Please help me help my tearful 8 year old son...

[Halcyon]

My poor guy. He is so frustrated with being a lefty and smudging his work. I have been working with him on getting rid of his "hook" but to no avail--it's very hard to switch, isn't it, from a more "side-writing" approach to an "underneath the line" approach (does this make any sense?)

 

He is so upset.

 

I posted samples of his writing, and pictures of his positioning, on my blog. If you have any advice, please take a look and post here or there. He's eagerly looking forward to the Hive's advice.

[Paige]

I'm a lefty and IMO, the hook and the smudging are two different things. I do not have a hook when I write and I encourage you to continue to help him eliminate the hook. It will fatigue him and it makes writing difficult. My right handed child writes with a hook and I'm working with her to eliminate it too and I know it is hard! The smudging that happens with a lefty, on the other hand, has been unavoidable in my experience. I don't know if you have found some book or website that claims to have a technique to avoid it but I have a hard time believing it. I don't think you can have a proper, comfortable grip that allows you to keep your hand under your writing so that it does not smudge. What will help him some, is to try to use tools that smudge less. I don't use pens with ink that leave much moisture behind. It is hard with pencils, but you may find that some don't smudge as easily. I don't think mechanical pencils smudge as much as regular ones. Sometimes you may not smudge much but you will still get marks on your hand. When I was a kid, I always had dark pencil or pen marks on the side of my hand.

 

As for switching him to a righty....I would leave them up to him and neither encourage nor discourage it. My son was very ambidextrous a few year ago although I and his preschool teacher believed he tended more towards being left handed. His kindergarten teacher forced him to use his right hand only and I still wonder if that messed him up. His handwriting is still a problem for him and I wonder if it would have been easier and more natural if he had stuck with his left hand. Since he has had so much more practice with his right now, his left is worse and he doesn't want to try to go back but I'm still angry with how his teacher treated him. She told him that she had to pick a hand and stick with it and since he wouldn't pick, she picked for him!!

[Ellie]

Your ds's paper needs to be turned so that it is aligned with his arm.

 

My rightie hooked her hand for awhile. :glare: My cure was to tape her paper to the table in the correct position. I removed all workbook pages from their bindings and taped them, too.

[Elizabeth in MN]

My daughter is a lefty. She neither hooks nor smudges. The Hive Mind suggested "Cursive Writing Skills for Left-Handed Students" for a cursive program and it's resulted in BEAUTIFUL handwriting with my daughter. Maybe we have no smudging because we use a pencil exclusively?

[Halcyon]

Your ds's paper needs to be turned so that it is aligned with his arm.

 

My rightie hooked her hand for awhile. :glare: My cure was to tape her paper to the table in the correct position. I removed all workbook pages from their bindings and taped them, too.

 

Ellie-When I turn his paper, he freaks out, because the angle of his hand is now totally different than what he's used to, and he literally can't write anymore. I mean, it looks worse than a 5 year old's writing. Do I just keep trying?

[Halcyon]

My daughter is a lefty. She neither hooks nor smudges. The Hive Mind suggested "Cursive Writing Skills for Left-Handed Students" for a cursive program and it's resulted in BEAUTIFUL handwriting with my daughter. Maybe we have no smudging because we use a pencil exclusively?

 

 

We tried this book for a while and he hated how the cursive leaned to the left.

[Ellie]

Ellie-When I turn his paper, he freaks out, because the angle of his hand is now totally different than what he's used to, and he literally can't write anymore. I mean, it looks worse than a 5 year old's writing. Do I just keep trying?

I feel his pain, poor little guy. But he's frustrated with his penmanship now, and this could help, yes? Maybe you can discuss it with him and tell him why you're doing it, and have him practice with just writing lines and circles and whatnot, KWIM?

[mytwomonkeys]

i'm a lefty too. i'm almost 40 and i still can smudge if i'm not careful. growing up, the side of my hand was constantly covered with ink and lead. he'll eventually figure it out. it is frustrating though & requires intentional effort....at least for me it does. the good news is, my handwriting is really nice otherwise.

[Halcyon]

Thanks everyone. Okay, so today, after having given him a few hours to calm down from this morning, we did History, and afterwards he started to write his history narration. I taped the paper down to the table, to much moaning and groaning, but no crying--just some jokey moaning. He kept his forearm parallel to the paper and his wrist straight-not hooked. It was harder for him, but not impossible (he was working in print, not cursive). The result was quite good, so he is happier.

