Left Handed --- Consider switching to right for writing?

[cfn10]

Our child is 4 and appears to be left-handed. We have read through some of the posts and information online about teaching printing and handwriting to left-handed people. We are considering asking her to learn to write and eat (hold a fork) right-handed. Our thoughts are as follows:

 

1. Most school supplies, books, tablets, scissors are oriented towards righties. I am concerned that it is very important in writing to read as one writes and, if writing lefty correctly (as opposed to hooking), child will not be able to do so.

2. Eating at a dinner with left hand means either have to sit at a certain end of the table or avoid hitting neighbor.

3. We would explain that everyone has a degree of right and left handedness. Everyone has to figure out whether the activity he/she participates in has advantages to using a certain hand. There are many successful left-handed athletes so if she feels more comfortable throwing a ball or catching with a left-hand than develop those skills. At the same time it is useful to develop one's other hand and writing and eating are good practice for that, plus those two activities have significant advantages to using the right-hand.

 

Thoughts?

[Wyndie]

My dd9 did not want to be left handed although she should have been. I encouraged her left handed writing but SHE forced herself to become exclusively right handed and it caused some learning delays that we spent a fortune getting through. If a child's brain wants them to write left handed, I wouldn't try to change it. But that's just b/c I watched my dd struggle to overcome her challenges in that area. :)

[redsquirrel]

really? I mean, REALLY!? I thought in this day and age that was understood to be rather cruel.

 

Is this a joke?

[GoVanGogh]

really? I mean, REALLY!? I thought in this day and age that was understood to be rather cruel.

 

Is this a joke?

:iagree:

My FIL still talks about being hit at school by the teacher whenever he used his left hand.

 

DH and I are both right handed. Our son is left handed. It has never, ever been an huge issue.

I do buy left handed scissors and I buy notebooks that are bound across the top instead of side or we use loose paper. I would never force a child to change their dominant hand based on availability of school supplies!

DS golfs and we did buy left handed clubs for him. He also plays guitar, but right handed.

DS doesn't 'hook' when he writes. We actually didn't teach him how to write/print, as he is extremely visual (like many creative left handed people) and picked it up on his own when he was around 3 years old.

[FloAla1975]

No, no, never, never, never would I do so. I am a lefty. The teachers at the school where I went for K-1st tried everything, including punishment, to make me write with my right hand. It didn't work, and I changed schools. I think rather than trying to change nature, it would be better to assist her in the adjustments that we lefties must make to live in a right-handed world. She may need special scissors, etc. I learned how to adapt using the "normal" tools.

[wapiti]

:iagree: I have two lefties.

 

It's not really handedness as much as brainedness :tongue_smilie:

[smillard00]

I was talking to a new friend a few months back. I commented that I didn't realize she was left-handed. She told me that when she was beginning school and learning to write, they forced her to learn to be right handed. She said she could actually use both hands fairly well, but she wrote with her right hand because that is what they had forced on her. However, somewhere around her 40th birthday, something happened and her brain just reverted back to what must have been it's "natural" tendencies. She could no longer write with her right hand. She was totally left handed! I thought that was fascinating!

 

I have a degree in early childhood and elementary education and I've studied the processes somewhat. I don't think it's good to force a child to adapt if that isn't how their brain is wired to work. (I also agree with the previous poster that it's probably too early to tell if she's going to be right or left handed.) If she ends up being left handed, just teach her to write without doing the "hook." In college, our language arts prof had us stand at the board and learn how to model handwriting with both right and left hands. You might find it easier to model for her if you do it in large scale on a chalk board or white board. Making large letters left handed was easier for me than writing on paper. I have also been able to sit across from a child and use my right hand to show them how to trace the letters on a handwriting exercise. To them it looks left handed. You just have to be able to do it from the upside down perspective. (Does that make sense at all?)

 

And for anything else you try to teach her to do with her hands, simply sit across the table from her. She'll be able to watch you and the hands will be reversed for her. I've taught plenty of lefties to smock and embroider that way.

[WishboneDawn]

1. Most school supplies, books, tablets, scissors are oriented towards righties. I am concerned that it is very important in writing to read as one writes and, if writing lefty correctly (as opposed to hooking), child will not be able to do so.

 

It's really not that big a deal. A whopping percentage of lefties, like me, use a lot of right-handed utensils. I hate left-handed scissors for instance. As for any writing concerns I myself use and always have used the same books, notebooks, binders, etc. as all the righties and have a very nice grip, pose, and penmanship.

 

Hooking isn't about left-handedness. It's either about kids who weren't taught to write correctly or about having to deal with those old-fashioned school desks that had the arm rests on the right (wrong!) side. If you plan to teach your child how to write correctly and aren't going to make her sit in an old-fashioned school desk then you, and your child, are fine.

