Is he left or right handed and supporting writing.

[3bunnies]

I was fairly sure that ds was right handed as that was the hand he used to grab things when he was little (1-2) and I haven't paid much attention since. I have recently though begun to wonder.

I have started to encourage him to write a bit more. He is just 4 and will be oldest in his year. He is enjoying writing but doesn't seem to know which hand to write with. He moves the pen from hand to hand and asks me. Sometimes he will pick it up in one hand and sometimes the other. He can't write his name or and letters despite being on book band blue so clearly able to recognise them. Today I gave him some money to pay for the parking and he took it with his left hand and put it in.

I'm just wondering what the best way is to support him, should his handedness be set by now? He asks me to help him hold the pen, but I try to encourage him to do it himself. Dh is left handed, I am right handed but have always been able to write legibly with my left hand, so kind of ambidextrous. Ds finds it tricky holding a pen correctly due to hypermobile thumb joints anyway and I'm not sure whether to correct him. Dd1 has successfully corrected her grip using added grips, but I don't know whether best to get ambidextrous ones, as dd1 is right handed.

I am a bit concerned that when he starts school there will be a large discrepancy between his reading and writing skills. The school use RWI and determine phonics groups based on reading and writing ability so he could either be in a class which is doing more basic phonics which will support his writing but may be frustrating, or in one which teaches more advanced phonics but his writing would get less support. I am hoping that if we can work a bit on his writing this year he might end up somewhere in the middle.

[DeWe]

I didn't choose a hand until I was about 7yo, and, although I am mostly right now, I can use my left for things like writing.

Being much better at reading than writing is very common. My year 2 ds reads Biggles, but his writing is around the "I like planes. I don't like poo" level if asked to write.

[3bunnies]

That's interesting so maybe he is left handed. His story telling abilities are somewhat abstract but he delights in telling complicated stories. He is making up jokes etc and is always noticing and questioning punctuation. He just finds it hard to put pen to paper. But then dh and his sisters have also struggled with the mechanics of writing.

[lljkk]

DS2 didn't make up his mind until about age 5.5.

[Talkinpeace]

DD : we knew she was right handed from eight weeks.
DS : he would hold a pen in each hand and do the outline with one and colour in with the other
I allowed his teacher to pick the dominant hand during year R

[TeenAndTween]

In yR and y1, DD2 was in a group that was quite good at reading but relatively poor at writing.

[craftynclothy]

DD1 was always very obviously left handed.

DD2 is 4 (one of the youngest in Reception) and switches between the two. I think she's partly influenced by her sister as she does copy her a lot. School don't seem worried about it but we did discuss it at parents evening (I generally feel she is more competent with her right hand and using her left hand is more from copying) and they said they would keep an eye on it and try to encourage her to grip the pen/pencil better whichever hand she's using.

[thecatlikesmebest]

DS2 (now 15) would use either hand right up to starting school. I discussed it with his reception teacher who observed him over the first few months and came to the conclusion that his right hand was dominant.
He is right handed but is also much more skilled with his left hand than most people.

[bodiddly]

Which hand does he use for colouring, throwing, catching etc?

[soundevenfruity]

Same here. I am just correcting DC in how to position paper, how to move hand correctly etc depending on chosen hand. Occupational therapist said that writing movements start with full arm then gradually move to small movements in wrist and fingers. Do you allow him to draw/write on a big scale?

[MrsShrek3]

which hand does he move when he claps? allegedly most people move their dominant hand. (except me )

[Littlecurrentbun]

Hello. I am teacher trained and recently did a Professional Development Course.. Handwriting Without Tears. One of the tips on the course was to encourage dominance rather than the child using one hand until it tires and using the other. The method they said was give the child two rulers or sticks and ask them to tap.. The song goes something like this... Tap tap tap in time, tap along with me.. Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap, tap along like me

The child should tap the rulers.. The one on top is the dominant hand.