How to help a left-handed 3 year old?

[WhereIsBlueRabbit]

We are starting to think that DS (aged 3) might be left-handed. It's difficult to tell, and he does seem fairly ambidextrous in some ways (he will colour with both hands, for example), but we (and childcare) think he is showing a preference for the left.

Is there anything we should be aware of? Anything that may be useful to know about further down the line? DP and I are both right-handed, as is everyone in our immediate family, so no experience of this! I know about left-handed scissors but is there anything else it would be useful to know about?

"For those lefties that use spiral notebooks I have an odd question- do you use them normally?"
Whenever I write left to right*, whatever I'm writing on or in, I turn the paper so that it's somewhere between a 45 and 90 degree angle, that way my hand comes up from under the letters and doesn't trail across the graphite or ink. It also means that my hand isn't resting on the metal part of a spiral notebook.
*If I'm writing something that only I'll read, or especially if I don't want anybody else to read it, I write right to left with backwards letters. It's easier. Hey, if it was good enough for Leonardo DaVinci it's good enough for me.

The trick of demonstrating things while standing in front of a child, and mirroring it, rather than side-by-side, was really helpful to me as a lefty raising a right-handed child. So I'd definitely recommend it to right-handed parents raising a left-handed child.
I don't see any point in suggesting that a child try to do things right handed if they automatically use their left hand though - you wouldn't make a right handed child try to write with their left hand, after all - it feels to me a bit like suggesting that left-handedness is "abnormal" rather than just uncommon.

Im a leftie,and the only really important thing is.Make sure the teacher doesnt make your dc write with his right hand.

Anything else he will figure out themselves.

I have a lefty (8). We had left-handed scissors for her when she was younger but actually she has always managed fine with standard scissors. She also has really neat handwriting. As PP said, I showed her how to tie shoelaces the opposite way so she was leading with her left hand, but that's really the only thing I have done differently.

Dd is lefthanded, and left footed. Has been since very young. The only thing we’ve really done is buy her left handed scissors when she started in reception so it was easier for cutting out homework.

She’s just started in year one and hasn’t really had any problems. Her writing isn’t the neatest yet but not sure if that’s because she’s a lefty or just because she’s 5!

I'm left handed. Never been an issue although I agree with what others have said about telling the teacher so the child can sit to the left of any shared desk not the right.

I use my cutlery with fork in left, knife in right. Always have done. I do sometimes swap my glass to the left as it's more natural for me. Have never had a pair of left handed scissors, I use normal scissors in my left hand without a problem. I knit (competently) in the way a right handed person would but can't get to grips with crochet. Can't say that spiral bound notebooks have ever been an issue. Chequebooks yes - almost impossible to write in the stubs. But you just turn the stubs upside down. And my big bugbear are banks or the post office which has a pen on a chain - chain is never long enogh, and it's always on the right.

I'm left handed & so is elder DB. I've never heard of any of the above suggestions. Interesting tho. Being left handed was never mentioned, we were left to get on with things and it's fine, I don't even really think about being left-handed

I found it difficult to learn how to tie my shoelaces until another left handed person showed me!

However, writing is the ONLY thing I am left handed for. I hold my cutlery the same as right handers, use right handed scissors, etc.

If they ever want to do calligraphy, you need a specific left handed nib pen though (fairly useless fact there) even though normal pens are fine

I'm left handed. I think it depends how left handed you are. I can do lots of things with my right hand - for example I will play tennis right handed. So some things that some lefties have problems with don't bother me at all.

Tilting the page is good when writing - as one of the difficulties is that you can't see the letters that you are forming as you write them. There is also the difficulty of smudging as you write with a pen.

I think that cutlery is the 'right' way round for lefties. DD who is right handed will switch her fork to her right hand for eating - in the American style - and complains that it is unfair for right handed people to be expected to hold the fork in their left hand. To me, the main thing it to make sure that the food reaches their mouth so not to worry too much about rules about which hands you hold things in.

I'm a leftie and I think the main thing I would say is don't stress and make a big deal out of it. I have never used a left handed gadget, use my cutlery the right way round, have always got on fine with ordinary scissors. I learnt the violin and it took the teacher about five years to realise I was left handed, because I just played the thing the way it was handed to me and had no idea there might be a problem. Just leave them to do what comes naturally. It really is not a big deal unless someone decides to make it one.

My daughter found that being left handed was an advantage when learning to fence because her opponents would be more used to fencing with a fellow right handed person.

Leftie here, only problems I encountered was sitting the right of a right handee at a desk as we bashed elbows, and using a fountain pen. When given a left handed fountain pen at secondary as this was what was expected, I couldn't use it, as I had adapted my handwriting style so I couldn't move the left handed fountain pen across the page to make it work

My dd is a leftie. When she was learning to write her natural inclination was to mirror write. In the beginning she found it very difficult. Her writing looked the right way round to her but she is 10 now and loves writing.

