Left-handedness

my 6 yo is right handed and has done the backward thing with her letters since she was in pre-k. Both her pre-k teacher and her kindergarten teacher this year have told us that this is perfectly normal, happens in many children and is because she is absorbing so much new information and sometimes seeing it done on the blackboard it gets backwards in their minds. they both said that by first grade it will resolve. I also think it may depend on how much the teacher is concerned. a friend's daughter did this and her teacher marked each backward letter with a pink pen and within 2 weeks her daughter got sick of the pink marks and started doing the letters correctly.

Some people just have horrible handwriting (that's why i have to type everything...LOL) My son was diagnosed with ADHD and his doc said that a lot of kids with ADHD have bad handwriting. But like 1 previous poster said, I also recommed to have her vision checked. A lot of problems are rooted in this. My son is 8 and still his t's aren't perfect and his letters don't always touch the bottom line. But his teacher says that is common and since k none of his teachers have corrected it. They are more concerned with him learning the content and things. But He writes right handed but bats left handed, swings golf clubs and hockey sticks left handed, and can throw a ball equally well with right or left. Call your county's early intervention service or now school age services and see if you can get her assessed. They should be able to help you out. Good luck.

As a kindergarten teacher, I can say that letter reversals are not a problem until they reach 9 or 3rd grade. If a child is still doing it at that age then you need to be concerned. Also, remember repetition in writing is good. If you see her doing it wrong just remind her and demonstrate the correct way. As long as she is not frustrated, have her redo the letter the correct way. It is part of the developmental process and everyone develops at a different rate. My principal always reminds me when I get speech delayed children that it affects their academics. Not all bad though. Some maybe a lot behind while others just a little. Again this is part of the development process. At the age of 6 you should know whether she is left or right handed. She could be using both hands but one is always used more than the other. My son is left handed and never uses his right at all but my dad uses both (left to right and sports are all right handed). Your pediatrician is correct to say they can monitor the situation because now it is not a huge concern. It is nice though to see parents concerned about their children as I see it all to often where parents see a problem but are not concerned. Good Luck and I hope all works out for you.

I have three kids and two are right handed and the third is a lefty and has been since birth. I think that left handedness presents itself fairly early on, so unless your daughter has shown left handed tendencies, I would venture to guess that she is a righty. As for the letters etc, I really wouldn't worry about it. My oldest daughter (now in high school) made some letters and numbers backwards until third grade. I would say that she just needs practice and encouragement from you. Most kids love to draw, color, use playdoh, cut, all great activities for developing fine motor skills. Maybe she could label her drawings (writing about them without the worry of lines and letter size) or draw pictures then cut them out. I believe that the key is to make things fun, then kids don't even realize that they are learning.

My two year old shows lefty preferences, especially when eating. I asked the ped about it at is 18 mos check up when you should be able to tell handedness, and he said not until 5 or 6. I've heard of kids as old as 8 changing hands.
Do you have a homeschooling support group that you work with. It could be that this is the kind of thing that in a public school surrounded by many other kids would be written off in the normal range of development. I would check with others in your homeschooling groups to see if they have experienced similar problems. I do agree with those who have said that at that age, perfection should not be expected, and they really are still learning. Unless her problems extend into reading, and letter recognition, I would give it a year or two before worrying about it.

It takes some people quite awhile before they develop a preferred/dominant hand, but it usually sorts itself out in elementary school. My husband writes left handed, but he says he is 'ambi-mouse-trous' because he has no trouble using left handed or right handed computer mice and can frequently use both at the same time and make no mistakes. We both have computer jobs and work with a lot of them. At 6, kids are developing fine (small) muscle control. It takes time and practice. Fine motor practice also means cutting out shapes with scissors (girls use to LOVE cutting out paper dolls!), coloring with crayons and/or pencils, finger painting, etc. There are lots of ways to practice without getting tied down to writing numbers and letters all the time. Make it fun enough and she won't even realize she's working on a skill at all and when she does get down to the writing, her hands will be able to do what she asks of them.

I am left-handed and trust me you would know....not only would your daughter write left-handed, but she would most likely eat left-handed and use her left hand for most activities....however, she is still young, learning how to write. I wouldn't assume a disability yet - as other posters have said, it is common for those types of problems to occur in early handwriting. My DSS has horrible handwriting and I have NO idea who taught him how to write in the first place, but even to this day (he is 12) he has a hard time writing his letters in the proper way - his handwriting is tiny and doesn't really fit on the lines and it's all smooshed together and his letters are written using backward strokes (like his O's will be from the right to left instead of left to right or his S's may be written upside down - they look correct, but how he writes them is incorrect and causes it to look sloppy). I have tried to work with him over the years that he has been in my care and it has gotten much better. Starting when he was around 8 years old I would have him practice writing the alphabet and watch how he made his strokes....but when he started getting into 5th and 6th grade and his handwriting was still atrocious and mostly illegible, I would make him re-do all his homework till I could read it. It was time-consuming and annoying to both of us and he got frustrated, but he started paying attention and trying harder and now I have actually seen vast improvements! I can usually read what he has written now and he takes his time to write neatly so he only has to write it once. His maturity is increasing and I think that has made a big difference also. I would always tell him - "If I can't read it, then your teacher can't read it." But, being that your daughter is only almost 6 - she is completely fine and normal and will hopefully get the hang of it sooner than later....

My son is 19 months old and we've known for months that he is left-hand-dominant. My husband and father-in-law are also, so its definitely no surprise.

If your daughter is otherwise right-handed, I wouldn't worry about is and would think she simply needs more practice with handwriting.

Hi A.! I'm no expert and my oldest son is only coming up on three years old, but I will tell you that he is left handed and it is VERY VERY apparent to us. I THINK that if she were left handed she would be showing a very clear preference and perhaps even fighting with you to use that hand when writing (Kyle does.) But I REALLY don't know much about this. Just thought I'd share my experience. Good luck!!

Left-handedness usually presents itself pretty early. Especially once they start using spoons and forks, they will consistantly reach for items with their left hand if that's what they are.

At this point I wouldn't worry too much about the handwriting. It's not uncommon for children to write some letters backwards sometimes. And she is only 6 and I'm assuming in Kindergarten. She's still learning how to write in the first place, let alone having everything perfected.

Both my boys always got terrible grades in handwriting ... and I personally didn't care as long as it was legible. How many of us adults write the way we were taught is "correct"? None I know :)

I'd suggest the same thing the ped said, keep an eye on it but don't panic yet. If there isn't any improvement in the backwards letters by the time she's done with first grade, then there might be a concern. Unless other issues present before then.

I won't speak about the left-handedness, since there are plenty of good responses out there. But, have you taken your daughter to an ophthalmologist? I work for an family eye practice, and all too often parents don't take their children to a real eye doctor. Pediatricians, and PCP's are only a very basic line of defense in this area. Many times children have visual problems that are undetectable even by their parents. The problems you are describing should be enough that your HEALTH insurance cover the visit. Make sure on the history forms you'll recieve to note any family history, i.e. your or your husband wear glasses, learning disabilities, etc. I suggest calling a comprehensive eye practice, find one with a pediatric ophthlamologist. When making your appointment, tell them briefly about your concern, rather than "My daughter needs a routine exam". Even if you need to tell them you will self pay for the visit, go to a pediatric ophthalmologist...not a place that sells eyeglasses. Some 'learning disabilities' are rooted in vision problems. Some stats:
1 in 4 school-aged children is affected by vision problems
1 in 20 preschoolers has a vision problem that can cause permanent vision loss if left untreated
Hope this helps