Lefthanded Children in School

[Robins]

Just a bit of a general query really at this stage as I have only just started to think that my just turned 9 year old daughter may need some help in the classroom with her lefthandedness!

Do any of you have lefthanded children that have struggled with anything in the classroom but with particular reference to handwriting? I have done a little research on the net and know there can be difficulties if the proper support/teaching methods are not used and I now want to bring this up with the school. (I have done tentatively after listening to one or two moans from my little girl!)

There are some quite basic things that the school should have in place to make life easier for her. For example always sitting on the LHS on a desk or table so that she is not bumping elbows with the person next to her. Left handers often write best with their books at quite an extreme angle so they can better see what they are writing. There are minor differences with letter formation between LH and RH which the teacher should be aware of. Some children need highlighted starting points in a book (probably younger children than your DD) to reinforce L-R direction as some LH children start on the RHS of a page. It is particularly tricky for LH when they are asked to label things because the space for writing is generally put on the RHS of a picture.

All schools will have LH scissors, but you can get LH rulers if using a RH one slips about too much to be accurate. In DT, the teachers need to be able to teach things like sewing in the LH direction, and set up using a saw for left handers.

Thanks for that. I did mention it to the Head last week as my daughter was struggling with woodwork so her dad and I helped did some sawing with her at home! She says she is the only lh girl in the class though there are about 3 or 4 boys but she can't hold her pen they would do as it hurts! (It is class of 30 and she is one of quieter ones too!) The Head didn't tell me much really except that they have to be "inclusive" when I suggested the lh children sat together for certain tasks; makes sense to me, even if there is only two! Of course they do need to be inclusive but that word can grate on me sometimes...

My daughter generally isn't one to moan but she has mentioned one or two things recently about class, elbow-banging and the kids sort of being firm with her and blaming her, aching arm and hand etc. Though I am obviously not making a big issue out of it, it a situation that exists and my daughter needs the best possible help.

I will get in touch with school today and ask about the strategies you have mentioned as we had tears at bedtime (very rare for my daughter!) over smudging with handwriting pens. I may also buy her some of her own pens which I can find out which brand they use generally, Berrol I think.

Thanks again.

Sorry for missed out words etc, rushing in the morning, just typed and sent but annoying when you read it back!

"The Head didn't tell me much really except that they have to be "inclusive" when I suggested the lh children sat together for certain tasks; "

WHAT!!!! I think that is nonsense. I am left-handed and a teacher. Schools often sit children in ability groups for work - what's so different about LHers, especially as they need to be taught differently!

She should not bump elbows if she is sitting on the RHS of a pair.

If it is hurting when she writes, she could probably do with being seen by a paediatric OT. Your GP can refer you but the NHS only seem to be able to help the very worst cases and you may be better trying to find someone privately. I have a friend who is an OT and handwriting tutor and she has been able to get children out of pain within a couple of months by giving them appropriate exercises (which may involve the whole body as things like trunk and shoulder stability may be involved!). She should not have to be in pain with her writing and there are things you can do to improve this!

Sorry OP but YOU are part of her problem
by even posting this thread you have shown that you think she is second class and needs "help" to overcome her "disability"
get REAL
she just happens to pick her pen up in the other hand
stop making a thing of it and she will too

I would have been devastated and angry if either of my parents had raised it with the head
luckily they are both left handed

but as a left handed parent I did not feel the need to seek help on how to deal with my right handed children

we are not in the 1940's with kids having their hands tied behind their backs FFS

I have a left handed ds age 6 whose writing seems a bit more awkward and babyish than a lot of his peers. He writes a bit slower than some I think and definitely bigger!
Partly left handedness and partly being a boy I think.
I kind of hope left handed awkwardness will lessen as he gets older.
Teachers don't seem to be too concerned though.

my right handed son's writing is DIRE

and once you get to year 6, even with the names removed ALL of the non SEN girls have better writing than all but a very few of the non SEN boys

I almost with we has USA style handwriting lessons

Good grief.We have several left-handers ,including the teacher, in the class I help with at school.In fact, 3 out of the 4 Teachers in lower KS2 are left -handed, and 2 in KS1 (not sure about the other stages) I am right-handed, but I am able to do things from a left handed perspective if necessary! (ie handwriting, cutting out etc) I don't think there is really an issue. Kids know there are left and right-handed scissors available. Actually beginning to think being right-handed is becoming in the minority now!!

