Question (maybe teachers can help) about my 5 yr. old's writing -

[transparant]

My 5 yr. old son Luke is an extremely bright little boy. He can spell lots of things and recognizes his letters and numbers - however, I'm getting concerned about his writing.

I've been spending time with him on a daily basis trying to get him to write letters. Lately we've just been working on his name. Every letter he writes is upside down. He gets so frustrated with himself that he ends up crumbling up the paper and gets very upset.

What in the world would be making him write all of his letters upside down? I've done a little research on dyslexia - but I'm not sure that fits him.

Any ideas? He hasn't started kindergarten yet and I don't want him feeling upset and frustrated by this.

 

[mickeyboat]

At Emily's first quarter K evaluation, the teacher showed us some of her writing where she had written some letters backwards. She said it is very common for children this age to get things messed up - and that it is very difficult for them to write diagonal lines (like in the letter Y).

Denae

 

[mom2grace]

Does he notice that they are upside down?

One idea is to take puffy paint or thick glue and print his name on a heavy piece of paper. Have him trace the letters with his fingers, and have him use the card every time he writes his name.

DD will go to kindergarten in the fall and she writes letters backwards, and for the most part only write the letters in her name! So, don't worry about it.

 

[debster812]

DS did this with some letters and numbers from pre-school through 2nd grade. EVERY single teacher (day care, preschool, and grade school) we asked said the same thing;

"We really don't get concerned about this until they are at least 7"

So we did not sweat it. I would correct him gently, but not make too much of a fuss at all.

 

[daisyduck123]

DS did this with some letters and numbers from pre-school through 2nd grade. EVERY single teacher (day care, preschool, and grade school) we asked said the same thing;

"We really don't get concerned about this until they are at least 7"

So we did not sweat it. I would correct him gently, but not make too much of a fuss at all.

That is what I tell parents at conferences...except I say "It doesn't become a real concern unless they are still doing it by the 3rd grade".

 

[punkin]

Leave him alone. He's only 5. He will write when he is ready. Doing it now is just frustrating him. Besides, I agree with everyone else, this doesn;t mean anything. All our teachers say backwards writing is normal until the end of 2nd grade. The way they are leaving boys back nowadays, that means, he'll be at least 8.

 

[Rachie0507]

My daughter is 5 and she tends to write letters backwards. She also does whole words backwards (writing right to left). Her kindergarten teacher told us they wouldn't worry about that until the end of first grade. Upside down is probably the same type of thing.

The things that her teacher has her do, though, to practice is just copy the letter or number over and over to remember which way it should be. It sounds boring but DD enjoys it and is always so proud when they come out right. DD is also left handed so they tell her to make sure she starts on the edge of the paper closest to her writing hand.

 

[cheerbop]

Agree..we had some problems with our DS writing and now he is doing fine. The teachers will let you know (if he is still doing it later) if there is something that needs addressing.

 

[transparant]

Thanks everyone! I feel better now. I think he just threw me for a loop - my other kids would write backwards when they started...just not upside down. I won't worry about it.

 

[Zandy595]

I agree with everyone else. It's nothing to worry about at his age. My DS did that for a while too. We got him the Leap Frog Phonics Writing Desk to make practicing more fun. It shows you exactly how to write the letters. He really liked it.

 

[padams]

Both of my DSs went through a phase where they wrote upside down. They were probably right arond your ds' age. I recall they were in pre-k. The phase didn't last long.

Don't make your son practice writing if it frustrates him. You don't want him to develop an early dislike of writing. He'll write correctly soon enough.

 

[luvflorida]

I taught first grade for fifteen years and always told parents not to worry about this issue. At 5/6 years of age many kids write letters backwards and mix capitals with lower case letters. Writing letters upside down isn't as common as writing them backwards, but I can remember kids doing that.

I used to give my first graders shallow plastic box lids with sand in them. They enjoyed tracing letters in the sand. Uncooked rice was fun, too! Anything to get them used to making the correct movements- left, right, up, down. Shaving cream is fun, but can be extremely messy.

I'm assuming that's your little boy in the photo in your signature. He's as cute as can be!