Charlotte Davies, Early Years Wales Marketing and Communications Co-ordinator and proud 'lefty' with some additional help from fellow Early Years Wales lefties has put together some hints and tips to support right-handed parents & practitioners raising a left-handed child.
How many left-handed grown-ups can identify with the following...
"Growing up the struggle was real – never being able to use a fountain pen properly, smudging the ink as you write, knocking elbows with the person next to you…the school scissors still give me nightmares! However, as far as I'm concerned there are no disadvantages to being left-handed, only advantages which far outweigh being a 'righty'!”
If you are a right-handed parent or practitioner that has found yourself blessed with a left-handed child to raise, the following facts, hints and tips have been put together to help you understand the some of the differences your child is facing as they begin to develop and explore the world they have been born into.
1. The in-crowd
Did you know only seven to ten per cent of the world's population are left-handed? Putting us in good company with some very famous and influential lefties – including Prince William, Barrack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein and Neil Armstrong.
2. Congratulations you got lucky!
Studies show that handedness is not an inherited trait, although in families where certain characteristics such as artistic and musical are passed down through generations, it could be determined that genetics do play a small part.
Babies usually start showing a hand preference at about 7 to 9 months old, but they may not make a final distinction until they start school. "Doodling and eating are not fine motor skills requiring premium dexterity, which is why many babies and toddlers, under the influence of rapidly developing brains, switch between using the left and right hands, often masking underlying handedness and leading parents to conclude falsely that their children are ambidextrous," David Wolman writes in A Left-Hand Turn Around the World. "This is a common error among people who associate ambidextrousness with high intellect."
Read more: https://www.oprah.com/relationships/6-tips-for-raising-a-left-handed-child/all#ixzz73PfUwyiV
3. Daydream Believer
Do you often catch your little lefty daydreaming?
It is believed that lefties think with the right side of the brain responsible for music, art, perception, and emotion. It tends to be more abstract and considers the bigger picture. Whereas right-handed people use the left side of their brain which is much more linear and is responsible for speech, language, writing, maths, and science.
© Verywell, 2017
4. Sporting advantage
Left-handed athletes tend to do better in sports because their mainly right-handed opponents are not used to the way they might pitch a ball, hit a ball or throw a punch. If you have a budding left-handed tennis player on your hands they could the John McEnroe or Martina Navratilova's of the future.
You may also be interested in The Early Years Wales Olympic Challenge 2024
In the setting
It may not be obvious at this stage whether children are dominantly left-handed or right-handed. Although it is important to try and identify which hand is more dominant, so you allocate appropriate resources and make your team aware.
First thing to do, is to check with the parents. Although they might not be sure.
A couple simple activities you could try to ascertain are:
- Give the child a toilet roll to look through. The child will generally hold it to the dominant eye.
- Put an item in the middle of a table and note which hand the child uses to pick it up
IMPORTANT: if a child naturally uses their left hand, it is NOT advisable to make them change it.
Teaching left-handed children to write.
- Pencil Grip - left-handed children follow the same pencil grip stages as right-handed children. When they reach the tripod grip, they might hold their pencil more upright to see what they are writing.