Help for lefties

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Permalink Reply by Tina Hollenbeck on February 10, 2009 at 12:50pm

I am a lefty and actually have no handwriting issues - I've always been complimented on how neat it is, actually - but I cannot recall how I was taught that would have accomplished that - lol. :^) Both of my kids are righties so I haven't had that issue in teaching, but I would recommend looking at Handwriting without Tears because that program specifically addresses how to help lefties, starting with pencil grip and page tilt right on through to how the copywork pages are laid out (i.e., so a lefty isn't brushing over his writing with his arm and making a mess and so she can actually see what she's supposed to write without having to do acrobatics). As with everything I've seen in HWT, they have really thought out this issue well.

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Permalink Reply by crazy4boys on February 26, 2009 at 5:42pm

My first is a lefty. Oh the tears! The screaming! The crying! We fought most about how to hold the pencil. Everything I told him "felt wrong". He didn't know how to hold it and hated all the ways I showed him. We had Handwriting Without Tears, but he couldn't get past the "hold just feels wrong". He also had a very shaky hand which I always thought was odd.

Fast forward a bit....I bought some pencil grips from an online therapy store specifically for left-handers. MIRACLE!!!! He took right to it and was able to write so much better. He used the grips for several months and then decided he wanted to try without. He doesn't hold the pencil "the way he's supposed to" but he's figured out something that works for him. Every lefty I've every seen holds it a different way so I guess that's normal.

We also did a lot of hand strengthening exercises - stringing small beads onto string or pipe cleaners, rubber band balls, using chopsticks to pick up things, etc. Those helped him gain more control over his hand as well.

I agree with Tina in that HWOT is an excellent program and is very left-handed friendly. You just might need to tweak the hold part a bit!

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Permalink Reply by HeatherH on February 26, 2009 at 11:39pm

Ooh - reading this with interest -

Of all things. After 4 righties, my 4 yo is a leftie! Yes, God does have a sense of humor ;)

She's not as interested in drawing/coloring as my others were. Just today, I pulled out an old "ReadyWriter" (anyone have one of those, or am I an old-timer?) and had her do a few pages. Her pencil grip is - well -it's a fist. Sigh. I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to work on her grip now, or wait until the fall when we start "kindergarten" or whatever I'll call it with her!

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Permalink Reply by Maverick_Mom on March 6, 2009 at 7:36am

I used ReadyWriter with ds! It really seemed to help him. We did a page a day.

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Permalink Reply by Bcontent on March 6, 2009 at 1:05am

I've a leftie. We could use extra support with teaching writing. I did pull off a chart from the internet in showing how to hold the pencil while writing & how to slant the paper. I just want to save her extra cramping in her hand when she is older & needing to write more.

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Permalink Reply by Who Me? on March 6, 2009 at 8:38am

I'd love to know where you got the chart. My 4 yo is a leftie and I am starting my research into what we will use for her.

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Permalink Reply by Tina Hollenbeck on March 6, 2009 at 9:35am

Seriously, check out Handwriting without Tears (website linked in my comment above). It's the best thing I've seen to help lefties write comfortably and legibly.

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Permalink Reply by Who Me? on March 6, 2009 at 10:04am

Great! I'll go check it out...

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