Should I be concerned

[sewingmama]

that my almost 5yo writes and reads backwards or left to right?

 

She is not actually reading yet and can only write her name.

 

She always writes her name left to right. I can't exactly be sure that she is writing her name starting with the last letter since her name is Anna :D (lucky for her).

 

When I ask her to sound out a word she starts from the last letter and works back. Tonight we were out shopping and she said "Look we are at AEKI (IKEA)(she spelt the letters out - didn't actually read the word).

 

When she writes her letters she always starts at the bottom of the letter rather then the top.

 

It doesn't matter how many times I work to correct her she continues to do it her own way. Her letters themselves are not actually reversed - they all face the correct way.

 

She goes to public Pre-K and I asked her teachers if this was normal when they were starting out and she told me not to worry about it -it would correct itself. Well it's been 6 months now and I haven't broken her of it yet.

 

So is this normal or does she have some type of learning issue? Any suggestions on how to get a stubborn child to follow directions :glare: I'm planning on using HWT when she starts K at home in a few months -is there anything else I should look at that might help?

 

I should probably mention she is left-handed so I'm not sure if that has something to do with it.

 

Thanks for your advice.

 

Oh and I forgot to mention that she often says words/sentances kind of backwards when she speaks. For eg. tonight she said fruitgrape instead of grapefruit and every single time when we do beginning sounds she says things like "A starts with apple" etc instead of the other way around.

Edited April 12, 2011 by sewingmama

[MamaOfMany]

When my DD now 8 started to read and write she did this. I was worried! Its not normall no way.... only it is lol. Its very normal and yep it will work its self out. Just keep practicing. I didnt believe them but they were right (them being her teachers at the time)..... then my now 6 year old son did it last year in Kinder and his teacher sent home a note to the class saying you may see your child doing such and such... its ok its normal and it will work its self out. Took them both about a year (though son still does it sometimes!) but they both write normal and read normal now :)

 

I still have samples of my daughters crazy handwritting days. Its so interesting to look at now but was scary then lol

[Carrie12345]

Just wondering- Is she a lefty?

 

Both my dds did this. The older (righty) outgrew it around 6/7. The younger (lefty) has not, and she's almost 8. IIRC, Lovable Lefties are more prone to dyslexia-type issues.

[sewingmama]

Just wondering- Is she a lefty?

 

Yes she is.

 

A lot of the problem is that she is just so stubborn about wanting to do everything her own way that it's hard for me to tell if she is just being a pain in the butt and not following my instructions on purpose or if she actually has a real problem. At first I was content to say it was just normal developmental stages - but as I said I've been working with her for 6 months and it's actually getting worse as in becoming more and more of a habit.

Edited April 12, 2011 by sewingmama

[abbeyej]

...So is this normal or does she have some type of learning issue? ...

 

At 4 and 5 years old it's perfectly normal. ... But that doesn't guarantee that she *doesn't* have some type of learning disability.

 

At this age, I would continue doing what you're doing. Work with her gently but *consistently*. Sit down with her for a few minutes a day and "practice your writing" together. Ask her what word she wants to write, and you write it out neatly with a highlighter or light-colored marker. Talk through the letter-formation as you go. "Now I'm starting at the top and going across. Now I'm back at the top and going dooooown and around to make a hook!" Then it's her turn. Her job is to trace over (with a writing implement of her choosing) the letters you wrote in exactly the order you did. Make it a game.

 

When she can do a word or two, write silly sentences. If a sentence is too much, do it Mad-Libs style. Write out a silly sentence that leaves out three major nouns. Do it in a darker marker (or whatever -- you've got toddlers so you may have a marker-free house, lol), but leave spaces for the other words. Let *her* decide the silly words to fill in the blanks and make the sentence truly ridiculous. Do those with the highlighter and let her copy them after you, following along your lines in the same order. Point to the words as you read the sentence, so you work on that left-to-right orientation.

 

You might check out Handwriting Without Tears' pre-k and k programs. Lots of good hands-on work for small ones just beginning to master the form and direction of letters and words.

 

But *don't* *worry* right now. Keep working with her. Keep an eye on it. *Many* kids reverse letters, words, write in mirror image, etc at four and five. *Most* of them resolve the issue completely between ages 6 and 8. If she's still doing it at six, ask yourself if she's having any other difficulties learning to read. (Does she have trouble remembering letter sounds? If she spells a word, does she add sounds that are completely *not* there in the word? Or write the sounds in a completely mixed up order?) If she is, I might begin the process of investigating that at 6 rather than later. If she's occasionally writing backwards but that's the only strange reading/writing-related issue you see, I'd give it time. If the reversals continue as she gets close to age 8, it's time for intervention.

 

But at four?!? She's doing just fine. :)

[TXMomof4]

My son does this also. Perfect handwriting (for a 4 yo), perfectly backwards. He has taught himself to read and I don't notice it so much when he's reading, but writing almost always starts backwards.

 

Just my little observation here - no scientific evidence to back it up whatsoever - it seems kids that aren't completely dominant with one hand do this more, and more persistently than kids that show a 'handedness' early. DS is pretty ambidextrous, I am, my brother is - we all did this. My brother and I both ended up left handed, ds still wavers, but I think he's going to be a righty for fine motor skills. I never noticed my girls doing this at all and they both showed their hand dominance early.

[sewingmama]

abbeyej - Thank you that was very helpful - especially the part about what to look out for as she develops. At the moment the only word she is writing is her name. She does write random letters -all left to right of course.

