Writing backwards from right to left?

[muddyprints]

Dd2 has suddenly developed an interest in crayons and pencils and wants to write, until now she has never coloured in or drawn anything.
She starts at the right side of the page and writes her name from right to left doing all letters right to left so abcdef looks like fedcba.
Any other words she asks how to spell and randomly places letters anywhere on the page, still writing individual letters backwards so a m she starts at the bottom right, a s looks backwards.
Dd1 never did this.
Is this strange

I did this as a kid. I'm left handed. I write normally now.

dd2 does this she's in reception so she's just started writing. She's left handed and her teacher said.that might be why.

Dd2 is using her right hand to do it.

My 2 eldest have all done this but with the letters reversed too so a precise mirror image. Dd1 writes fine, dd2 taking a little longer to grow out of it but she is a frustrated left handed ie does everything expect write with her left hand !

How old is she? This is pretty normal for 3-5 year olds, our of a class of 25 maybe 4-6 of them might go through this stage. There is a theory that is part of the consolidation process and in my experience it generally corrects itself without needing any intervention.

I would avoid correcting her or making her aware of it if she is that 4 or younger. Making her self conscious or putting her off writing is far more serious & dangerous than worrying about getting things perfect.

Just role model the correct letter formation and starting points by writing them slowly in front of her (if she asks & is interested) and talk about the letter, shape and direction as you do it. Keep your feedback on the letters she has formed correctly, be specific. If she does ever do write them correctly- focus on that, pointing out the shapes, curves & directions.

Keep writing fun, interesting & child led. So that it remains something your child wants to do often (that way she will self drive all the practice that she needs to eventually get it correct, but it will be a low stress & enjoyable process of achievement.

She is 3, she has started to copy the letters around the edge of her aqua doodle so probably hasn't watched anyone write them, just copied the finished letter, so I will try and write them I front of her.
Her letters look like a mirror image yes.
I have praised her for trying and I'm pleased she is now holding a pencil as this is the first interest.
When she has written them she knows what they are meant to say, so she wrote an s backwards and said s for snake, she didn't notice it was backwards.

My daughter did that too when she was little. She is left handed.
She would also write the letters the wrong way round so if you put a mirror up against it it would read the right way

Could she be left handed? There is no one left headed in either family.

I wouldn't worry - if she is interested in letters and can copy them in any shape or form at the age of three I am sure she will willbe just fine. Lots of kids reverse letters and numbers when they are just learning them. Imagine trying to write in Arabic or hieroglyphs? If you could do it at all you would be pleased, backwards or not! My daughter has just turned three and has no interest whatsoever in letters. I'm not at all concerned, but if she started writing backwards letters I would be v impressed! Look at the positives.

I'm happy she's trying, just found it odd. Even her o she went the opposite way round, u,m,n looked ok but she did them from right to left.

There is no one left headed in either family.

I'm very pleased to hear that!

there is a few daft headed though

I'm sure their heart is in the right place...

terrible i know......

I did it. I'm ambidextrous. More left handed then right at everything but writing. I wasn't encouraged to write with either hand and got very frustrated. Keep an eye in your dd and guide her.