 

I think cursive will be harder, and we may have to work on just doing circle and swoops for a while. He's not going to be happy about "going backward" but such is life. He's pretty proud that he didn't have a meltdown.

 

I think he needs a "Proud Lefty" t-shirt :) I've told him that Da Vinci and Obama are/were lefties, but he still hates it.

[pooh bear]

My ds is a lefty. I took a couple of pics for you too see how he writes.

 

He doesn't slant his paper, nor does he hook his hand. He prints his handwriting; he hates writing in cursive.

 

I have never seen him smudge, and he has not complained about it.

[Kuovonne]

I'm a lefty. I neither hook nor smudge. I write with my hand under the line of writing. I usually tilt my paper, but can write with paper in any orientation.

 

DD is also a lefty. She does not hook, but she does smudge unless she concentrates on keeping her hand below the line of writing. Her handwriting is neat enough, so I've given up on training her to not smudge. She writes/draws/colors on her own so much that it would be impossible to get enough practice in a different technique to change her habit.

 

It looks like you have a few options for your son:

- continue with his current handwriting, and accept the hook and smudging as parts of life.

- retrain hand and paper position with the left hand

- learn to write with the right hand

I think you should go with whatever option *he* wants to do, as any change will require his full participation. The last two options will probably be equally difficult, and will require a lot of time.

Edited November 22, 2010 by Kuovonne

[Halcyon]

Thank you for the photos! Does he 'cover' his writing as he writes? By turning the paper, my son found he wasn't covering his writing quite as much, which means that his spacing is more consistent (that was an issue for him: not spacing between letters but between words).

 

OTOH, I think the way he was writing before, with a slight hook, was okay....maybe. It wasn't a dramatic hook-my father is a lefty and he writes basically upside down, his hand and arm are hooked so much. But everything I read said that this will cause arm and hand fatigue once he starts writing more. So I am going to try and change it.

 

He loves writing cursive, so it's a bummer that we're going to have to back up a bit for it.

 

I hope I'm making the right choice by "forcing" him to turn his paper. He seemed okay with it this afternoon; I think he just needed a break.

Edited November 22, 2010 by Halcyon

[Halcyon]

I'm a lefty. I neither hook nor smudge. I write with my paper tilted and my hand under the line of writing.

 

DD is also a lefty. She does not hook, but she does smudge unless she concentrates on keeping her hand below the line of writing. Her handwriting is neat enough, so I've given up on training her to not smudge. She writes/draws/colors on her own so much that it would be impossible to get enough practice in a different technique to change her habit.

 

It looks like you have a few options for your son:

- continue with his current handwriting, and accept the hook and smudging as parts of life.

- retrain hand and paper position with the left hand

- learn to write with the right hand

I think you should go with whatever option *he* wants to do, as any change will require his full participation. The last two options will probably be equally difficult, and will require a lot of time.

 

Could you take a photo of your hand position? My father is a lefty and has a TERRIBLE hook, whereas my mother (who went to Catholic school and was punished by the nuns for writing incorrectly :blink:) writes so under the line it's almost weird; her forefinger and thumb go up and down with no movement or participation from the rest of her hand (does that make sense)? I think somewhere in the middle would be fine for my son, which is what I'm striving for.

 

ETA: he only notices the smudging when we do work on the whiteboard. His pencil work doesn't really smudge at all. So I don't consider it a huge problem, to be honest. I am more concerned with the slight hook.

[Ellie]

Thanks everyone. Okay, so today, after having given him a few hours to calm down from this morning, we did History, and afterwards he started to write his history narration. I taped the paper down to the table, to much moaning and groaning, but no crying--just some jokey moaning. He kept his forearm parallel to the paper and his wrist straight-not hooked. It was harder for him, but not impossible (he was working in print, not cursive). The result was quite good, so he is happier.

 

I think cursive will be harder, and we may have to work on just doing circle and swoops for a while. He's not going to be happy about "going backward" but such is life. He's pretty proud that he didn't have a meltdown.

 

I think he needs a "Proud Lefty" t-shirt :) I've told him that Da Vinci and Obama are/were lefties, but he still hates it.

:party::hurray::thumbup:

[sbgrace]

My lefty doesn't hook but my right handed child did. I followed Ellie's suggestions and (with a lot of frustration initially) it fixed it! He's doing so much better.

 

I asked my left handed husband. He doesn't hook but he told me that he was frustrated when younger by smearing. But he also said he doesn't smear now because he holds his hand up off the paper. He also said he thinks it's easier not to smear with printing. My left handed son does smear but it doesn't seem to bother him.

