Handwriting for a lefty...if you are not a lefty.

[Dolphin]

We are doing Getty Dubay italics with ds, and I love it. It looks like dd is a lefty. Neither dh or I are, but some cousins are.

 

How do I know for sure?

 

What is the best for teaching a lefty if you are not a lefty?

 

What other problems might I run into?

 

Oh, and dd is just starting to write, she is almost 5.

 

Thanks,

Nicole

[ChandlerMom]

My brother was ambidextrous, so my mom started putting crayons, forks, etc on his RIGHT side. He used his right hand and is now right handed. When she did this with me, I just picked things up with my right hand, transferred them to my left and used my left hand. I am still left handed.

 

Personally, I wouldn't teach ANY writing until your dd clearly indicates handedness. THat may be as easy as putting things on his right for a few days and seeing what she does (some folks will eat right-handed and write left-handed or vice versa, so just pay attention to which hand he colors/draws with). If she fairly consistently uses her left, even if things are placed on her right, you've got a lefty and proceed teaching her to consistently use her LEFT hand (start putting her pencils/crayons on her LEFT). Some kids don't really have a hand preference until a bit older (6-7) so don't rush it.

 

There's a theory that lefties are really not so much LEFT and NOT Right handed (brain is less asymmetric). So I don't think there is any thing wrong with encouraging right handedness. It's easier. But if your dd is a lefty, go with it and don't stress it too much. Just make sure she uses a good hand position and look at the end result. If she slants, tilt the page a bit in the direction that reduces the slanting. But otherwise, don't stress it.

 

For the record, my dh is right-handed (but likely carries the LH gene), 2 of our 3 kids are left-handed. So, even putting stuff on the right won't deter someone meant to write with that hand. :D

Edited January 18, 2012 by ChandlerMom

[threeofakind]

This is a great question because my 6 year old daughter is and no one in our family is. Well my mom is but no one here in the house :001_smile:. When I first searched around for a program several people told me Handwriting Without Tears would be great so that's what I use. But really I am not sure it matters. I have let her just naturally grow into using her left not pushing one side or the other and she does use her right for some things- like eating. I have no words of advice though- I just instruct her how the manual suggests and do my best to make sure her paper placement is correct- opposite of what would be natural for me and whatnot. I have struggled on how to approach this but I agree with the pp just let her naturally develop it on her own- even at age 5 I was not quite sure, but then she began always writing with her left. Good luck!:001_smile:

[Ellie]

Mr. Ellie is a lefty. Dds and I are not.

 

The main problem for Mr. Ellie was that he was not taught to slant his paper the opposite direction that righties do; doing so would have eliminated the left-hand hook and kept him from smearing pencil/ink on the paper. His pencil grip is a little funky, too.

[rwjx2khsmj]

When my ds was learning to write, the only way I could help him was to sit directly across from him and help him upside down. For whatever reason, it was easier for me to make the letters upside down with my right hand than to make them with my left.

[herkey6]

Funny side note (or maybe not so funny?)...My grandfather (now passed) used to talk about when he was in school. He remembered trying to pick up the pencil with his left hand, and every time the teacher would whack his hand with a ruler until he transferred the pencil to his right hand! He became a 'righty'!

[Mallorie]

Funny side note (or maybe not so funny?)...My grandfather (now passed) used to talk about when he was in school. He remembered trying to pick up the pencil with his left hand, and every time the teacher would whack his hand with a ruler until he transferred the pencil to his right hand! He became a 'righty'!

 

This was very common, to the point that some considered left-handedness to be a disability. A friends mom talks about her parents tying her left hand behind her back so she had to use her right. She's still left-handed. :lol:

 

We've used A Reason for Handwriting and it's been fine. I have wondered about needing one particular curriculum over another for teaching cursive, though, so i'll be :bigear:

[ChandlerMom]

I'll add from my own experiences:

 

As to cursive, my recommendation is to pick a style that isn't very slanted and not worry if they slant more or less than "standard".

 

In general, I would focus on hand position and wrist position. I have a issue with how I was taught to "slant the other way" as it MADE me hook my wrist to see what I was writing. I have vivid memories of my 3rd grade teacher walking by my desk, "correcting" the slant of my paper, and as soon as she stepped past my desk I slanted it back MY way. For the record, I do not and have never hooked my wrist! Most lefties won't if they're left alone.

 

My other vivid memory about learning cursive was spending a lot of recesses in tears because the teacher (a very nice woman, mind you) used the instructions of up/down and push/pull. Well, up/down is the same, but push/pull are opposite. Try following HALF of the instructions and doing the opposite the other hand of the time.

 

So, my advice on handwriting, esp cursive, regardless of handedness is slow and patience wins the race. NOT worth stressing or crying over.

 

As a final note: my handwriting was horrid all thru high school until midway thru the first year in college. Don't' know why, maybe the tiny desks that made me write sideways, but my handwriting became immaculate. No chastising would accomplish what nature and opportunity made easy. ;)

[nansk]

Here is a handwriting curriculum for left-handers. It uses the Getty-Dubay font. Each page has a line and arrow at the bottom right to show how to slant the page. The line should be parallel to the table/desk. I think if you teach your dd to slant her paper in that manner, she may be able to use the Getty-Dubay books instead.

[Dolphin]

Thank you all so much, I was at a loss, but this is some great advice. I will check out those books as they use GD. Especially nice since I already have the alphabet in that and that is what my ds does.

[NatYoung17]

My dd (7) is also left-handed, but nobody in our imidiate family is (I think my dh's Uncle was), so it seemed more difficult to me when she started learning how to write..., but as long as you just let her do it her way & her letters are legible, I wouldn't worry about it. I tried to get my dd to slant the paper (like they say lefty's would/should), but she does not like that and she keeps the paper straight and has no problem writing that way and her handwriting is pretty good. We haven't started cursive yet, so we will see...but I use Zaner Bloser Handwriting and she did well with it.

[nansk]

Bumping to point out some suggestions for left-handed writers that I stumbled on today. From The Parents' Guide to Handwriting.

[In the Rain]

My main suggestion is to pay attention to whether lines are "pushed" or "pulled". This made a huge difference to my lefty. It is hard to "push" a line, so she crosses letters backwards from how I would do it. Our librarian, a lefty, was very helpful in pointing out why lefties do what they do when writing.