How to Teach My Little 3 Year-old Lefty to Write…any Ideas?

Rather than trying to teach her to write, give her manipulatives to work those little hand muscles. Give her play-doh, clay, have her make necklaces out of beads because those little finger movements are so important for being able to effectively write later. Let her color with crayons, teach her to cut with scissors. All this will get her ready for kindergarten. The writing will come out of all of this. She needs to strengthen the muscles in her hand.

There is also a fat, soft grip to put on a pencil that will help her.

Dawn

She's only three years old. There is no need to "teach" her how to write anything at her age. Help her develop her fine motor skills, read to her tons every day, let her explore, build things, color & play. When the time is right she'll learn to write, what's the rush?
I have a lefty too. Nine year old straight A student, all-star softball player, huge reader and all around great kid;) She had no formal academic educatiom until the ripe old age of five in Kindergarten. Beware the "frustrating" pre-school lessons, just relax and have fun. Life's a marathon, not a sprint.

I'm not sure what the issue is... I am a teacher and I am a lefty and I teach students that are right handed to write everyday. All you need to do is take her hand in your left hand and guide her - I do it with my right hand when teaching right handed students. Just remember - it will be very messy (as it should be at this age) and make sure you are using Big Red tablet paper - do not use regular ruled paper. Also, it would be to her advantage to have a fat pencil, not a skinny pencil. Her little hands have not mastered the fine motor skills of using thin objects in this aspect. And, last but not least, do not push her. She very well could not be ready for writing on the level you are suggesting. For a 3, er just turned 4 old, writing is not part of this development stage yet.

**As a lefty, if at all possible, do not let her write with her hand in the form of an upside down hook - that awkward way some lefties hold their pencils. Have her turn her paper to the right - that will keep her hand from smearing the lead and allow her to hold a pencil correctly. Also, have her try to learn to use most other things with her right hand such as scissors and a mouse. I made the conscious decision in Kindergarten not to be handicapped by being left handed and needing special tools just for lefties - it has paid off in leaps and bounds for me!!!!!

If i could have one wish for preschools: kids would not start writing until age 5 and they would have less bad habits when I get them in Kindergarten. Just have her work with play dough, roll it and pinch it. Have her color a lot! cut and paste a lot! Pick up pom poms with tongs, search for fun activities to enhance fine motor skills.

I have a four year old lefty and I don't find a problem with teaching her at all. I'm right handed, and so are my other three daughters... but I NEVER had a problem teaching her how to write. There has been no difference with her from my right handed girls as far as learning....I could only help if I saw the method you are using. Are you trying to help her write with your hand over hers? If so, that is not necessary. Just show her and tell her how to do it, and workbooks like Kumon ones help, too.

Try teaching her tracing and simple lines first, that way she can learn how to control her hand before worrying about forming letters. Just drawing a straight line or simple curve are the basics to starting to control your hands. But the whole thing does not need to be complicated, and it definitely does not have to be frustrating for her... you DO NOT want her first impressions of writing to be overly negative. Make it fun and not forced.

So start here... Ask her to draw a line and show her how to properly hold the pencil. Ask her to draw a circle, then a half circle. You can show her these shapes on another sheet of paper that you drew on. Letters and numbers come after the "basics" have been practiced.

(This advice is not just for leftys, though... for all kiddos. I honestly don't know the difference, they are both using hands:) !)

Two thoughts: not all kids will have the mental development or fine motor skills to learn to read or write at three. A few kids don't get there till closer to third grade. They generally have other skills that are much stronger that other children, though, and those early readers may take a few years to catch up in those areas. So don't assume that all 3-4yo's can succeed uniformly with enough work, and give her lots of leeway so she doesn't end up feeling a failure before she has a chance to get there.

Also, I don't think that most kids learn to hold an instrument or write by copying someone else. If that seems helpful to your daughter, you might try setting up a mirror on your table so she can watch your actions in reverse. Or sit across from her, instead of beside her.

But what she will probably get the most gain from would be just manipulating stuff. Clay, crayons, pencils, paintbrushes, making simple drawings for the sheer joy of it, and identifying shapes from books and pictures. She may be able to name shapes or even letters long before she can write them, just as people learning a foreign language may be able to decipher words and phrases audibly long before they can start stringing them together verbally.

Reading and writing are tools that are there to serve us when we are ready. When that time comes, they are wonderful. But we shouldn't make our children slaves to the tools. Your daughter will get there when she's able, and not a week sooner.

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Perhaps, could you start with "pre-writing activities? Print out pictures of things. It can be anything she's interested in, like animals, butterflies, etc. Make sure you print two of each picture. Glue them down across from each other on a page. She can draw a line from one picture, to the matching picture. Also, you can print pages online. (Something like this: http://www.kidslearningstation.com/tracing-lines/ ) She can trace all the lines and it's teaching her how to properly write. (Without the frustration of not being able to write letters.) It will give her steadiness and confidence with a pencil. I really think it's beneficial to do pre-writing, before you try to tackle writing. Another thing that's REALLY important to keep in mind, is activities should not be long. Even if she's very patient and mature, anything more then 5-10 minutes at a time, can become very frustrating. Do writing activities in short intervals throughout the day. Also, please keep in mind her age. She may be very bright, but she is still only three. She does not NEED to be able to write. If this is becoming too frustrating for her now, and a battle...leave writing alone and re-visit in a few months. Pushing before she's ready will only harm her willingness to learn, and learn correctly. Good luck!!

