mazakaal Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 My 5yo is learning to read, on lesson 50-something in OPG. He's doing great, moving along slowly, but surely. He doesn't write a lot, but can write his name in all caps. A few weeks ago I picked him up from Sunday school and he had written his name across the top of the paper in all caps, but backwards. Each letter was backwards, too. His name is Alex, so the A and X go either way, but the L and E were both written backwards. Later that week he did it again at home. Other times he's written it perfectly normally. Then yesterday he went to write it again, and when he was starting he asked, 'Does it go this way?' pointing left to right. So is this something I should be worried about? Should I work with him in any particular way? I never had this happen with my other kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyJudyJudy Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 At your son's age, that is totally normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 Okay, thanks. BTW, I can hear an actor saying, "Judy, Judy, Judy," in my mind, but can't place the movie. Did you take your posting name from that movie? What was it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Completely normal, I agree. Calvin reversed a lot until he was about seven; Hobbes never did, for some reason. Best wishes Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyJudyJudy Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Okay, thanks. BTW, I can hear an actor saying, "Judy, Judy, Judy," in my mind, but can't place the movie. Did you take your posting name from that movie? What was it? My real name is Judy (actually Judith), and I was called "Judy, Judy, Judy" all my life! I always thought it came from a Cary Grant movie, but I just googled, and I guess I was told incorrectly. I found this on Yahoo answers: Cary Grant is associated with the phrase but he never said "Judy, Judy, Judy" in the movies, which he credits to Larry Storch, but he did say "Susan, Susan, Susan" in Bringing Up Baby (1938). Larry Storch inadvertently set in motion the Cary Grant line, "Judy, Judy, Judy..." during one of his nightclub acts. Legend has it that Storch was in the middle of a Grant impersonation when Judy Garland walked in. Apparently, this is how he addressed the star. Even though the line was never said in any of Grant's movies, Storch's impression inexplicably stuck and was often used by other impressionists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 This is a funny story. I did vaguely think that it was a Cary Grant movie. I can't believe it was just from a Cary Grant impression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verity Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Developmentally it is considered normal for children to reverse their letters up through first grade. I would definitely keep an eye on it and most especially if anyone in the family has dyslexia or "handedness" issues. Even if it's normal some basic support (with sandpaper letters for instance or writing over a screen to increase tactile sensation) would help him to lock in the shapes and facing on the letters. My 7 year old is still occasionally having some problems in this area but it seems to be getting better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 OPG doesn't emphasize writing. Not all children will know, just from looking at letters, how they are to be written. Left and right don't mean all that much. IOW, it's probably not a big deal. One of the reasons I like Spalding is that it teaches dc specifically how to write every letter, emphasizing left to right and "the direction that we read and write." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 Just to clarify, the whole word was written backwards. So, he wrote X - backward E - backward L - A. He didn't just reverse the letters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayne J Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 First, I wouldn't worry about it--it sounds fairly normal. Watch, but don't worry. Second, does he know he is supposed to write his name from left to right? Did he maybe just write from right to left ?(meaning he spelled his name correctly and everything, but forgot to start on the left?) Left to right progression for reading and writing is arbitrary and often doesn't make sense to kids--why should we go left to right and not right to left? I think with practice it will become automatic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkgumby Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Just to clarify, the whole word was written backwards. So, he wrote X - backward E - backward L - A. He didn't just reverse the letters. That's a very normal stage in learning to write. I have an example of that from when I was a child, and both my kids did it too. No worries. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnandtinagilbert Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 :iagree: normal for kiddos to write letters and numbers backwards til 7ish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yslek Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 D does this frequently, too. It looks like mirror writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Definitely normal. Completely. If he's doing it at eight, well, then, I might be worried. But at five? TOTALLY normal. And if it makes you feel any better, I'm a reading specialist. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 I agree that it is normal but I would gently correct him when he is doing his school work (if you are to that point) and have him rewrite the letter/word correctly. Just say, "opps, that is backwards, let's have you fix it". Not to make a big deal about it but rather prevent the habit of letting him practice it incorrectly. I WISH I had done this as my girls are 12 and 13 adn still have problems with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 Oh, good. Thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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