Handwriting for Lefties

I love Simply Charlotte Mason’s offerings here for handwriting because I can print and print and print without having any binding in the way for my left-handed little ones. I also have had great success using the Start Write computer program to generate my own customized pages. Again these pages are left unbound until the lesson has been completed. I find that, as long as the page is slanted at the same angle as the writing arm, the instruction is the same for right and left handers.

I have 2 Lefties – my 6.5yo and my 4yo.

Peterson Directed Handwriting has a file or two of information about teaching handwriting with a Leftie.  One main thing is that they should tilt their page (the opposite way from a RH person – and more) even for printing – so that their hand goes under what they are writing.  Don’t let them do a hook hand overtop.

I wouldn’t do the different letter formation that mrsmccardell suggested – but that is because we do Italics – and when you switch to joined-italic (ie, cursive) – you join out of the cross!

My 6.5yo took forever to be able to write clearly.  She is VERY prone to writing backwards.  When she was young (ie, 4) – she would write her name like this….     ohce   (well, her name backwards, not her code-name of echo) – starting at the right of the page.  Also often the letters themselves would be backwards.  (btw – the Peterson Directed Handwriting (cursive first) itself did NOT work well for my Leftie)  

I think my next Leftie might be easier to teach (haven’t started yet) – as the writing she does on her own doesn’t tend to be backward or jumbled like my first Leftie.     I’ve heard that the Lefties that tend to be more prone to backwards writing and messy writing are those that seemed to take a long time to pick which hand was dominant…  They may have “mixed dominance”.   Echo – well, I suspected that she was going to be Left Handed when she was young – but wasn’t sure.  She would mostly color, etc with her left – but I’d say it was about 60% left, 40% right…. then 70% left, 30% right….   then 90% left, 10% right….  finally all left handed.     Foxtrot, on the other hand, was consistantly picking up the crayon with her left-hand by age 2.  Golf, at age 2, consistantly is right-handed.

btw – for many things, the best way to teach manual things to a Leftie is to sit opposite them so they can mirror your movements.  (ie – tying shoes…)

I also got some advice from a Leftie that I’ve found helpful about scissors….  teach your Lefite to hold the scissors in their RH and the paper in the Left.  It really does serve them better.  First off, with precision paper cutting, the control of the paper is the key thing – so that will be with their dominant hand.  But the main thing is the whole thing with scissors.  Most of the time it is so hard to get LH’d scissors.  Say they are at church or scouting or something that is oding a “craft” with paper-cutting…. out come the box of scissors.  They are almost all going to be RH’d scissors – if not all of them.    Also – beware – uni-scissors that are supposed to be for either hand are still RH scissors.  The handle is made to make it more comfortable for a LH’d person – but the way the blades cross is still for a RH’d person.

hth!

My oldest and youngest are lefties.  I second Handwriting Without Tears.  It’s an excellent program.  The advice given is really great and I can only add this – let them figure out how to hold the pencil.  I fought with my oldest for years….”No, you have to hold it this way.  You’re doing it wrong.”  When I finally backed off, he figured out something that was comfortable for him and now writes like a champ.  I’m using that approach now with the youngest (age 6) and it’s much less frustrating.  Around the time I let go of “the right way” I surveyed all my friends and family members who where lefties and they all held the pencil differently and they all held it in some weird way that a rightie would never do….but it worked for them!

I also used a pencil grip.  I can’t find it online now, but it had a deeper indention for the middle finger, and two smaller ones for the thumb and pointer finger.  I think it was specifically designed for lefties, but since I can’t find it now, I can’t be sure.

mrsmccardell, I am so glad you asked this question. I planned to post a similar one yesterday but got distracted. I have a 3.5yo who wants to learn to write, but I’ve noticed he wants to form his letters differently such as the “T,” which his name begins with, and struggles to do it the traditional righty way. I am lucky in that he has always (since infancy) held utensils, pencils, crayons, etc. correctly. Thanks to all who have posted responses.

Left-handedness is not the problem that so many envision. I have successfully taught handwriting to many children who are left-handed. Usually it is just a matter of posture. The paper should be placed at an angle, and over to the student’s left so he or she can see the writing. The reason some left-handers hook the wrist is because they cannot see what they have written. The pen or pencil should be held as a right hander does, but maybe a tiny bit higher on the shaft. The movement of forming letters is pull-and-release toward the elbow. I believe many books and programs play on the concept that left-handedness is problematic, and that is simply a money-making ploy.

Usually children start out with “manuscript” letters, those that mostly start strokes at their tops and move left-to-right. If some letters are frormed opposite from the norm, it results in illegible joining later on. For example, the letter o should start at its top and move around in a counterclockwise direction; otherwise it has the potential for being illegible. However, if a left-hander crosses t from right-to-left it’s no big deal. So, to answer your question, one’s handwritng can have its personal quirks, but still needs to adhere to a few rules.

My 6-year-old left-handed son writes pretty well with pencil and paper, but pretty poorly on a whiteboard.  His hand erases marks he has just made, and so he tries to adjust his hand/wrist angle to avoid rubbing the marks, and that makes the letter turn out bad.  Am I just not having him tilt the board enough?  Any other ideas?