Help w/DS6 Handwriting

[left210]

Well for a little background info - my DS6 seemed to be left handed prior to entering preschool. We kept telling them he favored his left side, his Dad was left handed, he bats left handed, etc. Well they continued to push his right side telling him he was holding his pencil in the wrong hand at preschool, etc. Fast forward - he is now in Kindergarten and struggling with his handwriting. Any suggestions on helping him overcome this obstacle? During all of this time we work with him and have tried to get him to use his left hand but he would tell me that is not the way his teacher told him to do it. Now he is more comfortable holding his pencil with his right hand but doesnt have good control and his handwriting is horrible. Letters big and small and all over the place. The teacher told us to get some modeling clay to help him improve his motor skills. I am going to try this but dont see how that will help his handwriting and control of his pencil. Any other suggestions?

 

[meandtheguys2]

Poor kid! It is often hard enough for young boys to write decently, without being forced to switch hands!

Can you tell him that his first grade teacher wants him to use his left hand, and work with it?

 

[lovemygoofy]

What hand does he favor for all other things? Does he hold his fork with his right hand? I am right handed and hold my fork in my right hand. When I try to feed myself with my left hand it's a big chore even at 29 years old. Are you having him to switch from his left to his right hand for other things like batting or throwing?

Did you want to not favor his left hand? I'm confused on why you would alow the teachers to do this? I'm not accusing by any means. Have a talk with his teacher if she could help him go back to his left hand if that is at all possible. Good luck, it's hard to learn to write at that age period and trying to figure out the correct hand I'm sure makes it more difficult.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I didn't realize this was still in practice. My BIL was supposed to be lefthanded, but everyone made him use his right hand when he was in school. He's still more comfortable doing a lot of things lefthanded, but he writes with his right hand now. I always thought it was weird they used to do this. No advice...just hope he overcomes this obstacle!

 

[ckay87]

If you hand him something (a pencil or a fork) - without making a big issue about it - just "here honey, take this" and you hold it out to him, what hand does he grab it with?

I'm no expert, but IMO, that's a good test of which hand he favors.

 

[MareQ]

Poor kid! UG!

The clay will help build a bit of strength/dexterity in his hands. Also things like picking up small objects with tweezers or tied together chop sticks(like they do for the kids at Chinese restaurants) sewing yarn through plastic holes etc.

Write on wipe off boards are great for practice. The markers move smoothly over the surface and it allows him to practice over and over. You can also try tracing or practice papers with markers on paper - gradually moving over to pencil on paper.

These are all things we have done with my DS over the years as he has fine motor issues.


I also think that having him practice with his left hand might be a good idea as well.....

 

[Rachie0507]

When my MIL found out my DD is left-handed, she looked shocked and said "You're going to let her do that??". I told her we don't have a choice!!

Does his teacher know about his experience in preschool? It definitely is worth mentioning. If his handwriting is enough of a problem, he might be able to get able to get some occupational therapy to develop the muscle and coordination needed. Good luck

 

[irishbosoxfan]

DD9 is a lefty also. When she started kindergarten the teacher tried to get her to write with her right hand and she did but as you said it was messy and backwards and would slope down the page instead of across.

When she went to first grade it was the same way(she still wrote with her right) and she would bring home letters from the teacher telling us we needed to help her write better.

We finally after much arguing convinced her to write with her left like she should(we got the same "But my teacher said.." argument) and it was like she had to learn to write the letters all over again and was a struggle for all of us

She is in the 2nd grade now and while her writing isn't the neatest it could be, it beats the heck out of what it looked like before!

Try to get his teacher to tell him to write with his left hand--that will make the transition :right: in his mind (call and ask her if she'd do this for you)

For some reason what teachers tell them is gospel while mom and dad don't know their butt from their elbow as far as the kid is concerned.

 

[grinningghost]

You know, that's such BS. The kid should write with whatever hand he feels comfortable with - I thought that whole forced switching of hands went away with the Black Death.

In any case, if it makes you feel any better - my DD had the WORST handwriting ever all through elementary school. If I saw one more big red "SLOPPY" written on top of a paper, I thought I might go postal, but then, somewhere in middle school, she started to get better - and now, as a senior in high school, her handwriting is very nice.

 

[jbmom]

This makes me sad. I'm a lefty as well as my 2 ds. I would do everything to try and get him to write with his left hand. My oldest ds had a preschool teacher who tried to make him use his right hand. She said it would be easier to teach him and would not budge on the issue. He didn't remain in that preschool. He still doesn't have very good handwriting he's in second grade and I see that with lots of boys his age no matter what hand they favor.

 

[SwedishMeatball]

Wow, that is too bad that the teacher made an issue out of it and made him feel like he has to use his right hand. I can't imagine ever doing that with one of my students.

 

[aquinas]

I know this is somewhat OT but I am curious. Why do schools still insist teaching children cursive writing? Everything is in print. My child learned how to cursive write but now writes everything in print. I just find it a waste of time for the schools to teach it. So, what are some valid points beyond signing one's name that schools shoudl continue teaching cursive writing?

i dont get it

 

[left210]

Try to get his teacher to tell him to write with his left hand--that will make the transition right in his mind (call and ask her if she'd do this for you)

For some reason what teachers tell them is gospel while mom and dad don't know their butt from their elbow as far as the kid is concerned.

