I have a 6 year old son who writes backwards. At first it was just a few letters but lately its a lot of letters and numbers. He doesnt have a problem reading, actually he is an excellent reader.
Is he left-handed? My daughter did this very thing and oddly she didn't notice it. you could hold up her papers in a mirror and read them well. It eventually just stopped. She's the only one of my children that did this and my only lefty.
It is a directionality issue. He does not know left from right and that you always start on the left side of the paper. I taught first grade for 16 years and I do this activity with them everyday where they have to start beginning, middle and end on the paper to teach them where you start writing. The beginning is on the left. If a teacher does this sort of thing everyday they will not have directionality issues.
This could be a red flag, but at this age it's hard to tell, because it developmentally appropriate. Just keep an eye on him.
We are currently having our 7yo tested for dyslexia, and it took a long time to get anyone to listen to our concerns, since he doesn't reverse his letter all the time.
This is totally normal. Ask his teacher what he/ she thinks. Try to read about it online. I did and felt much better, my son is suffering from the same thing. He used to flip his numbers as well (12 would be 21).
Stay on top of it and correct him without frustration. If you get frustrated with him when trying to correct him, he will shut down and it will take longer to teach him the appropriate way.
Good luck!
