All About Handwriting

[blueblue]

hi


I like to seek some advice. My son is now 3 years 3mths. Up to now, I am still not very sure if he is a left-hander or a right-hander.

He do holds the pencil with his left hand most of the time. But I am afraid I might be the one who ‘influence’ him coz there are a few times I put the pencil in his left hand and make him practise to write. I unconsciously did this because I am a left-hander myself. My husband has asked him to use his right hand to write yesterday and he just simply switch to his right hand.

I am concerned as I want him to use his dormant hand and not because of what we ask him. He is required to write letters in his nursery class and is given worksheets to complete at home every friday. So what should I do? how to teach teach him to write? using both hands? I am afraid it might be time consuming for him to learn writing using both hands.

Plus he is now struggling to write his letters

[Charmaine_chong]

hi bluebell,


I had pm u.

[daisyt]

The way we hold our pen can affect the handwritting. I have seen many patterns of holding pen and it can be quite tiring for the hand. Anyone of your kids hold the pen very tight and write very hard, till got blister on the finger ?

[surfermom]

Andaiz:

surfermom:

- when do parents intervene since the kids are still exploring? I think it's great to utilise both hands but when is the age that they 'settle' into a dominant hand?

sufermom, I don't profess to be an expert in this field but have had experience with DD1 and therefore would share from my limited exposure to this...usually the kids settle into a dominant hand by 5 years old. Some don't though and remain ambidextruous till adulthood.

surfermom:

- I do feel that right-handed is more convenient (in lecture halls i.e. the chairs with the folding table, NS for guys i.e. using guns and in certain sports i.e. golf). As well as what buds said abt the pushing vs pulling strokes, i think 'right' is preferred.
- Will artificial intervention result in any undesirable consequences?
I think perhaps this gene is fr me as I started to write with my left hand but my dad forced me (beat, cry etc) to switch to right. I am still dominantly right-handed but I can still use chopsticks with my left and more sensitive in handling some things too.

Yes, this world is made primarily for the convenience of right handed's coz the left-ies typically died in battle (holding the spear with their left hands, and the shield with their right which left their hearts exposed) so by that extension, the gene pool, not many left!

Besides genes (from you), it could also be he's sitting opposite you whilst going through these 'exercises\". I noticed that DD1 was mirroring me with some of these actions - although her ticks are clearly lefthanded (MIL is lefthanded and my left is my stronger hand - gross motor).

We didn't try and change her but she naturally switched to right dominance otherwise, although she still enjoys writing with her left when she's bored or tired. :love: She's happy the way she is and her finemotor skills development is generally on track whichever hand she uses, so enjoy him! That's the fun of our children growing up different to us. :celebrate:

Thanks Andaiz for yr enlightening advice. Esp funny is the part abt lefties' genes wiped off in ancient battles. Classic! Now I'm more conscious and yes, it's good to utilise both, let them explore. No I don't do mirroring so no issue on that. It's nice that yr child is ambidextrous, very convenient.

[darkchoc]

As a mum and ex sch teacher, my observation and teaching experiences have led me to think that kids go through stages of development in terms of handwriting. As their experiences and personalities change, so do their handwriting habits.

I believe that handwriting is not a skill we should get caught up with but rather their daily commitment to work and our daily commitment to shaping their learning experiences.
Just like driving which is an extension of your limbs, your handwriting is a reflection of your character. If we model to them the desirable practices : patience, sense of urgency, motivation, commitment, etc, their attitude towards work changes and the handwriting will follow!

[Blobbi]

darkchoc:

As a mum and ex sch teacher, my observation and teaching experiences have led me to think that kids go through stages of development in terms of handwriting. As their experiences and personalities change, so do their handwriting habits.

I believe that handwriting is not a skill we should get caught up with but rather their daily commitment to work and our daily commitment to shaping their learning experiences.
Just like driving which is an extension of your limbs, your handwriting is a reflection of your character. If we model to them the desirable practices : patience, sense of urgency, motivation, commitment, etc, their attitude towards work changes and the handwriting will follow!

This is quite a profound post. I'm seeing (living) what you wrote in my son's handwriting. It is very true, and I see it in him. His personality is all about doing what he likes to an almost obsessive degree. But what he doesn't care about, he won't even bother.

His handwriting was atrocious in the past - he just didn't care, period. (We never did drills cos, lol, that would kill our relationship. His Montesorri teacher also avoided too much handwriting work, with my blessings ) But he's realizing there is a cost - the school kept sending it back for him to re-write. After about a week, he found the fastest way to do it - by writing neatly in the first place. If I were to show his writing to his kindy teacher, she'll just faint from the night and day transformation from even 2 months ago!

[Andaiz]

Blobbi:

Andaiz, is your daughter ambidextrous? You can check her hair whorls. If she's got a few running in various directions, then chances are, it's her genetic disposition.

Sorri, Blobbi, haven't been on this thread for a long time. By hair whorls, are you talking about \"chng\"? The white bit at the back of your head? Just checked. She's got one but not straight line - curly at both ends, which makes it difficult to tie her hair properly.


But she has quite a hairy back and there are strange whirls there. The same?

[Blobbi]

Yah Andaiz, it's the chng.


I read some research a while back that hair whorls, brain laterality (I think it means which side of the brain is wired up more) and handedness are linked. Off hand, the results are - left handers tend to have anti-clockwise whorls and right handers have clockwise whorls, although about 8% of right handers have anticlockwise whorls.

Anyway, a friend and I had a field day looking out for these things. I know of two other ambidextrous kids including my son and noticed that their hairwhorls are rather messy, like swirling in different directions around the edges (like your daughter). My friend claims that the ambidexterity led to a general slowdown in her kid's development cos have to wire up both sides of the brain. I don't know how true this is, but my son has really bad handwriting. I thought he cured it, but its very tough for him to remain diligent. His writing is definitely legible now, but I've been told to send him for handwriting ot .

[Andaiz]

Blobbi, very interesting! I'll check on the other 2 DD's and let you know.


Her teachers have commented that her writing is relatively neat. But me thinks that sometimes, she takes a longer time to \"react\" coz there is generally less hand-dominance.

I've got a colleague who's ambidextruous as well and sometimes she's a little dreamy coz she can't quite place the solutions (whether factual or \"creative). Since we are in the Finance field, sometimes a little of both are required.

But I think this comes from training which part to use in which circumstances but such kids have very interesting thought processes!

[Blobbi]

Andaiz:

I've got a colleague who's ambidextruous as well and sometimes she's a little dreamy coz she can't quite place the solutions (whether factual or \"creative). Since we are in the Finance field, sometimes a little of both are required.

Creative accounting :evil: ?? Just kidding!!

Yah my son is dreamy too, ditto my friend's kid, although I thought most kids are, no?! You think it's from ambidexterity? I thought it was from his personality, macam time is in a vacuum like that, :x .