P.S.
Also work on her fine motor skills. Get an ice cube tray and put little pom poms in them. Have her pick up the pom poms with tweezers, or skinny tongs. Get pipe cleaners and a strainer, have her insert the pipe cleaners in the holes, to form a letter U shape. Cut and paste.

I have a lefty (he is 6) and my mom is a lefty (2nd grade teacher). She gave me a good tip: pretend there is a dot on the top center of the page. Turn the paper until the dot would face 2 o'clock (12 o'clock would be straight up). Our preschool teacher also uses little grippies on the pencils to help with grip. Also, make sure your preschool teacher knows she's a lefty. You wouldn't want the teacher to try to teacher her thinking she's a righty.

It is exactly the same as the right hand, only left. I can write with both hands because I was born to be a lefty but forced to be right. I am sure it has something to do with those strange scissors.

Only my youngest was allowed to be a lefty, sorry I am bad. The only thing I taught her to do right handed was cut. Again those strange scissors. The rest is the same as a righty but with the left.

I'm just wondering why you have decided to work on this with her? Is it because she initiated this by showing interest? Did your preschool make the suggestion? Are you concerned about her being "ready" for kindergarten?

In all honesty, I wouldn't push it. She will learn over time. If she is having a tough time, maybe she isn't ready?

I am a righty with a lefty child. Work across from her at a table. Then your right hand can guide her left and you will not mess her up. You will be writing upside-down and backwards with your dominant hand and assisting her with her left hand and not gettting your body/arm in the way. That was the simplest solution for us.

I have heard that sitting across the table from her (instead of side by side) can work; that way she can mirror what you are doing.

Also, you may try the "Handwriting Without Tears" curriculum, which is inexpensive and can be bought online through a popular "book" selling site...it really (in my opinion) is the absolute best handwriting curriculum there is. You ought to see my six year old's writing...honestly, better than most adults I know, and I credit it to this program.

I recommend it to you especially because it's designed to meet the needs to lefties as well.

Hooray for lefties! (I'm one, too!)

Don't sit NEXT to her at the table. Sit ACROSS from her and she can sort of mirror-image you.

Also, head to a teacher store - they have stencils for print writing.

She may be a bit too young, but Zaner Bloser has wonderful handwriting workbooks. I homeschool, and my daughter is five and doing the 1st grade level. She skipped the K level, which has the widest lines, and is the most basic level. I'll start my 4 year old on the K level soon. It's recommended by The Well Trained Mind Guide to Classical Education, because it has the most "continuous stroke" approach rather than "ball and stick" writing often taught in school which is harder when cursive comes along. It's also a very attractive writing style, and the books are very nice. I noticed in the beginning pages, there are specifics on how to sit and angle paper, etc for left handed kids.

My daughter is a lefty. Everyone else in the house is a righty.

I went to walmart and in the learning section ( for us its by the crayons/ markers) we bought a book for both of our preschoolers. It shows how to trace the letters and has a little groove for them to feel and follow. They both learned really easy through practice on how to write the letters.
Then hold her hand with yours and help her trace them at first and once she gets the hang of it, she will be able to do it by herself.

Find a lefty to help her. Also buy left handed scissors, my lefty relatives say they can't do without those.

I'm not a writing teacher at all. But I do know that teaching a lefty when you are a righty is very difficult and can be frustrating. Luckily there are some youtube videos that show you how to do it. Since left handers push when writing and when right handers write they pull. Think about it when writing a standard A. start from the top down the left then top again down to the right and then left to right. Leftys start from the bottom push up the top and then down.
heres the one i like...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZGyDtQ3S1M

Honestly, I would leave it up to the teachers in pre-k or kinder ... my son is still back and fourth and I simply leave it alone. We hand him a worksheet and tell him to have at it with little correction, I allow him to mess up.

At this age she may or may not decide to write with her left hand. Some of my friends that are left handed will write right handed and do everything else left handed.

In child care classes we are taught to make the letters on paper using dash lines so the kids can trace them, making the letters in sand, in finger paint, etc...is also good.

Most kids 3 years old are still "writing" using their shoulder or elbow joint so it's not something that they are all going to be ready to start doing. If she is interested then by all means start her on the tracing. Just don't be surprised if it's not legible for about another year, or until she starts writing with her wrist joint and more of her hand.

You can get some paper with letters to trace, or make some yourself. She's still very young, so be sure to make it fun for her! My daughter is left-handed, and when she did begin writing it was BACKWARDS - not only the way they faced but the order of the letters (mirror imaged). I learned this was TOTALLY normal for all kids , moreso for leftys'. She's 5 now and all is perfectly fine (occassionally a backward letter), but we just reminded her to go the other way. Keep it fun and encourage the learning vs. the outcome at this age.

Would it help to have her mirror you? Or just hold the pencil however she finds comfortable? Show her what you do with your right hand and see if she can figure out how to hold it so she can write. She may be one of those upside down writers, or she may not. My SS is a righty that writes like a lefty. I would just give her opportunities to practice and see how it works out. Workbooks can show her the steps to create letters. A circle here. A line there. What if you practiced letters by writing with your fingers in paint instead of trying a pencil? It might ease the frustration.

I thought she was 4. At 3, I'd introduce her to letters, but not expect a whole lot. My righty DD writes weird, and I'd expect that at 3.

I think you should speak with her preschool teachers and find out how they're teaching her. We tried teaching our lefty how to write her name before preschool, but her preschool teachers did things differently and she ended up having a hard time accomplishing this task. One thing that really helped her was a pencil grip. You can find these at educational stores. It helped her hold her pencil properly and made it easier for her to write.