when does letter reversal become an issue

[jillian]

So I know it is super super super common for littles to reverse their letters, specifically b/d and p/q. However, dd sometimes seems to know b/d and p/q/g (depending how it's written, rarely g) but she will mix up b/d pretty regularly and p/b/d a lot. I don't know if she is trying to be funny or not. She turns 4 on the 20th. She's known her letters/sounds for a couple years now (consistently for a year and most of them for 2 years). DH struggled with the reversals and minor dyslexia as a child and still does if he's not paying attention. Should we just keep an eye on it?

[MeganW]

I have always heard age 7 as being the age that you start to get concerned.

[jillian]

Thanks. I wasn't sure if the family connection would accelerate the concern or not.

[redsquirrel]

4?

 

You have at least another 4 ye.ars ahead of you before you have to even consider worrying. Even then, maybe another 8 years

 

There are people who have trouble with bdpq reversal when writing well into middle grades who have no literacy or learning problem.

 

If it is a reading issue, again, maybe start to look into it in another 4 years.

[MerryAtHope]

Thanks. I wasn't sure if the family connection would accelerate the concern or not.

 

It's still considered normal until age 7 or 8, but I'd definitely keep an eye on it because of the family history. Also, there are things you can do now to help her with it.

 

One, it helps some kids just to know that letters are not like other objects. If you take a toy car (or a picture of one) and turn it upside down or sideways, it's still a car. Letters and numbers don't work that way--they can only face one way to be correct.

 

Two, for any letter reversals, I would do this:

 

Have a variety of textile surfaces for your student to choose from. Possibilities include flannel fabric, corrugated cardboard, very fine sandpaper, fluffy fur fabric, a carpet square, and so on. Ask her which surface reminds him of the letter p (or whatever letter you are working on).

 

Then cut a large lowercase letter out of the chosen tactile surface.

Work with just one letter at a time. Have your daughter write the letter with the pointer finger of her dominant hand right on the tactile surface.

 

Then get the large muscles of the arm involved. Stand next to her to demonstrate how we make the letter b (or any letter or number you would like to work on). Get your whole arm involved, and pretend that your pointer finger is a pen. Write lowercase b in the air, using big motions. Start at the top of the first line of the b, pulling the line straight down. As you do this, say “/b/ – bat.†After you hit the bottom of the b, trace part of the way back up and then form the circle part. Keep it all one fluid motion. After you’ve done this several times, explain that the first line down is like a bat used in baseball, and then we hit the ball. Be sure that the child uses the dominant hand to do this activity.

 

The large movements of the arm combined with saying the sound at the same time will help link these two concepts together in his brain. Brain research shows that two ideas practiced at the same time can permanently bond the ideas together. Not only that, this multisensory activity takes advantage of the fact that the muscles in the shoulder and in the jaw have “muscle memory,†and this makes it easier for your child to recall the shape and sound of the letter b.

 

Try making one letter or number a focus of the week, and work on that one every day, even a few times a day if she likes it (with an older child I'd do a few short, 5 minute practice times, but at her age you want to be sure to keep all of this light and fun). Put a poster of the letter or number up, label things around the house, practice making it in different mediums, and so on. Master one trouble letter or number at a time.

 

It’s ok if you don’t have a cue word for every letter. That’s a helpful strategy but you can still work on pairing the sound with the letter formation. Sound-to-letter practice helps to diminish reversals.

 

Now, when she misreads a b as a d (or another letter/number), you can refer back to the activities you did together. After the misreading, point to the misread letter and say, “If you wrote this letter, what would this letter say?†If your child can’t answer easily, have her draw the letter or number using air writing. The sound of the letter should come more easily this way. Then have your child read the word/number again.

 

Here's an article on helping to prevent reversals.

 

Most of all, keep it fun! She's only 4 (not even!) so it's still very, very normal for her to reverse letters.

 

Merry :-)

[jillian]

Thank you. She loves "school" at home (Starfall, some adding/math games/activities, talking about science, etc) and is writing (and doesn't reverse when she writes) from memory. I think most of it is because she likes to poke mommy with the proverbial stick.

[Crimson Wife]

Thank you. She loves "school" at home (Starfall, some adding/math games/activities, talking about science, etc) and is writing (and doesn't reverse when she writes) from memory. I think most of it is because she likes to poke mommy with the proverbial stick.

 

Could she be a visio-spatial learner? It took a while for my VSL DS to sort out reversals when reading, and he still has reversal issues when writing.

[mom2denj]

My dd 5 is doing the same thing. She knows all of her #'s and letters very well and yet once in a while she will write them backwards. I have made a sheet with the alphabet and a sheet with the numbers from 1-10 and as part of school each day, she traces them at least once. It has got to be a normal thing to reverse or write backwards because my dd has known how to write these for 2 years now and yet she still does it. It has helped ith practicing each day and it only takes a couple of minutes.

[SebastianCat]

Merry has some great ideas on how to teach the correct orientation, so I would definitely start working on those techniques, while making it FUN for your DD.

 

But no, you don't need to worry for at least 4 years if it persists.