less of a struggle for him.