 

 

2. Eating at a dinner with left hand means either have to sit at a certain end of the table or avoid hitting neighbor.

 

Seriously?? No. I've been a lefty all my life in eating style and have never once bumped elbows with another diner. We learn not to. We perceive personal boundaries the same as righties and adjust to deal with them. And again, just because a person writes with their left hand does not mean they do everything with their left hand.

 

3. We would explain that everyone has a degree of right and left handedness. Everyone has to figure out whether the activity he/she participates in has advantages to using a certain hand. There are many successful left-handed athletes so if she feels more comfortable throwing a ball or catching with a left-hand than develop those skills. At the same time it is useful to develop one's other hand and writing and eating are good practice for that, plus those two activities have significant advantages to using the right-hand.

 

I think you're over-thinking this too an extreme.

 

Left-handedness is not a handicap, a significant disability or even a minor disadvantage 99% of the. The most impact it had in my life were some annoying moments when someone interrupted my writing to exclaim, "Oh! You're a lefty!" In terms of lifelong inconveniences it's probably at about the level of having curly hair rather then straight.

 

Also, I'll point out that I'm a lefty who throws with her right. While my left hand has much better fine motor skills my right hand and arm are much stronger. You have no idea how this leftiness is going to play out in your child so don't try to engineer it. Get out of the way and let her brain and body figure this out. :)

[WishboneDawn]

And for anything else you try to teach her to do with her hands, simply sit across the table from her. She'll be able to watch you and the hands will be reversed for her. I've taught plenty of lefties to smock and embroider that way.

 

Good for you. I'm amazed at the righties who think there's some sort of magical or unfathomable secret they have to learn before they can teach us lefties something.

 

Often I find I learn stuff by watching it in the same manner as a righty anyway because I'll translate the information into what works for me anyway.

 

It's funny. My husband and I are both lefties and our two kids are both righties. It's never even occured to us that we'd have to do anything special to teach them any skill. They manage fine.

[carlamom2ansnm]

:iagree:

My FIL still talks about being hit at school by the teacher whenever he used his left hand.

 

 

My MIL has the same stories! She now writes right-handed, but does everything else left-handed. I can't imagine forcing a child to write and eat with her less dominant hand. That's just asking for troubles. The particular hand they favor is favored for a reason - their brain was MADE that way. Let her keep it. Besides, I always WANTED to be left-handed for the attention, when I was growing up LOL. Even my 9 yr old likes pretending like she's left-handed now. It's a fun little unique thing about left-handers that not many people get to enjoy. IF she truly is left-handed (I agree about not knowing for sure at this age), celebrate it and teach her how cool and special it is :)

[sbgrace]

Honestly? I am not sure what you read to make you come to these conclusions!

 

My husband and son are left handed for context.

 

 

 

1. Most school supplies, books, tablets, scissors are oriented towards righties. I am concerned that it is very important in writing to read as one writes and, if writing lefty correctly (as opposed to hooking), child will not be able to do so.

 

This is just simply not a big deal. Neither my husband nor my son write with a hook. My husband is a prolific writer and he prefers to hand write his thoughts. I keyboard mine. I found teaching my left handed child to write, cut (we do use left handed scissors), and etc. has been no more difficult than teaching his right handed brother. It's simply not an issue. Even if it were an issue you wouldn't be wise to attempt to change the inborn wiring of a child for the sake of scissors!

 

2. Eating at a dinner with left hand means either have to sit at a certain end of the table or avoid hitting neighbor.

 

So...she sits at a certain end of the table in particular situations? This is really not a big deal at all. It's never been awkward or weird for my husband or my son. At a round table it doesn't matter. In a crowded straight table she will just sit on a corner or end. This is really not a big deal. Have you ever found eating with a left handed person awkward yourself?

 

3. We would explain that everyone has a degree of right and left handedness. Everyone has to figure out whether the activity he/she participates in has advantages to using a certain hand. There are many successful left-handed athletes so if she feels more comfortable throwing a ball or catching with a left-hand than develop those skills. At the same time it is useful to develop one's other hand and writing and eating are good practice for that, plus those two activities have significant advantages to using the right-hand.

 

Actually, she'll probably develop much more ability with her right hand than you have developed with your left just naturally because of the way our world is set up. There is no significant disadvantage to writing or eating with her left hand. Beyond that, she is wired to be left handed. It could be harmful to try to switch her preference. This would, at best, be unnecessarily frustrating for her. Why would you want to make these important tasks unpleasant?

