why do children mirror write?

[MigratingCoconuts]

I am fastinated by my DD who mixes up which end to start a sentence quite a lot and also reverses letters entirely so the whole sentence is mirrored.
I find it really amazing to see.

I know its common but, why do they do this if they have been taught to form words in a set way?

Because a child learns a letter like they learn shapes, a triangle is still a triangle no matter which way up and if it is resting on a flat side or on a point so letters are the same.

Also - why "was" for "saw", "fo" for "of", when my yr1 DD can read "everyone" and "children"????

I used to do this when I was about 6/7 I'd get to the end of the line and then start writing the next line right to left in mirror writing - I'd always put it down to being left handed but I think it's just as likely to be a developmental thing.

Knickers i love your name we have that rule in our house!!

I was left handed-at 5 yrs I started at the right and wrote towards the left with all letters reversed. I wish that we could-instead of having to conform to right handers!

yes, DD is left handed too and I can see it must make a lot more sense to write tha way.

Her right-handed cousin also used to mirror write whole sentences without realising she had done it.

Great skill to have really! Its a shame we lose it!

donteat exactly, that's exactly the same for DD!

I kind of figured the 'everyone' thing was down to its frequent use in the Biff and Chip books, like 'magic key' and 'adventure'

But she always mixes up 'saw' and 'was'

I often find that children do this when they start to write in the wrong place.

So they know they want to write 'was' but they start too far over and there is no room so they go the other way.

Sometimes it is not even the edge of the page, they just know the space they want their word to be in and make it fit.

cluttered it came from when DD1 was about 2 and one of those things that you never imagine will come out of your mouth -- I think she'd been dressing up and I didn't want to be fishing bits of food out that she'd dropped ;)

coconuts you're right, "everyone" does appear often in Biff et al, never thought of that.... not sure why "saw" and "was" seems to pose a particular problem