It would be really difficult to make sure left and right-handers were paired up for writing tasks!!

I have a left handed DD ,she never got or needed any extra help at school .tbh I never gave it much thought

She has the best handwriting out of all of us

I have two DD's and the left handed one is much better at handwriting. I think it is only an issue if you make it one.

DD has always been LH with writing ever since she first picked up a crayon to scribble draw with as a toddler, so this was well established by the time she went to pre-school, never mind school.

However she uses right handed scissors, and always complained when offered LH ones at school. My point is that not all left -handers are left-handed for everything.

As far as I know she never had any extra help in school in relation to writing, it never came up at parents evenings and her writing is fine. The only thing i can recall is that she found it harder to do spellings when she had to do the "look, cover, write" method, because if right handed you use your left hand to do the covering, and if you are left handed you have to cover with your right hand and end up crossing your hands. Try it if this doesn't make sense.

Thank you very much for the helpful posts. Will ignore the unhelpful ones. I do not ascribe to the "one size fits all" category. She is not disabled, she is having trouble sometimes in a right-handed world in the class. My older sister and older brother are left-handed and have the most beautiful writing; but that does not mean that my daughter is not having trouble with some tasks in school.and the school need to address this. Neither me nor my daughter herself are remotely concerned that she is left-handed in the whole scheme of things but the facts are she is struggling with some tasks in the class, like a dyslexic child would for example. May be some dyslexic children don't, good for them but like I said "one size fits all" is not always the right way! I speak from having a mildly asd son and also for my daughter who had selective mutism from aged 3-6 (the same daughter) so I know when extra help is needed.

And I am not reading anymore thank you!

Bye then

I think, sadly, you have confirmed my point.
Developmental differences do not need to have medical terminology attached to them.

Hey - I'm really not sure about all these "Left -handers don't have any more problems than right-handers" comments.

I am left-handed and a teacher.

Some left-handers do seem to manage with little or no problems. You maybe lucky to be/have a child who is one of those. Even in these instances I think that probably they are having to work/concentrate harder than right-handers when using right handed tools - it is just that not having used a left-handed version they don't realise how much more natural it can be. ( I base this on my own experience of not thinking about it much until I tried an equivalent left-handed tool ( eg scissors, serrated knives) and realised how much easier it was to use the left-handed version and how much less physically tense I was too. Also, left-handers have more tool related accidents in the workplace than right-handers - are they innately more clumsy or is it because the tools have been designed for right handed use?)

My experience growing-up was the opposite of Talkingpeace2's. I wouild have welcomed more help and understanding from my right-handed teachers that I was experiencing as a left-hander

While some left-handers don't experience problems, it is true that some (even many) left-handers will have the types of problem the op was describing such as bumping elbows ( because of sitting on LHS of a pair) and smudging work. Some left-handers may automatically find a good paper position for writing but others will need to be shown and taught. Why is this so controversial? Why shouldn't teachers be aware of this and take steps to help. Riversidemum outlines many of the things teachers need to do/be aware of.

Just because a particular right-handed child has more co-ordination or handwriting problems than a particular left-handed child, it doesn't negate the fact that there are common issues experienced by many left-handed writers.

I totally disagree that it is "only an issue if you make it one." If your left-hander is bumping elbows and smudging work then it is already an issue!

It can also be an issue when teaching hand-work like sewing, knitting, use of tools etc. It is often easier when a right-hander is teaching a left-hander (or vice versa) for the learner to sit exactly opposite the demonstrator/teacher and do things as a mirror image. For this purpose ,sitting the left-handers together would be helpful and it is this kind of situation I think the OP was referring to.