 

 

I really don't understand why left handedness bothers you so much. I think you need to reconsider your plans.

Edited July 3, 2011 by sbgrace

[krwsmum]

wow. I agree with the pp poster, you've got to be kidding me...have you seen the King's Speech? Have you read the numerous studies on the detrimental effects on forcing something like that? I hope you allow your child to be whomever God has chosen him/her to be regardless of what is easier in our society. DA Vinci, Michelangelo,Beethoven, Einstein, Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin all lefties-I'd be proud to be part of that elite group!

sorry if that offends you, but it looks like our third may be a lefty and at first my husband tried to switch her and realized he was making a huge mistake.

jmo

[Mom-ninja.]

This is 2011, right?

 

For a moment I thought maybe I was reading something from the 1930s.

Four of the last five Presidents of the United States have been left-handed, so, it would appear growing up left-handed can't be too debilitating..

 

True anecdote: I was attending a science fair with my six year old daughter. She was taking notes about something, and out of the blue, a woman behind me remarked that my child had remarkably clear handwriting, and guessed that she was in second grade. I said that she was in kindergarten, and she replied that she was a public school teacher, and never had seen anyone her age with such good handwriting. I didn't have the heart to point out that my child was left-handed.

[sbgrace]

Here is one link to read:

The fact that the converting of inborn handedness .... has massive consequences, especially if one is using the non-dominant hand to write with.

 

Converting handedness does not result in a converting of brain dominance. Instead, it results in an over-loading of the non-dominant half of the brain and an under-loading of the other half. Accordingly, there are also resulting difficulties in transference in the corpus callosum which in turn could probably result in the appearance of the widest range of primary consequences.

It then goes into specifics about what you might expect should you decide to do this.

[smillard00]

I will add one more tip about teaching writing. A couple of our children, especially the third who seems to be really good with spatial relations and visual things, really went back and forth between hands during those toddler/preschool days before they settled in to using a particular hand for writing. When we would sit to practice handwriting strokes, sometimes they would pick up their pencil with the right hand and sometimes the left. If they seemed to be struggling to make the stroke or form the letter, I just casually suggested they try the other hand to see if it was any easier. My third child, especially, went back and forth with this for a while until she seemed to settle on the fact that her right hand was the easier hand for writing. So if you're really not sure which hand she is going to favor, let her try both. She will decide at some point that one is working better for her. My daughter is 5 1/2 now and is definitely right handed and her fine motor skills have really taken off recently, but it did take her a while to settle into it.

[Ellie]

Our child is 4 and appears to be left-handed. We have read through some of the posts and information online about teaching printing and handwriting to left-handed people. We are considering asking her to learn to write and eat (hold a fork) right-handed. Our thoughts are as follows:

 

1. Most school supplies, books, tablets, scissors are oriented towards righties. I am concerned that it is very important in writing to read as one writes and, if writing lefty correctly (as opposed to hooking), child will not be able to do so.

My lefty dh has no problems with scissors, books, tablets, etc. And it's perfectly possible for leftie to learn to write (as in to hold their writing implements properly without hooking their hands); the main thing is for them to learn to turn their paper so that it is a mirror image of the way righties do. It's not that big a deal. Mrs. Spalding even includes pictures of it in her WRTR, in case you aren't sure how that looks. :-)

2. Eating at a di

nner with left hand means either have to sit at a certain end of the table or avoid hitting neighbor.

You teach her to not stick her elbows out when she eats. No biggie. :001_smile: Mr. Ellie and I always with with him to my left. That way we can hold hands when we eat, lol.

3. We would explain that everyone has a degree of right and left handedness. Everyone has to figure out whether the activity he/she participates in has advantages to using a certain hand. There are many successful left-handed athletes so if she feels more comfortable throwing a ball or catching with a left-hand than develop those skills. At the same time it is useful to develop one's other hand and writing and eating are good practice for that, plus those two activities have significant advantages to using the right-hand.

I think y'all are over-thinking this.

 

Many lefties do some things with their right hands, but it seems to me that it's best to let her figure out those things for herself.

[cfn10]

I had no idea this would generate such a response.

 

My thanks to the several who posted helpful suggestions and tips. I will use them.

 

By the way, a left handed player won Wimbledon today which triggered the discussion with my husband and the question.

 

One's handedness is neither a sign of excellence nor failure. I hope to teach my daughter that hard work and application of natural blessings are most important.

[WishboneDawn]

I had no idea this would generate such a response.

 

We lefties are a lippy bunch. You'll learn that. :D

 

I hope to teach my daughter that hard work and application of natural blessings are most important.