Thanks so much for everyones input. No we did not just allow this to happen in preschool. We talked to the teachers and told them he favors his left hand and at that time would do most things with his left hand including writing, coloring, etc. It is hard when the teacher is telling him and everyone else to use their right hand and then when he sees everyone else using their right hand he follows suit. What complicates matters is his Dad is ambidextrous? and writes left handed but does other things right handed. DS seemed to do this some too as a preschooler and now for instance he is writing right handed, bats left handed in baseball, fields right handed in baseball, etc. We dont push him to be left or right handed but just try to let him do what is most natural; however, in Tball and now baseball the coaches would even tell him when he got up to bat that he was on the wrong side of the plate, holding his bat wrong, etc. and we would always have to tell them he bats left handed.

His teacher is aware of what happened in preschool and is understanding and realizes that could be part of his struggle but said he still needs to correct the problem. We hadnt really discussed her forcing him to use his left hand now but that may be a possibility because like the above poster said he listens to the teacher more in this regard than us. I have recently had him try using his left hand again but he said it is too hard and doesnt feel comfortable. Maybe we will have him practice both ways and see if the left comes back to being more natural with better handwriting. Any suggestions on skills to practice other than the typical worksheets given. So with the modeling clay, just play with it?


EDIT: PS - I really do not care which hand he writes with but just want him to do well. If there are things we can do that will improve his handwriting with his right hand then fine but if we are subjecting him to a life sentence of bad handwriting by forcing him to be right handed then I would like to help him correct it now and either switch hands or develop his motor skills more as a right hander, left hander, etc.

 

[jbmom]

I would have him start drawing pictures with his left hand to get used to it and see if he becomes comfortable using his left hand. If he is comfortable with that then work on the writing.

 

[mickeyboat]

My DD's are in first grade and they both can write well when they want to.

Hannah is usually in such a big hurry to get out what she wants to say, that she writes sloppily. But when she is doing her actual handwriting work, she does well.

Emily had the opposite problem. She wanted to write to perfectly, that she only had time to write a little bit.

We are still working with both of them for a balance.

My suggestion would be to try to get your son to write as much as possible. Does he have bath crayons? My kids LOVE them, and they aren't too bad to clean up. Have him write the weekly grocery list. Give him stacks of paper to practice on. Our school uses the "Handwriting Without Tears" program, and the kids have workbooks they use for instruction. Maybe your son's teacher has an extra copy you could use at home for practice.

Good luck!

Denae

 

[lindakmonty]

I'm left handed and so is my ds6, my mom, sister, neices, nephews...about my whole family. My dh would try to make my ds write w/his right hand but it was very noticable the difference! His left hand was much better than the right and that was that, he finally agreed that he's left handed and to let the poor kid be maybe if he writes w/his left hand at home and show him if his left hand writing is better, it will give him the encouragement he needs. good luck!

 

[meandtheguys2]

My DD's are in first grade and they both can write well when they want to.

Hannah is usually in such a big hurry to get out what she wants to say, that she writes sloppily. But when she is doing her actual handwriting work, she does well.

Emily had the opposite problem. She wanted to write to perfectly, that she only had time to write a little bit.

We are still working with both of them for a balance.

My suggestion would be to try to get your son to write as much as possible. Does he have bath crayons? My kids LOVE them, and they aren't too bad to clean up. Have him write the weekly grocery list. Give him stacks of paper to practice on. Our school uses the "Handwriting Without Tears" program, and the kids have workbooks they use for instruction. Maybe your son's teacher has an extra copy you could use at home for practice.

Good luck!

Denae

HWT is an awesome program! Their workbooks are reasonably priced, and they are self explanatory!

 

[wdw4us2]

You might want to try Handwriting Without Tears with your son at home. My son had dexterity problems when he was younger and HWT was very helpful.

Here's the link:

http://www.hwtears.com/

 

[countingthedays]

Forcing children to use a particular hand that is not natural for them just because somebody else thinks it's the 'right' thing to do may (certainly not always) be psychologically damaging. Please discuss things with your child's teacher to have him/her stop forcing your child to do something that is not natural for him.

Although most children your child's age have a definite hand dominance, many do not. And that's ok. Please let things follow their natural course and your DS will ultimately decide which hand he prefers. He may be a lefty with right handed tendencies or a righty with left handed tendencies, or ultimately have a pronounced dominance in either hand. The best thing is what's natural for him.

I'm a righty with left handed tendencies. DH is a lefty all the way (and the nuns used to tie, yes, I said tie) his left hand behind his back and force him to write with his right hand. Something like that today would be considered abuse. I have what could be considered perfect penmenship and I typically use a fountain pen. But that's me. I like to write. DH's writing is so bad, most people can't read it. It's bad not because he's left handed, but because he never took the time to develop discipline when writing. Whatever hand your son chooses to write with, he'll have to invest the time in practicing his penmenship to gain control - that's the only way - no shortcuts, so in that regard, it doesn't matter if he's left or right handed.

How is the teacher "forcing' this? Is he/she actually taking the pen or pencil from his hand and putting it in the other or simply saying ' using your right hand' during instruction? If it's something spoken, then I would say the teacher is a righty and needs to be reminded that 6 year olds are very impressionable and take things literally/and or out of context. But a teacher should know this.

Sorry to rant, but this touched some sensitivity in me. Please let your DS follow his own natural path and things will turn out fine.

 

[mickeyboat]

You might want to try Handwriting Without Tears with your son at home. My son had dexterity problems when he was younger and HWT was very helpful.

Here's the link:

http://www.hwtears.com/

Thanks for that link. I didn't know individuals can purchase the materials. I might just order the second grade workbooks for the kids to use this summer for practice.

Denae