 

She is not reading yet - she knows her letter sounds and we are working on blending which she is having a bit of trouble grasping but I'm not worried about that yet. She understands rhyming and can make up her own rhyming words. She is also fairly consistant at picking out the first sound of a word correctly.

 

So it sounds like she is on track then :001_smile: I think I get easily concerned with my DD because she didn't say a single word till after she was two and because of other issues she had at the time she was tested for autism (thankfully most of those issues have resolved). She had a very traumatic birth and I guess now that she is school age I'm still on the lookout for signs that she was affected by it.:001_unsure:

 

Just my little observation here - no scientific evidence to back it up whatsoever - it seems kids that aren't completely dominant with one hand do this more, and more persistently than kids that show a 'handedness' early. DS is pretty ambidextrous, I am, my brother is - we all did this. My brother and I both ended up left handed, ds still wavers, but I think he's going to be a righty for fine motor skills. I never noticed my girls doing this at all and they both showed their hand dominance early.

 

We pretty much knew by 4 months old that she was going to be a lefty - she used that hand for just about everything. In fact my mum first noticed it from photos that I sent her - she told me she was going to be a lefty just from what she saw in the photos - and she was right - although I held out hope for a while she would still end up right handed - just easier for me to teach her things like sewing. LOL

Edited April 12, 2011 by sewingmama

[Dobela]

That is so very normal. At her age kids are pretty fluid about how they see words and letters. I remember reading a study once about how kids would recognize their name even if it was backwards, mixed up, or written in 3 lines broken at odd places. It is just a stage. The brain will make more and more connections and they will gradually look correct.

 

If you are wanting to reinforce more left to right tracking, an easy way is just to read more with her using your finger as a pointer going across the page. Or doing that with anything you read - door signs, license plates, etc.

[wapiti]

She is not reading yet - she knows her letter sounds and we are working on blending which she is having a bit of trouble grasping but I'm not worried about that yet. She understands rhyming and can make up her own rhyming words. She is also fairly consistant at picking out the first sound of a word correctly.

 

So it sounds like she is on track then :001_smile: I think I get easily concerned with my DD because she didn't say a single word till after she was two and because of other issues she had at the time she was tested for autism (thankfully most of those issues have resolved). She had a very traumatic birth and I guess now that she is school age I'm still on the lookout for signs that she was affected by it.:001_unsure:

 

We pretty much knew by 4 months old that she was going to be a lefty - she used that hand for just about everything. In fact my mum first noticed it from photos that I sent her - she told me she was going to be a lefty just from what she saw in the photos - and she was right - although I held out hope for a while she would still end up right handed - just easier for me to teach her things like sewing. LOL

 

My gut reaction is that showing dominance that early is unusual.

 

Just an observation: the late-talking lefty who has difficulty blending sounds, among other things, is not an uncommon combination amongst kids in the world of LDs. I have two ;); in spite of their similarities, their exact strengths and weaknesses are a little different from each other, so I don't want to generalize too much. But as time marches on here, I'd be on the lookout for LDs, particularly when it comes to reading - later, when the child is reading well, the issue can become comprehension. I'd also be on the lookout for a strong visual-spatial learning style (http://www.visualspatial.org/). I'd also pay close attention to vision (maybe it's just a coincidence, but my lefty who needed VT had a lot more difficulty blending sounds than my lefty who did not).

 

As for the handwriting, I would strongly consider teaching cursive - she'd get to start at the bottom, and continue in the correct direction :)

[abbeyej]

...

Just an observation: the late-talking lefty who has difficulty blending sounds, among other things, is not an uncommon combination amongst kids in the world of LDs. ...

 

Yes, the more information you've share doesn't make me "worry" at this point, but I think you (the OP) do have reason to keep a careful eye on her. Given the various things you've mentioned (traumatic birth, early left-dominance, late-talking, etc) would cause me to seek help a bit sooner if I had concern than if those issues weren't there... With another child, I might say, "Let's give it time." Given the background, *IF* you still have concerns at 6 or 7, I'd go for an evaluation (rather than waiting 'til 8)...

[sewingmama]

Thanks for all your suggestions.

 

Apart from physically (she was walking independently at 9 months) she has always been a bit of a late bloomer - always on the scale of normal - just at the later end.

 

She had her hearing checked when she was 2 to assess the late talking and it was perfect. She was given 6 weeks of speech therapy and that really got her started with the talking. We found out she was quite clued in once she started speaking - her first word's were all colours - we just didn't know she knew them due to lack of speech.:D

 

I haven't had her vision checked -I should - her Dad and his side of the family all had vision issues since childhood. I'll put that on my to do list.

 

Because she is in public Pre-K she will be given a "school readiness assessment"in a couple of months so I'll mention the concerns I have to them there and see what they suggest (probably to send her to PS which is not happening :D).

 

Her comprehension seems to be fine - I am reading Chapter books to her and she will often retell the story to me in much better detail then I can remember it.

 

Dh and I have always felt there is "something not right" but she is basically just plugging away at the tail end of the normal spectrum that most of the advice we get is always just to "wait and see". Hopefully it will be just like all the other times when I start feeling a little concerned and start asking "Is this normal" that she suddenly takes off in the skill and makes me seem like "one of those mothers":lol:

[wapiti]

I haven't had her vision checked -I should - her Dad and his side of the family all had vision issues since childhood. I'll put that on my to do list.

 

I would see a covd optometrist if possible (www.covd.org), because they may check for aspects of the eyes working together that may be overlooked elsewhere. Good luck!