 

Then you'll do just fine. :)

[justamouse]

My Dh is a lefty and so is Ds11. No, I wouldn't teach them otherwise at ALL. Ds12 struggles with how to be lefty in a righty world, but other than that, no problems.

 

The thought of teaching them to write right kinda wigs me out as an old archaic thing.

[sewingmama]

HWOT is a program that takes lefties into account if you are worried about teaching her writing.

 

My DD is a leftie (all the rest of us are righties) we guessed at 4 months old she would be a leftie as it was so dominant even then. I would never try and interfere with that level of dominance. Besides it makes my DD her unique little self.

 

My DD is beginning to write now -at first I had a little trouble figuring out how to guide her but we've adjusted. I was on the look out for the hooking but she has never developed it.

 

One thing I did notice about my DD is that she was writing her words from left to right - that is getting better with practice but she still does it occasionally.

 

DD uses scissors ALL the time -I did buy her left handed scissors but she will cut fine with whatever pair she can find and uses either/or hand. I've never even noticed that its an issue when eating - I don't remember bumping into her or anything. My best friend in high school was also left handed and I ate sitting next to her a lot -no issues.

 

I think that unless it is your daughter who has issue with it and wants to change hands then you should just let her be who she is.

[TracyR]

1. Most school supplies, books, tablets, scissors are oriented towards righties. I am concerned that it is very important in writing to read as one writes and, if writing lefty correctly (as opposed to hooking), child will not be able to do so.

Umm. I didn't know they made lefty scissors anymore. LOL I thought they were all ambidextrous.? I haven't seen left handed scissors since I was a kid myself in school. Today they are just regular scissors as far as I know. My 4yr old is the only lefty in our house. We're all righties and I just buy scissors for her to use and she does just fine. My daughter was left hand dominate from a young age. I'm not sure if it was how she was wired or the fact she is missing a thumb on her right hand. But I've seen people with missing thumbs write with that hand so I'm going to just go by and say she's just left hand dominate. But she definitely made it clear that she is left handed. As far as books and so forth. I didn't know you had to be right or left to use them.

My daughter doesn't hook when she writes either.

2. Eating at a dinner with left hand means either have to sit at a certain end of the table or avoid hitting neighbor.

Well we have a small table and 5 people sit at it and none of my other three girls complain ever that their sister has bumped them when she ate. They are more concerned if she doesn't spill her cup. LOL

3. We would explain that everyone has a degree of right and left handedness. Everyone has to figure out whether the activity he/she participates in has advantages to using a certain hand. There are many successful left-handed athletes so if she feels more comfortable throwing a ball or catching with a left-hand than develop those skills. At the same time it is useful to develop one's other hand and writing and eating are good practice for that, plus those two activities have significant advantages to using the right-hand.

 

Thoughts?

 

My thoughts? Ha, ha. I would never, never, never change the way a child's brain is wired. If they are meant to be left handed they are meant to be left handed. I have had no problems teaching my daughter to do anything. I just show her how to do things and she does it. I don't have to alter the way I'm standing, sitting, or anything. She just figures it out on her own.

I remember hearing a story about my mother in law's brother. He too was ridiculed and punished for using his left hand. Then one day his young cousin stood up for him to the teacher and she never did it again. He grew up to be a lefty and a very financially successful lefty. :>) But really what an old fashioned way of thinking. If your child is meant to be a lefty then they are meant to be a lefty.

[black_midori]

I agree with the people who are astonished that it would even come up these days...

 

I am strongly right-handed, but my dad, brother, MIL & BIL AND one of my sons (5yo) are all left-handed. I was "almost" concerned about how to teach my now-5yo how to write a couple years ago (although it never even so much as occurred to me to force him to do it right-handed - he has been obviously left-handed since an extremely young age). Then he pretty much just taught himself, with me giving a few guidelines. Now, he does WWE1 with beautiful writing (at least as good as his 7yo right-handed brother, who often starts to write very sloppily even though he knows better). It was/is such a huge non-issue.

[JessReplanted]

really? I mean, REALLY!? I thought in this day and age that was understood to be rather cruel.

 

:iagree:

 

I am left handed. It really isn't such a big deal. You learn how to improvise with things like notebooks and sitting at a table.

 

I think it would be traumatic to have your parents/teachers try to 'switch' your handedness though.

[ChandlerMom]

Our child is 4 and appears to be left-handed. We have read through some of the posts and information online about teaching printing and handwriting to left-handed people. We are considering asking her to learn to write and eat (hold a fork) right-handed. Our thoughts are as follows:

 

1. Most school supplies, books, tablets, scissors are oriented towards righties. I am concerned that it is very important in writing to read as one writes and, if writing lefty correctly (as opposed to hooking), child will not be able to do so.

