Think 4 year old ds is left-handed, writing tips?

[Sienna-forever]

I say *think* because he does alternate which hand he uses, but I do think he prefers using his left hand.

However, whichever hand he uses he grips the pencil in a fist instead of between thumb and finger and gets very frustrated if I try to show him how to hold his pencil correctly.

Should I just wait until he's a little older before encouraging him to hold his pencil correctly and start writing, or should I persevere now  i.e. when he is colouring in, drawing pictures, so that he doesn't get into bad habits?

Both DH and myself are right handed, so really not sure if we need to be doing anything different if DS is indeed left handed? Or maybe this is more about DS not being ready yet?

Any ideas?

[Jenni1894]

My son is a south paw.  I can't tell about DD yet, but she uses her left quite often.

As far as holding the pencil correctly, I personally would try and correct that.  When DS started kindy they did have to teach some kids to hold the pencil correctly.  I think at 4 he should be able to.  DD is 3 1/2 and has been doing it for a while now.   DS was also about 2-3 when I taught him the correct grip. 

It was hard b/c I'm not a lefty.   If you are sending him to public school, I would recommend letting the teacher know he's a lefty.   I still try and show him things righty...I forget.   I didn't do anything differently tho.   Although I did I have to practice using my left a bit to show him how to write!!!

[kristandthekids]

I got the little kushy things for pencils to make them thicker and easier for little hands to hold correctly.

For me, I had to accept the fact that my lefty was going to be a behind in writing than her bigger right handed sister was. Not through any fault of her own but because we didn't know anyone left handed to sit down and teach her the proper way. When I sat down and tried to figure out how to do everything backwards it left ME confused. I can just imagine how she felt. I had to completely let the pressure off because it wasn't like she wasn't trying. It was just going to take longer.
There's other little things like being completely unable to use chopsticks, even though Oldest was a pro by this age. I figure with enough trial and error I'll figure out how to demonstrate things backwards and she'll figure out how to mirror things and we'll meet some where in the middle.

[lava mama]

I'm a lefty myself, and I don't remember having any issues learning how to write. My mom is a lefty as well, so maybe that has something to do with it? I'm not sure--I went to public school for K-12 so it's not like my mom was my sole handwriting instructor. I don't know if I just adapted well to the righty world, or if it just wasn't a big deal, IYKWIM. That's just my experience though, so I don't know if other lefties have a hard time learning to write. I'd say give your child encouragement on the correct grip and give lots of writing/drawing/coloring time and maybe even sit next to him and do your own "practice" as well. My own son is a lefty as well, and I'm finding it difficult to teach him handwriting (we're both lefties!), but I'm pretty sure it has more to do with interest (or lack of) than it does with him being left-handed.

[Sienna-forever]

Great thank you,

I will encourage more time to sit and draw and write - its not something he particularly enjoys at the moment so i'm thinking perhaps he's just not ready, although I would definitely like him to start holding the pencil correctly so I will persevere with that..... thats a good idea about sitting with him and doing my own practice too.

I had my two little nieces stay for the weekend, and they were so happy to just sit and do colouring in for ages, my youngest niece is 3 and colours beautifully - i'm thinking my DS just prefers other stuff! He can be creative, he loves painting, and funnily enough I watched him yesterday and he used his right hand to paint so I just don't know.

I guess he just needs to see others writing more often so that he can imitate us. He can draw a circle, and straight lines though and I read that if he can do those things then he should be ready to start writing practice.

I will keep an eye on him, and encourage correct positioning - if he does turn out to be a lefty I can ask my sister to show him how she writes as she's a lefty too!

[lava mama]

My lefty DS is 5.5 and he really isn't much of a drawer or writer and he never was when he was younger either. He loves to "write fast" and pretend he's signing a signature, but that's about it. He'll do some coloring in a color book, and he did go through a phase of preferring pen and ink vs. crayons and colored pencils. I'm learning he's a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to drawing so if the image he's working on isn't how he thinks it should look he gets very frustrated. 

My 2.5 yo DD on the other hand is a coloring maniac. She's the one who will pull out paper and colors on her own and just go about her sweet drawing business. I don't know if there is a marked gender gap with coloring and writing interest, but the difference between my two LOs is pretty astounding. 

[MittensKittens]

My DD is almost five. She is left-handed and has been writing for a year now. It was apparent that she was a leftie very early on, and we have had no real problems with it at all. I don't think she noticed that her brother and I use the right hand, and her hand writing is pretty neat now - as long as she doesn't use a flowmaster type pen, then it will smudge.

[Sienna-forever]

Thank you xx

This week we've been sitting down together and going through some pre-school workbooks which he's really enjoyed and I have noticed a big improvement already.

He does sometimes revert back to gripping the pencil in a fist, but when reminded he now holds the pencil properly..... although he does still seem to use both hands so I'm not sure what to do in that respect if anything?

We've been practicing writing the alphabet, and he managed to do a lovely letter 'c' yesterday which he was really proud about!

I think to be honest we hadn't been sitting down together enough to do writing practice, but he does seem to enjoy it now even if we only do a page or two of his workbooks.

He's only just turned 4 and was preemie, so shouldn't really be '4' til the end of June so he is still my baby really! But, we're re-scheduling our time so that he gets more one-on-one time with me, without the distractions of the computer,tv, household chores etc. and I've seen a huge improvement already. He loves 'playing school' as he calls it!

[PNWmama]

I'm a lefty.  Both my parents are righties...I don't recall ever having a problem learning how to write correctly.  I went to public school, but I was writing before I entered kindergarten, so I must have taught myself or just figured it out.  It really was a not a big deal at all.  Give him time, he's only four.  He'll get it sooner or later :)

[Sienna-forever]

Thank you so much x

[SynEpona]

One simple thing that helped my left handed sibling ... when doing copywork on traditional worksheets which have the sample text on the left side of the page -- either provide 2 copies so one can rest to the right, or first copy each word yourself to the right hand margin of the page. Lefties cannot SEE the word on the left margin to copy, as it's under their hand!

[snanna]

My dd is six, and has been a passionate writer and draw-er since she was tiny. She's also always been strongly left-handed. We actually took her to an osteopath for cranio-sacral therapy at one point, partly to address the fact that she almost never used her right hand. I haven't noticed any difficulties or delays associated with her left-handedness. Actually, if I was going just by my children, I'd think right-handedness was an impediment-- her brother is three, and he's clearly right-handed, but is clearly on a very different internal schedule than dd. Lots and lots of fine-motor Lego and tool work, but very little drawing aside from the occasional scribble. I think the grip adjusts as they grow, and right-handers often start out with the fist-grip as well, especially at so young an age.

I've read that left-handedness is not genetic, and occurs in something like 11% of the population, at random. Clearly evolution doesn't care to get rid of it, which is interesting.