 

But I'm really posting to say that I believe you can fix a hook and I think it's worth the effort and it sounds like he's on his way!

[Ray]

http://www.peterson-handwriting.com/Early%20Childhood/Lefthandedchild.html

[Halcyon]

My lefty doesn't hook but my right handed child did. I followed Ellie's suggestions and (with a lot of frustration initially) it fixed it! He's doing so much better.

 

I asked my left handed husband. He doesn't hook but he told me that he was frustrated when younger by smearing. But he also said he doesn't smear now because he holds his hand up off the paper. He also said he thinks it's easier not to smear with printing. My left handed son does smear but it doesn't seem to bother him.

 

But I'm really posting to say that I believe you can fix a hook and I think it's worth the effort and it sounds like he's on his way!

 

 

Thank you for your supportive words. It doesn't help that DS is a perfectionist :(

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for exercises that could help him with cursive (ie. printable sheets that AREN'T cursive, but shapes, lines, etc)?

[ELaurie]

http://www.peterson-handwriting.com/Early%20Childhood/Lefthandedchild.html

 

I was going to recommend this site as well - this method was very helpful for ds11 who is also a lefty. He resisted tilting his paper at first, but changing the angle of the paper made a significant difference.

[ELaurie]

Thank you for your supportive words. It doesn't help that DS is a perfectionist :(

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for exercises that could help him with cursive (ie. printable sheets that AREN'T cursive, but shapes, lines, etc)?

 

The Peterson site linked above offers specific exercises to help him.

 

BTW, I think his handwriting is gorgeous - honestly - it's better than ds 11's :001_smile:

[Halcyon]

The Peterson site linked above offers specific exercises to help him.

 

BTW, I think his handwriting is gorgeous - honestly - it's better than ds 11's :001_smile:

 

Thank you ELaurie-I will show him this post. Today he said his handwriting was "like a monster's". :( I don't know where he gets this idea.

 

I will definietly check out that site.

 

ETA: Do you think Peterson's is easier for lefties? I have been teaching him more Zaner-Bloser style since that looks "familiar" to me from my childhood, but wondering if Peterson's is easier for a lefty.

Edited November 23, 2010 by Halcyon

[stripe]

I have a lefty relative who doesn't hook; in fact, she's one of the people I know with the least convoluted lefty writing style. She said her teacher took a lot of time to get her to hold her pen a certain way. So keep at it!

 

I get a fair amount of smudge, and I'm right handed. It's annoying.

[Wendy Inman]

My son is 8 too :) We've done the above mentioned correct paper position from the start though and it works wonderfully. My husband and my grandfather are both lefties and have the hook so i was determined that he should do it properly lol.

 

I bought some handwriting books for left-handers and I gleaned one very important thing from them - this little symbol that was in all the corners of the papers showing how to line up the paper with the edge of the table. The books themselves were useless to me since they were from Britain and the writing style and lines were just too different than what i wanted... but i don't regret the purchase because i traced that symbol onto all his papers and it worked like a charm.

 

Here's a link to my scan...

[Dinsfamily]

I'm a lefty and the mom of a lefty...

 

Sounds like you're doing great. I think it would be easier to explain to an 8 yr old that he needs to make some small changes to reap the benefits in the future. I had to do some remediation with my oldest last year when he came home after a year in preK and it helped to explain that eventually that my way would be better. It didn't take him long to agree. Your ds's writing will probably not be perfect for awhile. I was still perfecting the slant of my cursive in high school. With my lefty (4yo), I'm going only going focus on paper position, grip, letter formation, and hand position (not hooking) at first and let the artistry develop later. I smudged as a child but not any longer. I think a lot of lefties refine their hand position over time to correct that...and learn not use certain types of pens like fountain or erasable.

[MGK]

Does anyone have any suggestions for exercises that could help him with cursive (ie. printable sheets that AREN'T cursive, but shapes, lines, etc)?

 

I purchased the e-book from this site http://www.lefthandnz.com/penspencils.html when my 6 year old leftie was learning to write. It has been excellent and provides several printable sheets with patterns that would help with cursive.

 

One thing that was recommended was to start with big patterns - using a blackboard or newsprint taped along the wall. This helped my daughter so much. Also, I'm going to teach her Getty Dubay's italic instead of traditional cursive because it seems more fluid and has less backtracking. I never realized how many challenges a leftie has to overcome in the early years!