2. Eating at a dinner with left hand means either have to sit at a certain end of the table or avoid hitting neighbor.

3. We would explain that everyone has a degree of right and left handedness. Everyone has to figure out whether the activity he/she participates in has advantages to using a certain hand. There are many successful left-handed athletes so if she feels more comfortable throwing a ball or catching with a left-hand than develop those skills. At the same time it is useful to develop one's other hand and writing and eating are good practice for that, plus those two activities have significant advantages to using the right-hand.

 

Thoughts?

 

I believe you want what is best for your child, but I also believe you are being grossly insensitive to her to just decide it would be easier at the dinner table if she eats right handed, but hey, she can play left-handed sports.

 

My sis is RH, my brother showed pref for LH (as a TODDLER mind you), so my mom put his utensils and toys on his right side and he became a very ambidextrous RH'r. When she tried it with me I just moved it to my left hand, and she accepted it.

 

Soooo, I am LH, DH is RH and 2 of our 3 kids are LH (last was the tie-breaker, woohoo! :lol:). We ALL eat continental (european style, which is basically left-handed and far more efficient) which means no trouble.

 

But yes, I know about the "sitting at the end of edge" thing as a kid, but to be honest I always liked it! It meant when approaching a table at a restaurant I always knew where to sit -- and got to watch the silly dance as the rest of the folks figured out who was sitting where.

 

Bottom line: why do you feel the need to control this? Why do you feel the need to change your child to suit your whims?

[elinnea]

I can't believe anyone would seriously consider switching which hand their child writes with in this day and age. :glare: I had grandparents on either side who were lefties and made to switch. It always seemed like a really mean thing to do and pointless as well.

 

I'm left-handed and two of my three children are lefties. Maybe I need to consider switching my right-handed son so he'll fit in? ;)

 

Seriously, being left-handed isn't some sort of handicap. I've never not been able to do something or run into major problems because of my left-handedness. I get complimented on my beautiful handwriting all the time. My left-handed son also has beautiful handwriting. Not an issue, imo.

[SonshineLearner]

I always thought that writing with your left hand would be great for writing Hebrew!! ;)

[redsquirrel]

I really think this is a joke.

[helena]

Boo!

She doesn't need fixing. I'm actually having a hard time believing this post is true.

 

I remember when my grade school teacher took away the lefty scissors saying the school no longer allowed them. I really took it personal, like I was a little irritating to deal with, and that she had to correct my flaw.

 

As a lefty I promise you, everything works itself out just fine. Making it any kind of an issue might mess with her though.

 

 

Man! It just sounds nuts to me... my lefty feathers are all ruffled right now. :tongue_smilie:

[Ellyndria]

Our child is 4 and appears to be left-handed. We have read through some of the posts and information online about teaching printing and handwriting to left-handed people. We are considering asking her to learn to write and eat (hold a fork) right-handed. Our thoughts are as follows:

 

1. Most school supplies, books, tablets, scissors are oriented towards righties. I am concerned that it is very important in writing to read as one writes and, if writing lefty correctly (as opposed to hooking), child will not be able to do so.

2. Eating at a dinner with left hand means either have to sit at a certain end of the table or avoid hitting neighbor.

3. We would explain that everyone has a degree of right and left handedness. Everyone has to figure out whether the activity he/she participates in has advantages to using a certain hand. There are many successful left-handed athletes so if she feels more comfortable throwing a ball or catching with a left-hand than develop those skills. At the same time it is useful to develop one's other hand and writing and eating are good practice for that, plus those two activities have significant advantages to using the right-hand.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

Please don't!

I am left handed.

 

1. This stuff doesn't really make a difference. Everyone's hand will get near the spine/spiral of a book they are writing in sometimes, whether they are left or right handed. It will just happen on different sides of the page.

 

Many lefties will use right handed scissors in their right hand (I do). Many lefties will use right handed scissors in their left hand (my dad does). Some lefties may need left handed scissors to use in their left hand...ok, so just buy some.

 

I have never hooked my hand while writing. Just teach them to slant their paper properly and there won't be a hook.

 

2. Being left handed has never affected where I sat. Unless you are teaching your child to stick their elbows way out to the side when they eat, they should be fine. :tongue_smilie: Also, I eat left handed most of the time now, but when I was a child I frequently switched hands to eat. I never realized I was doing it unless someone pointed it out. I still can switch hands if I feel like it. Let your child decide.