May as well learn to use right handed scissors in the right hand. The real world is full of right handed scissors.

I’m 61, left handed and I’ve never seen left handed scissors.

Dh and I are left handed. Ds is right handed and Dd is left handed. It’s honestly never crossed our minds to do anything differently for either child.

For them their handedness is all they know and they adapt accordingly as they go along without any special consideration from us.

Agree re: scissors. I’ve only ever known ‘right handed’ scissors so must have adapted somehow to use them at some point. I would struggle with left handed scissors.

I would say I'm ambidextrous with my dominant hand being my left.
I use my left for writing yet hold my pen the same way a right handed person would and have never understood why so many lefties hold their pen with a hooked hand or awkwardly.
They only time I struggle with writing is when using the cheque book at work as it is bound on the left so the stubs get in the way.

I use right handed scissors (have never been able to use left handed scissors) and cutlery set out the "normal" way.

I would suggest taking your lead from your child. They may favour their left to write but use their right for other things. There's no right and wrong

We were sure my DD was a leftie before she was 2 so if you aren't sure now, he might be or might just be experimenting holding pens etc differnently but be right-handed when it comes to it. We didn't get much left-handed stuff either - just scissors and a pen grip.
Don't waste any money on those pre-schooler wipe-clean books though as they just don't work for lefties who end up wiping them off with the side of their hand as they use them - stick to pencil and paper instead!!

I have a tiny leftie, aged nearly three - he’s had a really strong left hand preference since he was about 18 months. Following with interest!

I'm a leftie and luckily my dad is ambidextrous so had a bit of a support. Have a look at the website Anything Left Handed. For school I had a left handed pen and ruler (numbers are covered with your hand when drawing a line otherwise!)
Try not to let them turn the paper to write or their hand, it looks AWFUL (have a look at Barack Obama writing)

I never found left handed scissors any use, so I use ordinary ones.

Card machines are geared towards right handers, but it matters less now because of contactless and smart watches.

I knit and crochet right handed, but I don’t hold the knitting needles like most people.

I think that if lefties are taught to write properly, there is no need to ‘hook’ or to smudge. It’s a question of angling the paper correctly. I learned to write using an ink pen and didn’t smudge. I would never accept being left handed as an excuse for poor handwriting when I was teaching either.

Some things are a bit irritating as a leftie, but not enough to be a problem really. My current gripe is those tablets that you have to sign for delivery on. The pen thing is always attached to the right hand side. How difficult would it be to make it central, or swivel.

Don't call him a 'leftie' for a start. I'm left handed and don't want a label.

I have a leftie who is almost 7. From a very young age I could tell she would be left handed from how she reached for things or picked things up. She is the only left handed person from both sides of the family, so I was a little concerned like you to start with.

But honestly, it's not been a big deal. The only thing she really struggles with is scissors. They weren't readily available at school so now she has her own which are kept in her drawer. Also, I learnt that cutlery for left handed people should be the same as a right handed person, and she does fine. Drinks are always put to the left of her.

It's just a mindset change for me. Putting her coat on for example - she starts with left arm, eldest daughter starts with right. Left shoe always goes on first. I find it fascinating to watch really 😊

AviatorShades - I completely agree with teaching a leftie to use knife and fork the correct way.star
You can pick up a spoon and use it with your left, tho without creating a social faux pas, but knives and forks? NO.
I know your child is little but it's worth saying.

RumBoogie - Knife and fork, etc. the 'correct' way round, ie as for right handers. Tables are always set this way and he will find it an embarrassment if he has to fumble around with his cutlery later when dining out.

^^I really object to those telling you that it's ok for him to use a spoon left handed, but that you should teach him to use a knife and fork the 'correct' way - ie right handed!
It's really not an embarrassment to change the cutlery around, but rather an assumption that everyone is a right handed.

I'm left handed - and these comments remind me of my days in promary school when the teacher made me sit with my left hand behind my back when writing, and to use cutlery the 'correct' right handed way.
If she caught me using my left hand or swapping cutlery around, she smacked me on my left hand with a wooden ruler.

I can't believe that these attitudes still exist!

Op, allow your son to lead the way he needs to develop re which hands to use, and he will be fine.

@BlackStoneCherie I've never even noticed which hand my daughter uses for her spoon, but I've just watched and it's her left. I've never not cutlery due to the embarrassment factor, but because I read it. I'm going to put her knife to the left later to see what she does with it, but I can imagine she will swap it around. I'm tempted to make lunch early just to watch!

My dd is left handed.

Came as a shock as no one in my family are lefties.

But she’s coping just fine. We have left handed scissors for her, and she needs to practice her writing a bit more as it’s messier than it should be, but she’s perfectly fine