Teaching left handed children to write

[Derbybound2022]

I have a child started in year 1, who hates to write. They are starting to do cursive handwriting that always starts on the line and finding it so hard. They can't see what they're writing and with the whiteboard pens their hands get dirty going over them or holding their hands up to avoid this. With finger spacing too, is there anything they can use? Apparently given nothing do far at school and I want to meet the teacher to ask how they can support as left hander. I have heard of left handed rulers and sharpeners too.

It is her school that set this homework with cursive writing of key words. They haven't even done this style of writing letters so I was surprised to see it. Do any teachers have resources for lefties to do finger spaces?

Left handed infant teacher here
yes tilt the paper
use a softer pencil to avoid pressing too hard
sit at the end of the table to avoid bumping a right handed person

My daughters are both left-handed and one thing that really helped at school was the teacher making sure they sat to the left of the person they shared a table or desk with, so they weren’t jostling elbows with their right-handed classmates. It’s one of those simple things that wouldn’t have occurred to me to ask for but really made sense. They both also tilt the paper about 45 degrees to the right when writing.

We're a leftie family (me, DH & 2 of 3 Dc) none of us write over the top of the page, no special equipment or anything fancy. Handwriting isn't great but perfectly legible and acceptable. Absolutely agree to sitting on the left in class otherwise just crack on

I'm left-handed ... left-handed scissors are rubbish, have always found normal scissors much easier.
I wish someone had shown me how to write like this sooner... I only started writing like this in about Year 9 when my left-handed English teacher wrote like it on the board, it changed everything for me.
I hold my pen 'over the top' so my hand looks like a hook... that way I can see what i've written and what i'm writing.... absolute game changer.
Oh and when they're old enough to write in pen.... Stabilo left handed handwriting pen is THE best... anything else gets smudged... wish they'd had them when I was at primary.... I remember my Mum convincing my teachers to let me write in biro as that was less smudgy!

(Breathing a sigh of relief that both of mine seem to be right-handed... although littlest is only just 2, so could change yet I guess!)

I'm left handed. In the 90s when I was in primary school the method I used included;

• turning the page 90 degrees to write (though my right handed desk partner did get squished)

• using a ballpoint pen or light pencil instead of a foundation pen or dark pencil

• left handed scissors (they were green and yellow)

• not focusing on where my hand smugged the paper - it made me self conscious and less willing to write.

• writing on computers (definitely easier now!)

Practise lots of pen control, with colouring in, dot to dots, puzzle books, mazes, that aren’t actually lettering.

What way do they tilt the page please? I have tried it but can't seem to see the writing but I don't know if that's because I'm right-handed and I don't know how to write left-handed!

Put your page straight on in front of you(or your child) . Then tilt it diagonally (90 degrees) towards your (or your DC) right elbow .

That's how I tilt to write.

Another leftie and I can't for the life of me work out how some lefties write. I copied my mum when I was learning to write so I hold the pen the same way most righties do and write with the paper straight up. I do put the paper slightly out to the left hand side of me but apart from that I've never had an issue. I wonder do some righties become too involved in the process when their leftie children are learning to write rather than just letting them off to work it out themselves. Two of my leftie children and my brother all write the same as me

I’m left handed and I turn the page to a right angle so I essentially right downwards not across. Much easier

Just to add - I correct college exams and can tell you that there are many many students whose writing is illegible - not just the lefties. Getting a clearly written paper is a joy to correct, even if the content isn't always correct 🤭

Like this

I’m a leftie also. Years ago I started doing mirror writing for fun. I couldn’t believe how much easier it was to pull the pen across the page than pushing it! As speedweed says. It’s like the difference to going down hill instead of uphill. I could also use a much lighter grip and less pressure on the page., which meant the letters were easier to form and less jerky. The whole thing just flowed.

Sadly I didn’t convince the world to take on mirror writing, but if any of you righties out there want to know what left handed writing ‘feels’ like, crack on.