 

3. You're thinking too much. A lot of left handers end up being a little more ambidextrous than right handers. Let your child decide which hand is correct for which activity. My dad is more of a true left hander, doing most things left handed. I am more ambidextrous. My left hand is used more for smaller, fine motor control things (writing, eating). My right hand and arm is stronger and used for more large motor things (throwing, hitting a ball, bowling). I can sorta do both with both hands though. For fun, when I was in junior high or so, I taught myself to write with my right hand, but only when I was messing around doodling. (I also taught myself mirror writing in cursive - with my left hand - so teaching myself to write with my right hand was just another way to play with writing, *not* a desire to write right handed.)

 

4. You don't have a 4, but I do. Being left handed is just plain cool. ;) It's fun to be a little different. It's also fun to "wow" the right handers. Why? All the right handers think it must be SO HARD to be left handed in a right handed world. Sometimes I have let them think them I am amazing for being able to do all these things left handed. Sometimes I set them straight and tell them IT'S NO BIG DEAL.

 

The problem? I think a lot of right handers are SO right handed that they can't imagine doing anything left handed. Left handers just...adapt... if or when they need to.

[boscopup]

My 2 year old is likely going to be left handed... He sucks his left thumb, he "draws" with his left hand, he eats with his left hand. Very occasionally he will "draw" with his right hand, but it's rare. He does use a spray bottle more with his right hand (when he's washing windows :D), possibly because I may have accidentally shown him the right handed way, just not thinking about it.

 

Anyway, I'm not concerned if he ends up left handed. My sister is a leftie, and it's never been a problem for her, and she thinks it's cool to be a leftie. :D

 

Spiral notebooks are a pain for either handedness... when writing on the back of the page, the right handed person will have their hand across the coil. You can bind notebooks at the top if you want.

 

I am going to try teaching my 2 year old to use right handed scissors first, but if he needs them, I'll get left handed ones. That seems to be the only thing I can think of that would be a pain, as if you're at an office or someone's house and need to use scissors, they probably wouldn't have left handed ones. But for most cutting needs, precision probably wouldn't be required, so using the other hand probably wouldn't be a big deal (I think I could cut a package open with left handed scissors if I needed to).

 

Handwriting Without Tears is designed nicely for both lefties and righties. They have the model letters and words repeated on the same line so that either child will be able to look at a model that their hand is not covering up. It's very well done. It also discusses which way to tilt the paper, etc. I think the hardest thing I'll have to do is figure out how best to help my leftie form letters in the beginning, but we'll see what happens. I often take my 4 year old's (rightie) hand and draw a number/letter for him so he feels the correct way. I can probably do that left handed as well. It will just take some practice. But again, not really a big deal. My possible leftie seems to have excellent fine motor skills (he can untie a double knotted pair of shoes and have his shoes and socks off in the van in no time flat :tongue_smilie:). So he'll probably be easier to teach writing to than my oldest, who is a rightie. :)

[Deniseibase]

Another leftie here, never had any real problems EXCEPT -

 

- learning to use a can opener was hard!

 

- in Kindergarten, an inattentive teacher told my class that your RIGHT hand is the one that you WRITE with, and your LEFT hand is the one that is LEFT over. No one pointed out to me that this was not true in my case until I was in second grade. TO THIS DAY, decades later, I still hesitate before being able to tell you which is my left and which is my right. I can tell you to turn north, south, east, or west instantly, but I hesitate before I can tell you to turn left or right.

 

In other words, please don't confuse your kid :) Adapting to the right handed world was easy - a little struggle with can openers, big deal. Not being able to tell left from right without thinking about it your entire adult life because of foolish interference, HARD.

[mcconnellboys]

I have always written with my left hand. At various times in my life, I have had difficulties with that hand and both I and my mother have questioned my doctors about whether I should attempt to switch to my right hand. I have always been told that doing such a thing might cause neurological problems, i.e., problems with coordination, etc. It has been years, so I don't recall other things mentioned, but there was a whole list they rattled off!

 

So I would not try to force a child to change handedness....

[boscopup]

learning to use a can opener was hard!

 

:lol:

 

Ok, so my 2 year old will be glad that we have an electric can opener. :D

[LisaKinVA]

I have four righties and one ambidextrous (truly, truly, ambidextrous). I sort-of expected her to be left-handed. But, she was using her left hand until she had to cross the mid-line and then she'd switch to her right hand. Just to make sure there was no issue... I taught her to write with her right hand WITHOUT crossing the midline. She can write beautifully (in cursive or print) with either hand. She also draws simultaneously with both hands.

 

That said, I was fully prepared for her to be a lefty -- and to teach her that way. My dh is a lefty... and I'd never force a lefty to be a righty any more than I'd change the color of my child's eyes.

[Dinsfamily]

really? I mean, REALLY!? I thought in this day and age that was understood to be rather cruel.

