Question for parents of left handers

[dilemma456]

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My ds is 3.9 and is left handed ... so am interested to see what other people say. I bought him some kids left handed scissors which he seems to be able to use far more easily than normal scissors. Other than that I haven't come across anything yet.

dd has just started reception. When we were given worksheets to guide the children on writing letters, we received both a left and right handed version.

Also our dd tends to write "backwards" - We mentioned to the teacher that she is left handed, but I am fairly confident that the teacher would have noticed anyway. Even if the teacher didn't notice (v unlikely imo) as a parent you could mention it.

Well I don't think they did that much to help my left handed dc. I eventually took left handed scissors into school as they did not have any. They did eventually look at getting him to position his paper differently, but not till year 2 and that was only because he was behind and at School action+ so he got extra help.

It really depends on how left handedthe child is. That sounds strnage but I am left handed and when I was at school left handed scissors didn't exist. As a result I am now quite ambidextrous. However some children really do struggle without left handed products.

I think DS2 may be left handed, if he is I don't think I would bother getting special left haded stuff for him, because in life there will alaways be situations where it isn't available so I feel it is best to use the normal stuff.

ds4 is left handed and due to start school in January. I have flagged it up to his teacher and am pleased to say the school has plenty of left handed things in reception. And we have been given a writing guide for him on how to form his letters.

You can encourage this at home by having left handed scissors and giving a bit of extra help with writing etc.

My 7 year old DD is left handed and it hasn't really been an issue for her. i've never got anything special for home and she doesn't seem to have struggled at school with writing or cutting out. I suppose the only downside I can think of is that her arm covers her work as she is writing which is a bit of a nuisance.

I know they have left handed scissors....but nothing else has been a problem.

I wam worried about ink pens in the next year or so. I am not sure what style they use at this school TBH. But I know that proper fountain pens are a PITA for left handers.

My dd aged 11 is left-handed and the only problem she has had is with smudging her work when using a fountain pen. Also, as already mentioned, it is slightly inconvenient when her work is covered by her arm.

I've noticed when I do exam invigilation at a secondary school, that some left-handers develop peculiar ways of writing and holding their pens, eg, they kind of write downwards or upwards in order to avoid the above-mentioned problems.

But I would say, it's not a big deal these days at all.

DD 11 is a lefthanded and has awful handwriting and is very untidy. She was given lefthanded writing sheets when she started school. She has been using an smove left handed pen which we bought, but we have to supply pens anyway.
I can't imagine she would be able to cope with a fountain pen. Her hand usually covered in pen/pencil all down her little finger.

Im left handed and use a fountain pen pretty routinely. I dont have any smudging problems. TBH I think its better to be able to use the RH stuff as well, as in mosr situations it is what is routinely available. Having said that I would die for a left-handed keyboard, with the number pad on the left rather than the right .

ideally a left hander should be sitting to the left of a right hander (think that's the correct way round, may not be as wine has been drunk ). Left handed pens help, as do triangular pencils and pencil grips. LH scissors as well, but that depends on teh child. DD1 manages quite well with good quality RH scissors, but can't cut with a RH knife, and has a weird tearing action with a knife and fork (which she uses RHedly for soem reason).

yoro pencil and pens were good for my left handed DD

my ds is 12 and a lefty, his writing was appauling, but the last couple of years he has worked hard to find a comfortable way, and it seems to have worked. He only writes lh, everything else he does rh, eat, scissors, but he is left footed.

At junior school, every teacher would complain about his appaulling handwriting, and I would sya its the lh thing, its harder for him to keep the flow so its more erratic, and not one agreed, they all said they couldnt see how that would be the problem!!!!

I do wonder about that. I have always had pretty good writing. Ds's on the other hand is shocking, and he is RH. In fact DH is reading this over my shoulder and has just said "he gets that from his dad" - also RH...

dd - aged 11 - manages to write,
i can only remember left handed scissors in reception, her year 3 teacher taught her a different way to write and she has lovely neat handwriting now and no problems with fountain pens.

'At junior school, every teacher would complain about his appaulling handwriting, and I would sya its the lh thing, its harder for him to keep the flow so its more erratic, and not one agreed, they all said they couldnt see how that would be the problem!!!!'

Its a fact that LH people have to push the pencil to write letters. RH people drag it which is easier. So, being LH can make a huge difference to your writing. Plus, as you write, your left hand is covering the writing so its hard to keep the letters the same size meaning it can be scruffy.

Both of my DC are LH, (me and DH both RH)
I did some research to see how I could help them. I found the yoropen helped, I got a pencil version which helped a bit. But I found the best thing was to get them to find a comfortable way to hold a standard pen/pencil.

Its amazing how forgetful teachers can be about positioning children with their writing hand on the outside of the table. The amount of times I had to move DD in class so she wasn't bashing elbows with the child sitting next to her! I could do that as I worked in her class full time
The teachers have so much to do and remember, it would be a good idea if you can get your child to remember to sit on the outside of the table or to at least let the teacher know.

I have two l-handed dd's (am RH myself) and they manage pretty well. Left handed scissors are good but otherwise they don't have anything special. Oh, dd1 (student) has a l-handed can opener! They both trun their paper when they write and both have neat writing.

This website is useful. Anything Left Handed

Oh no, amicissima, DD1 does that, I'd no idea it could be a problem!

None of her schools (we've moved twice since she started) have ever supplied any special equipment; sometimes she brings in her own lh scissors, but she can manage fairly well with normal ones.

I totally agree with the fallen madonna. Handwriting is not the problem for lefthanders. I and DD (LH) have decent writing, DH and DS (RH) have appalling writing. The smudging problem is easily solved - not by doing weird things with the pen but simply by tilting the paper (so that "north" on the paper aims instead at "north east" IYSWIM).
In this day and age the problem is with computers. Left handed keyboards do exist TFM but they cost a fortune. I plug in a numberpad instead. Ask the school about computer figurations, D456 - I bet they all have the mouse set up for RH.

Check that the sports department teaches things like raquet sports in a way suitable for lefties.

Also, although your DD writes LH it does not mean that she will necessarily do everything LH ? apart from handwriting, my DD seems to do most things with her RH!

Left handed scissors and pens thats all.
To be honest, most of my family are left handed, my dad, sis, dp, son, aunt even the dog (according to dp is left handed!) so its the norm here.

i am left handed and used to have my paper at an angle when writing at school. however as i got older found it easier to manipulate pens and paper so write 'normally' now. it just takes practice to holding pens/pencils and getting used to the feel of them. as a teacher i found it annoying how many lefties held their pen at the angle someone who's right handed would do, they had obviously not been helped to write with their left hand. you can get a lot of left handed equipment eg rulers etc where 1-10 go the other way. it depends on your childs needs though. i think as long as you make being left handed a normal event and look out for any difficulties that can be tackled without fuss eg smudging, underlining etc that will give your child confidence and make writing less of an issue. i had dreadful writing at school but then in 6tth form started copying other peoples style and now have a very neat italic style that lots of people comment on and stationary is my absolute favourite thing to buy!! so a happy lefty!!