You don't need to "pair up" LH and RH children for writing, just make sure that when a left-hander and right-hander sit together, the left-hander sits on the right side of the pair. Two left-handers or two right-handers sitting together is fine!

I don't see the OP as labeling her child as disabled or making a problem over nothing, just asking for advice about problems that her daughter is raising.

I think the fact the OPs daughter is left handed isn't the issue ... she is having problems with writing in particular and the teacher should be aware and looking for ways to help her

But I think that some of the issues are related to her left-handedness. Bumping elbows only happens when a left-hander and right-hander sit on the "wrong" sides. Left-handers often have more of a problem with smudging work because as they move their hand along from left to right they can rub the letters before the ink is dry. That's not to say some right-handers don't ever smudge work but I still think it is more common in left-handers. Agreed however that the main thing is that the teacher looks for ways to help. There are many easy things that can be done (quick dry ink, yoropens and the like, teaching a good writing position and moving a left-hander so she doesn't bump elbows - which is not exactly rocket science!!!)

I guess pain when writing can occur equally in left or right-handers though.

Bumping elbows only happens when a left-hander and right-hander sit on the "wrong" sides. But the same issue surely applies for the right handed child the problem is with the seating organisation and easily resolved if the teacher is aware there is a problem...

Left-handers often have more of a problem with smudging work because as they move their hand along from left to right they can rub the letters before the ink is dry.
Left handers may have a problem with smudging (many don't and some right handers do) easily resolved by suitable writing implements.

The issue is teacher awareness of a child experiencing difficulties

It is only right handers who think that left handers are awkward and find things difficult. I was a teacher and left handed and very often the first person the DC had come across to say that it is quite normal! They trot out 'I'm left handed' as an excuse, and I used to say 'so am I-all the best people are'! If they are having trouble with writing they need help, as do right handers-they do not need help because they are lefthanders. I don't smudge and I don't hold my hand at a funny angle.

"It is only right handers who think that left handers are awkward and find things difficult."
Not at all. I am left-handed and find using a range of tools that are designed for right-handers awkward and difficult. Eg, tin-openers, scissors, serrated knives, power drills and jigsaws that have the emergency stop button on one side of the tool rather than on the edge/spine (it ends up in the palm of the left-hand and is activated by accident), rulers when measuring line lengths (though it helped my mental subtraction no end when I was at school), pencil sharpeners etc. The left-handed versions are so much easier/more fluid/instinctive for me. Perhaps though there are degrees of left-handedness and maybe I'm an extreme left-hander. I certainly could do very little with my right hand (or foot) as a child - though I'm better at using it now!

However I agree with Mrz and others that the main thing is that the teacher is helping with the difficulties. I still don't think the Op needed to be jumped on so hard though - her daughter is left-handed and experiencing difficulties.

I use my left hand for most tasks although I write with my right hand and find many left handed tools (scissors being the exception) cause me more of a problem than right handed versions

Can you cut straight slices of bread with a serrated bread knife OK with your left-hand Mrz? I think that this is really hard to do

I can only cut really straight lines with left-handed scissors. Maybe what we are coming to here is that people don't have the same level of left and right handedness. Perhaps it is a spectrum with ambidextrous people in the middle?

The first time I tried to open a CD case I broke it because I couldn't work out which bit was meant to open and it didn't open the way I instinctively thought it should!

sarahfreck
yup - thin, thick, whatever : but I do try to buy symmetrical knives for other tasks

BUT I grew up watching people getting on with being left handed
my dad writes with the stupid hook grip
my mum does not, nor do I, nor does DH
scissors / rulers / can openers - you just get used to holding them differently
I would love a left handed keyboard but the kids are both right handed

my concern with the OPs post was
may need some help in the classroom with her lefthandedness

you may as well ask for help in the classroom because she has blue eyes that are more sensitive to the light