 

Is this a joke?

 

:iagree: dh and I are both left handed and I think forced switching would be terrible. My mother was forced to switch as a girl and is resentful of it.

[Dinsfamily]

Another leftie here, never had any real problems EXCEPT -

 

- learning to use a can opener was hard!

.

 

:lol: so true! Scissors were another thing but I lobbied my principal to supply lefty scissors in all classes when I was in the 2nd grade. Once I overcame the can opener, I knew I could conquer the world! :D

[Kuovonne]

I guess I get to be the lone disenting voice. I'll just tell my story. When our oldest DD was young, it was hard to tell if she was left handed or right handed. When it came time to teach her to write, I let her pick either hand, and she eventually ended up settling with the same hand that DH and I use. However, she uses her other hand for everything else. That is, everything that didn't require specific instruction, she uses her other hand. I wish that I had encouraged her to write with her other hand.

 

On the other hand my younger DD's handedness was obvious from a very young age. I could't imagine trying to switch her handedness. Suggesting that she try her other hand would have been an exercise in futility.

[WishboneDawn]

I guess I get to be the lone disenting voice. I'll just tell my story. When our oldest DD was young, it was hard to tell if she was left handed or right handed. When it came time to teach her to write, I let her pick either hand, and she eventually ended up settling with the same hand that DH and I use. However, she uses her other hand for everything else. That is, everything that didn't require specific instruction, she uses her other hand. I wish that I had encouraged her to write with her other hand.

 

But a lot of people are like that. I wonder if more righties are fully right-handed then lefties are fully left-handed. They seem to have more trouble with the idea that you can use one hand for one purpose and another for something else. IME it's a pretty common thing in the lefty world.

[Ellyndria]

But a lot of people are like that. I wonder if more righties are fully right-handed then lefties are fully left-handed. They seem to have more trouble with the idea that you can use one hand for one purpose and another for something else. IME it's a pretty common thing in the lefty world.

 

:iagree: This was what I was trying to say in my very long post. :tongue_smilie:

[DarlaS]

Umm. I didn't know they made lefty scissors anymore. LOL I thought they were all ambidextrous.?

 

They absolutely still make left-handed scissors--and many left-handed seamstresses are grateful for them.

 

Some scissors may be labeled as ambidextrous, but they absolutely cannot be. They may be better than right-handed scissors, but that depends on the individual.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scissors

 

It has to do with the way the blades cross, not the shape of the handle. They simply must cross one way or the other, or they would not be scissors. (They'd be something like tongs--or pliers. :tongue_smilie:) The so-called "ambidextrous" scissors are right-handed scissors with the handles made symmetrical.

[Mimm]

I have a sister who is a lefty. When she was younger, I bought her a book called The Left Hander's Handbook. She's proud of being left handed. She talks about presidents who are left handed (a much higher percentage than the general population) and when she meets left handed people, she immediately likes them. It's kind of funny actually. I ask her how she likes her classes and she'll say something like, "Well, that class is kind of boring but the professor's nice, and he's left handed so I think it'll be good." The only problem she has is when someone else takes the left handed desks or there happens to be no left handed desk in her classroom. She also has a dramatic speech about how left handed people are discriminated against because of what side coffee mugs are printed on. ;)

 

My grandfather was left handed in a time when they tied children's left hands behind their backs in school if they tried to use them. He said it was rough back then but eventually they had to give up and he's left handed to this day. I would never force a left handed person to write right handed. Just try to write with your left hand and see how you like using your non-dominant hand. :)

[DarlaS]

But a lot of people are like that. I wonder if more righties are fully right-handed then lefties are fully left-handed. They seem to have more trouble with the idea that you can use one hand for one purpose and another for something else. IME it's a pretty common thing in the lefty world.

 

I am very dominant right-handed.

 

I have no trouble with the idea of using right or left hand for various purposes. I just cannot do it.

 

My dad, MIL and 14 yo are lefties. He eats and writes with his left hand, but shoots right handed and (when he took lessons) plays right-handed guitar (which IS an advantage! Could you imagine shopping for and trying to find a LH guitar just to try out? A LH bow and arrow? :svengo:).

[DarlaS]

:lol:

 

Ok, so my 2 year old will be glad that we have an electric can opener. :D

 

The lever still lifts from the right.

 

My son still struggles with ours. He has less trouble with the manual SwingAway, but loves pop-top cans.