[MeganW]

As for switching him to a righty....I would leave them up to him and neither encourage nor discourage it. My son was very ambidextrous a few year ago although I and his preschool teacher believed he tended more towards being left handed. His kindergarten teacher forced him to use his right hand only and I still wonder if that messed him up. His handwriting is still a problem for him and I wonder if it would have been easier and more natural if he had stuck with his left hand. Since he has had so much more practice with his right now, his left is worse and he doesn't want to try to go back but I'm still angry with how his teacher treated him. She told him that she had to pick a hand and stick with it and since he wouldn't pick, she picked for him!!

 

That was me. I am SOOOO grateful now! My handwriting is legible and acceptable when I make an effort, but not great. But more importantly, I can use both hands! It seems so awful to me that most people can only use one hand in a coordinated manner - I can't imagine being so handicapped. (I'm not talking about handwriting - I'm talking about everything else you use your hands for.) Down the road, your son will be happy with the kindergarten teacher's decision!

[cherylw]

I'm a lefty too and my older brother is as well. He has the hook and I do not. Not sure how that happened and I've never really thought much about it but I believe it's because I do tilt my paper. I get comments sometimes for my handwriting. My brother doesn't tilt his paper and has the usual messy looking lefty writing, but he was an excellent freehand drawer. Personally I hate to hear when someone forces a child to switch because you never know what underlying talent they may develop if they are left alone. I don't think it's as common as it has been in the past .

Taping the paper seems like a good idea.

 

I'm trying to work with my two boys' handwriting who are not lefties! They are both so sloppy..... it drives me nuts!:tongue_smilie:

[ELaurie]

ETA: Do you think Peterson's is easier for lefties? I have been teaching him more Zaner-Bloser style since that looks "familiar" to me from my childhood, but wondering if Peterson's is easier for a lefty.

 

You're welcome :)

 

I do think Peterson is easier for lefties.

[Halcyon]

You're welcome :)

 

I do think Peterson is easier for lefties.

 

Thanks. It looks like it has less 'flowiness' and I think that will help him. We're going to try it starting monday .:)

[Twigs]

Perhaps you might find some help here:

http://66.147.242.192/~operinan/4/4.1.3a/4.1.3.4.left.htm

Best wishes.

[Beth in SW WA]

My cure was to tape her paper to the table in the correct position. I removed all workbook pages from their bindings and taped them, too.

 

I do this for my little lefty. I don't allow her to write with a hook. For writing assignments, copywork or ETC I am close by to correct her if I see the hook coming back.

[TanuvasaMama]

Thanks everyone. Okay, so today, after having given him a few hours to calm down from this morning, we did History, and afterwards he started to write his history narration. I taped the paper down to the table, to much moaning and groaning, but no crying--just some jokey moaning. He kept his forearm parallel to the paper and his wrist straight-not hooked. It was harder for him, but not impossible (he was working in print, not cursive). The result was quite good, so he is happier.

 

I think cursive will be harder, and we may have to work on just doing circle and swoops for a while. He's not going to be happy about "going backward" but such is life. He's pretty proud that he didn't have a meltdown.

 

I think he needs a "Proud Lefty" t-shirt :) I've told him that Da Vinci and Obama are/were lefties, but he still hates it.

 

Would you mind taking a picture? I'm trying to picture how the paper aligns with his arm and I just can't figure it out. My DS4 is a lefty and although we're just starting with writing, I'd love to know how to help him in the future.

[NineChoirs]

My 14yo son and my 13 yo daughter are both lefties. I was born a lefty and my mom decided to switch me to being a righty (I don't recommend this at all). My 14yo writes beautifully, no hooks or smudges, no hand fatigue. He can write out several pages of perfect cursive in a very short period of time. My daughter hooks, smudges, grips, complains of hand fatigue, it has caused serious troubles. She has suggested switching to her right but I don't really think that will help. It might make writing somewhat easier but it is hard to develop nice handwriting when not using the proper hand. We are just really focusing on constant correction. I sit right next to her when she writes and correct her when she starts to hold her pencil wrong. I think a big part of the problem is she developed a habit of holding the pencil incorrectly and now it is going to take awhile to correct it. I will take pictures later on when my son gets home of how he holds his pencil (not sure if he tilts his paper or not) and post them.

[Halcyon]

Perhaps you might find some help here:

http://66.147.242.192/~operinan/4/4.1.3a/4.1.3.4.left.htm

Best wishes.

 

Wow-upside-down writing?? Never heard of that! I will show it to my son-he'll get a kick out of it at least :)

[Halcyon]

Can someone tell me what script THIS website is using?