Left Handed Cursive Writing [confused]

[Sugarbeach]

How is it meant to be done properly ?

DD is the only left hander in a right handed family. She looks awkward and is extremely slow when she writes cursive, I thought cursive is meant to help children write fast.

At times, I've told her to just right whichever way she finds comfortable, but I'm not sure that avoiding the practise is the right answer.

When I watch her write, she tries to make the letters look like they should BUT she's actually looping in the opposite direction and the flows are different -e.g. O is looped clockwise!!

Is this incorrect? Could this be why she is struggling with it and is so extremely slow?

I'm just concerned that if writing is a struggle she'll be put off writing altogether.

TIA MNs

Left handers form letters differently. Please don't try to force her hand to go a certain way, it's very uncomfortable and inhibiting. You don't say how old she is but my guess is that she's newish to writing. Maybe she's slow because she's new, maybe she just writes slowly.
www.ehow.co.uk/how_8091211_teach-handwriting-left-handed-kids.html

Thanks dr Seuss .

She's In year, she can write normally fine.

She started doing joined up in year 1 coz she wanted to, but this year they are actually taught cursive. The teacher was just going to teach her the same as the right handers. But I don't know what the proper way for left hander is and if it's any different.

I was told by another left hander it is the same except for crossing the t's. but dd I've noticed writes her O and a CLOCKWISE.

I was on the verge of correcting her! Let me look into the show link. Thank you.

Just read the link. It doesn't address the problem of left handers looping their letters in the opposite direction though....

Year 3.

Sorry

Go to this site, www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/index.html it sells left handed scissors, pens etc plus has useful downloads and books to help left handed children.

is it absolutely necessary that she forms the letters in a particular way? As long as she's forming legible letters, why worry? I am a bit sensitive about this as my Y5teacher tried and failed to get me to hold the pen and write just as she thought fit, even though my handwriting was good. It really hurt, for one thing, I couldn't read what I wrote as my hand was over it, i smudged everything and it was so slow! My father told her clearly to leave me alone!

I think so for cursive, because otherwise it doesn't flow and is vey slow, awkward and convoluted.

For regular writing, I've pretty much left her to it. She's very stubborn about tilting her page at an angle, even though I keep reminding her, she doesn't do it and doesn't want to do it and I left her to it. But that's regular writing.

Thanks badger head. Having a look through.

Left handers don't form letters differently (except for cross strokes). They should angle their page differently but the basic formation is the same. If she is looping the in the opposite direction that will make it slow and awkward.

I have the same issue with my lh DD (y2). She really struggles to copy the teacher's example writing, as her hand is over it while she writes. I was wondering whether to ask her teacher to write the example cursive word on the rh of the page too to give DD a sporting chance! But I guess she would still have the issue that she can't really see what she's written herself, until after she's written it iyswim.

www.yoropen.com/
the shape helps the writer see what they are writing

Thanks mrz. Think I will buy the pencils off amazon and see if it improves matters.

I took after my father in being left handed. As far as I am concerned, a left handed person will write with the pen/pencil in that hand and the paper on a slant because you are writing into your body and it gives you more room. The other way is having your left hand turned over so it looks as if you are hiding what you are writing. I would'nt stress because it seems she has, in a way, been teaching herself to write and she is now writing in a joined up ( cursive ) style.

My head's now spinning from Googling "cursive handwriting" in the hope of getting to the bottom of what proper cursive writing is meant to be......soo many different styles, so complicated, nothing particularly definitive either...I don't want to make her write the squiggly "z", "r" and "b" which are so different to how she writes now...I've come to the conclusion that her joined up writing formation is mostly fine, and have pinpointed some problem letters which we are working on..

Getting her to form "o" & "a" anticlockwise.
Getting her to not write "p" like a mirrored number 9

The other thing for her to get into the habit of angling her paper, otherwise, as she says "I might never get the pen licence because my writing would always smudge with an ink pen...."

Hopefully it's a matter of time and practice.

Thanks all.