Ds1 is left handed, I think - any tips please?

[TwinklyfLightAttendant]

He has only just started reception in September, and I have been watching for a few weeks to see which hand he uses - he seems to use his left to write with /draw, or use implements - I asked him if he uses a knife and fork for his dinner at school, and he told me he holds the knife in his left hand and the fork in his right.

I am not sure of the school's policy on this or whether I need to do ahnything to help him, eg buying some LH scissors etc?

Any tips gratefully received

(I'm keen not to discourage his natural handedness, iyswim)

Out of myself, dh, dd1 and dd2, only dh is right-handed.

I've done nothing basically and they are both coming on leaps and bounds with their handwriting.

I've never had to buy anything different for either of them and tbh, when I did try and write with a left handed fountain pen, I couldn't beleive how difficult and awkward it was.

Thanks! I was wondering if schools have a thing where they try to encourage right handedness now, I am way out of date with this, did you have any probs with that?

DD is in year one and is the only left handed person in our family. In reception I didn't push, just let her do everything at her own pace despite the school telling me off, they felt that she needed to keep up with the rest of the class. However this September it clicked and she is soaking it all up like a sponge. She has caught up with hr class mates and is passing some of them already.

Luckily about half her class are as well. School suggested that we get the triangular pencils and crayons as apparently they are easier to hold. We got ours from Ikea.

Lots of reading and witting practice as well as dd tries to sound out words backwards and writes letters and words backwards. She also does her sums backwards if written down but if you ask her to add or subtract basic numbers without writing anything down she gets it correct.

Gosh that's helpful thankyou. Ds also writes backwards etc. when he writes at all!

I might have a word with the etacher just to clarify what their stance is.

sorry teacher!

good thread, ds2 is a leftie and I'll get the pencils from Ikea too!

thanks!

schools would definately not try to encourage right-handedness in a left hander these days.

You really don't need to do anything special or buy any gadgets etc. just because he's left handed tbh, triangular pencils are easier to grip whatever your handedness .

Myaelf and DS are left handed

Oh thanks! I am relieved. It has never been very clear which hand he used till now. To my shame I never taught how to use a knife and fork, I hope he is managing.

my ds has been a leftie since a few weeks old! I am, and so are both grandads so it was to be predicted! I am fairly ambidextruos (sp?) and i would gently encourage things like cutlery etc to be the 'normal' way round as it makes life so much easier! I was always offered a seat at the edge of a group at school so I wasn't clashing elbows iyswim. There is no reason for lefties to have crabbed handwriting if you always encourage good posture. I cut with rh scissors as i don't think the lh ones were availble, it is more convenient. I think i would be lost if i damaged my right hand to be honest as i do more with it, eg teethbrushing, hair etc. I can also write slowly but semi-legibly with my right. There is a company which sells things all left handed, think it may be the lefthanded company or similar, just google! Can also do mirror wrting very easily - must be something to do with brain wiring! so think it is quite common to try to read/write backwards. When they get older, writing in ring binders is hard, you need to start from the back or take the sheets out to write on!

Oh yes, I forgot the perils of writing in ring binders! What a pain. As a child I conpensated when writing by turning my paper sideways and writing down towards me, instead of across, this way I could see what I was writing and not smudge my work!

Twinkly I have never tought DS how to use a knife and fork yet, plenty of time for that when they are older! TBH most of the food he eats dopesn't require a knife so that's probably why!

You'll probably find your DS favours his fight hand for some things, and left for others. I can't use scissors with my left hand, DS throws a ball with his right hand but is left-hand dominant for most things.

I can also mirror write without much effort and write legibly with my right, it's quite interesting!

All classrooms should have a mix of RH, LH and ambidextrous scissors. Ours are red, blue and green/yellow respectively. Make sure your ds is aware that these are available as trying to cut with the wrong pair is frustrating.

Also lefties have to take more care when writing on whiteboards as what they have written gets rubbed off as they work across the page!

My sister and I are left handed and are the only ones in our whole family. We coped fairly well in a rightie world, we can both use right handed scissors and my sister uses her cutlery in the right hands whereas I like it the other way round.

For both of us the hardest thing was being constantly pulled up about our handwriting - it was really poor up until we were about 13 or 14 and then it just sort of clicked and I now have incredibly neat handwriting.

the only thing i can advise as a leftie is to encourage him to tip writing paper clockwise so hands don't smudge across what he;s written.

ds2 is left handed (now in year 1). School gave him some pencil grips - and he tried both hands for a while. (was always way better on his left, but they let him try it out). He hates cutting anything out but his teacher tells him to get on with it. his handwriting has really come on this year. I sometimes struggled to show him how to write something last year , but school included a LH chart for letter forming, and dh is left handed so I told him to ask DH if he got stuck.

My dd2 is left handed but I've never bought anything special or treated her any differently - it isn't a handicap!

She uses scissors with her right hand and a knife and fork in the traditional way. I would see how he goes to be honest and if the teacher tells you he is struggling then maybe find things then. IME they tend to adapt which is easier long term; thankfully the days have gone where teachers would try to convince them to use their right hands.....he may be ambidextrous if left alone, my dd2 has definitely got these tendencies.

have a look here it may give you some tips.

(I think ds is left handed too)

DD2 is left handed. She uses her knife and fork the right way around, but has a tendency yo write backwards- she writes the letters the correct way, but sometimes starts from the right hand side of the paper and works towards the left. But then she is only 4, so is only writing her name at present. Interesting to read other comments, as she is the only leftie in our house. Luckily, her nursery teacher is also left-handed which, I think, has helped her alot.

Useless, but quite interesting fact - I sat philosophy A-level, and of the group of 9 students 5 were left-handed!

DD1 is left handed and has just started reception. She uses the leftie scissors and her writing is beautiful, although sometimes at first it was written from right to left on the paper and in mirror writing!

Me, dh, dd, my twin brother and my mum all left handed; I think it's terrific and marks you as being a little bit different (in a lovely kind of way I hasten to add). Just roll with it!

DD is left handed. I pretty much leave her to get on with it. I dont try and train her hand to work in a particular way to form letters because I cant write with my left hand.

One thing I would say is to always have her left side at the end/edge of a table - never sit (yourself or anyone else) on the left side him if you are not left handed too. You end up nudging elbows the whole time