[Tam101]

. She also has a dramatic speech about how left handed people are discriminated against because of what side coffee mugs are printed on. ;)

 

That is funny! I'm a righty, but I just noticed that I'm drinking my coffee with my left (maybe because I need to use my mouse), but I'm pretty sure I always hold a cup in my left. The pretty label faces out for all to see that way! ;)

[happyhomemaker]

My dad, dh, and sister are lefties who were made to write RH. They all have atrocious handwriting. Sometimes my dad can't even read the things he has written b/c it's so bad. My MIL is LH and writes LH and has beautiful writing. She doesn't hook at all, and I have often admired the graceful way she writes. As far as being RH for the benefit of reading as you write, it doesn't work if your handwriting is so bad that you can't read what you've written.

 

My ds is LH and showed pronounced LH tendencies from a very young age. When he was a toddler, I always put utensils, crayons, etc. in his right hand and he almost always switched them over to the left. I taught him to write this past school year. It never occurred to me to make him write RH when he was so obviously LH. I was nervous about teaching him b/c I am RH, but it wasn't any harder than teaching my RH dd. He has great handwriting now (well for a 6 yr old boy anyway)! Oh, and I am using the same materials I used with my RH dd. I haven't had to get anything "special" b/c he is a lefty.

[Kuovonne]

But a lot of people are like that. I wonder if more righties are fully right-handed then lefties are fully left-handed. They seem to have more trouble with the idea that you can use one hand for one purpose and another for something else. IME it's a pretty common thing in the lefty world.

 

I can do a few things with my non-dominant hand. However, in ever case it was an activity where there were no teachers or no equipment to teach me using my dominant hand. It feels natural to do them with my non-dominant hand only because I have never had the oportunity to learn with my dominant hand.

 

I would never force a left handed person to write right handed. Just try to write with your left hand and see how you like using your non-dominant hand. :)

 

Well, DD writes with one hand and does everything else with her other hand, so I'd say she writes with her non-dominant hand. Her normal handwriting (with non-dominant hand) is decent, but when I asked her to try writing with her dominant hand her handwriting was far more beautiful than usual. However, she is so used to writing with her wrong hand that it is too hard for her to switch to the correct hand now (she voluntarily tried). So, she will probably always write with her non-dominant hand. I wish that I had taught her to write with the correct hand (for her) from the beginning, if only I had paid more attention.

[boscopup]

The lever still lifts from the right.

 

The one I have looks like it'd be easy enough to use with a non-dominate hand. I'll have to try it lefty style one day. :D It's certainly not like scissors which just won't work with the wrong hand (unless you kind of open your hand outward while cutting, which isn't comfortable).

[DarlaS]

The one I have looks like it'd be easy enough to use with a non-dominate hand. I'll have to try it lefty style one day. :D It's certainly not like scissors which just won't work with the wrong hand (unless you kind of open your hand outward while cutting, which isn't comfortable).

 

Is it a Smooth Touch opener or something like it?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-76607-Smooth-Opener/dp/B000SAS5GI/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1309714602&sr=8-8

 

As my son gets older, and I want him to become more comfortable in the kitchen (before he's 18) I am kind of keeping him in mind with kitchen purposes. Fine edge knives, maybe a chef's mandoline etc.

[zenjenn]

I am mildly left-dominant (though I write left) and have a daughter who is a straight-out lefty.

 

There are advantages and disadvantages to being a lefty. The disadvantages these days are minimal. Advantages can include having the upper hand in competitive sports, and, more importantly, allowing right brain dominance. Many (though not all) left-handed people have right-brained dominance, and a larger than normal number of left-handed people have intrinsic artistic skill and a more intuitive understanding of higher-level (abstract, symbolic) mathematics. For whatever reason, hand-dominance is linked to the way your brain works, and forced switching can pose challenges to thinking processes when writing, drawing, or calculating.

 

I suspect a switch would cause more problems for someone heavily left-hand dominant (like my daughter) than it would for someone only mildly left-hand dominant like myself. I myself switched to my right hand for some tasks where I found this easier, especially gross motor skills - and even cutting, even though I was always offered left-handed scissors by my teachers. For my daughter, it would be a huge problem. I truly think individuals will naturally and best sort out for themselves hand-dominance for various skills.

 

I don't think this post is a joke because this is a "classical education" forum and it is the nature of most people who post here to be open to looking at the way education was handled classically even if it bucks normative modern trends in education. So I don't fault the OP for doing so, because "classically", encouraging right-handedness was normative. I think it is fair on this forum for someone to ask "Did they have greater wisdom back then?" when it comes to ANY aspect of education. It is fair and reasonable to ask a question.

 

HOWEVER, as far as I am concerned, this is clearly is one of those where educators have more become enlightened over time, rather than abandoning old wisdom. I hope the posts on this thread have convinced the OP that this is the case.

Edited July 3, 2011 by zenjenn