I'm left handed. I hold my pen with index finger and thumb and place it below the line and just write normally with the page tilted towards the right. I also write with my right if needed and just tilt the page the other way

I'm ambidextrous, and my left writing skillswere at the level of Y4, which I taught. I had to work out the sitting on the left part myself.
Our handwriting book had been written by a rightie who had not even tried writing lefthanded. Insisting on paper in normal for righties position! Holding the implement in an impossible way, normal finger thumb hold, but turned towards the left - not the round the top hook, but an attempt to get the implement at the same angle as the righties'. Daft. If you are looking for helpful books for practice, make sure they were written with actual lefties.
I think doing it on whiteboards with wet pens is not exactly sensible for anyone. (Bring back the slate!)
My rightie nephews both learned at the same school, but between them arriving in Y1, the school had picked up the idea of doing cursive from the start - it helps with spelling as the children learn groups of letters in words, so I gather. The younger boy has much better writin than his older brother.
Scissors - righthanded ones, held in the right hand, push the blades together. Held in the left, the blades are pushed apart, and can't engage the paper. Left handed scissors, provided the righties haven't been using them, do the opposite. Took me ages to get them into school. I personally have a pair of lefthanded nail scissors to cut my right hand nails - game changer I would recommend to anyone.

Just starting my 10 year old left handed child with dyslexia on cursive hand writing now! She absolutely wouldnt have had the coordination at 5, and struggled with writting at all untill 8. But since we home educate we were able to go at her pace and work around it. I know not everyone has the luxury of going at the child's pace, but even keeping things as laid back and low pressure as possible may help. Our daughter despite finding it a challenge now really enjoys writing unlike her 3 older siblings who we put under more pressure to learn. With our oldest son we spoke with an occupational therapist, she suggested doing lots of fun activities that encourage hand eye coordination- lego counts! The educational psychologist we spoke to when our oldest daughter was been assessed for dyslexia said learning to write can't be rushed, nor should a child be put under too much pressure but that a bit of extra practice 0resented in a playfull manner can help if they are willing to do extra.

I agree with the others who say avoid white board pens.

But I hope that you find what works for your little one, and its early days yet.

Oh, and sharpeners. If a leftie really cannot get the idea of holding the pencil in the right hand so it rotates against the blade, it might be a help to get the left hand version.
According to somerthing I read way back in New Scientist, righties inherit a gene for right handedness, but lefties don't inherit a handedness gene at all, so can probably use thier right hand a lot better than a rightie can use their left.

I got given a French notebook as a souvenir once and by chance that happened to solve my writing issues - I used the lines as a guide to make my letters more even and my teachers let me use it in class (I was in sixth form tho) and eventually it got to the point where I could recreate the effect on normal paper. 20 years later I can still do it with some effort. Was such a relief as I was worried I would fail my A levels just because the examiner couldn’t read my writing. It is slower going tho.

Im left handed and write from underneath the line so i can see it and no smudging , Ive seen a few right handers who hold the pen in a claw like grip from above as left handers often do too. .weird

Hi, leftie here. Most tools are not needed, it's better for rulers, sharpeners, etc to use the normal ones. . I write 'normally' as per PP's photo. Some arch their hand to avoid smudges, a la Prince William at the proclamation.

One thing to note is that a lot of lefties actually form their letters differently to right-handed people - I, for example, write my O's clockwise, rather than anti-clockwise. This makes cursive nearly impossible. I only figured this out as an adult - would have saved me from many a miserable afternoon in 'special handwriting class' had I known when I was younger.

Rotating the page is the trick. I do it without thinking now and couldn't write in a straight line to save my life.

I’m left handed. I’ve always had good hand writing, although I hold my pen completely ‘wrong’, it looks awful. Never had any special equipment but we spent a lot of time learning proper cursive handwriting in school using fountain pens. I do turn the page and sit awkwardly.

If I’m flicking through a book, I start at the back.

My DD is nearly 9 and I stressed about this a lot when she was in Yr 1/2 - I bought a load of pencils, rulers, scissors etc from everything left handed. But to be honest, it just came with time. She didn’t really need the different options and only used the scissors (still does). Her writing is really good/neat now. She’s a bit slower to write compared with some of the others, but that’s all. And I suspect that will correct itself over time - if not she’ll be on to an iPad in secondary anyway.