Left-handed handwriting curriculum?

[greenbeanmama]

What curriculum works really well for teaching your left-handed children how to write well? My son has no interest in learning to write, and doesn't even like to practice drawing circles, triangles, etc., so we might have a struggle on our hands! I'm not pushing it right now, but in a year or so... )

[karika]

I don't have a lefty, but did remember seeing quite a few things at this site http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodl...&category=8243 some on this page, and they have others if you look around the site.

[EllieJelly]

handwriting without tears is supposed to be good for lefties.

[Arduinna]

Other than tilting the paper differently than righties I don't remember having any specific issues just because I'm left handed.

[LemonPie]

I don't have a lefty but I did notice my HWOT Teacher's manual had a whole section on teaching lefties.

[kittie313]

I AM a lefty, as is my oldest daughter (2nd grade). I use Handwriting Without Tears to teach her to write, and it is working wonderfully with her. I also have a righty with motor delays using HWOT for her handwriting, and she is making wonderful progress. I highly recommend it.

And there is actually a little more for lefty writing than just remembering to turn the paper properly. You have to really watch out for the hook and other bad writing practices that are so common with lefties, as they can be VERY hard to correct once the child gets used to it (thankfully I had a teacher who taught me to write properly from the start so I can model proper writing to my oldest and my youngest when she starts writing as well).

Another tip that my mom gave me that I use when working with my righties on skills (since I'm a lefty) is to sit directly across from the child so they can mirror what you are doing easier.

[greenbeanmama]

What bad writing practices do I need to watch out for? I myself am left-handed, and struggled with writing, but no one ever told me to do anything differently (actually had a teacher insist on turning the page back for a righty's position...). I'd like to help him more than I was helped at least!

My son does love scissors though, so I'm letting him snip to his heart's content, hoping that at least using those hand muscles will help in the long run.

[kittie313]

Originally Posted by greenbeanmama

What bad writing practices do I need to watch out for? I myself am left-handed, and struggled with writing, but no one ever told me to do anything differently (actually had a teacher insist on turning the page back for a righty's position...). I'd like to help him more than I was helped at least!

My son does love scissors though, so I'm letting him snip to his heart's content, hoping that at least using those hand muscles will help in the long run.

Here is a very brief overview for you on the lefty issue and what I mean.

http://handedness.org/action/leftwrite.html

I found with my 2 oldest girls that teaching my lefty to print properly was more difficult than teaching my motor-delayed righty to print. It partly is because of the bad habits that you need to look out for (which I had to retrain my oldest after a semester in ps, her teacher took my year and a half of careful teaching and undid it by insisting that she have the hook for writing because that is how lefties do it normally, obviously the teacher knew nothing on writing, that one I'm still undoing after a year)

ETA: that site I linked, there is a LOT there about educating about the uniqueness of left-handedness and the difficulties that you'll encounter, so click and explore if you aren't familiar with these difficulties. I thankfully am ambidextrious (sp?) so I'm pretty well adaptable although I prefer my left whenever possible.

[FillingMyQuiver]

My 3yo is pronounced leftie and I've already started looking at tips and tricks for teaching him to write. I second the site posted by the PP.

My best friend is a leftie w/ beautiful penmanship so I was quick to pick her brain about how to teach DS2 and whatnot. She suggested getting special ink pens that don't have ink that smears. I will be on the lookout for that. She also made the same suggestions as the above site about paper direction and how to position the body.

Hooking may be how a lot of lefties write, but it's actually poor hand positioning and makes for pretty illegible handwriting at times.