Does anyone know of a handwriting program that would work well for a lefty? Ds is 5, I'm thinking of getting him something for next year. Any ideas?
Ah...lefties, I've got them too I am planning on using A Reason for Writing. We've previously used freebies from online and HWT, which did not impressed me.
I honestly do not know of any. I am left handed and my slant is the opposite direction. I also write with my paper sideways, writing toward my body so I do not smear the ink.
Oh, yeah. I also have a righty who angles the paper to the right (as a lefty would) and writes slanted like a lefty!
My younger daughter is a lefty, so I need to find something for next year, too. We used Getty & Dubay's Italics workbooks with Joy and really liked them. I'm going to try them with Katie, too, and see how it goes. I'm not picky about slants and etc, as long as the handwriting is readable.
When I was in public school, I had to use the same program the whole class used. I do not remember having a problem with it. Perhaps other left handers might. I am not sure. When I think about it, I remember my teachers always taking the pencil and putting it in my right hand, as though being left handed was some kind of disease or brain malfunction!
My DS, 5, is also a lefty. I just taught him the same way I taught my DD, 6, who is a righty; he just does it with his left hand instead of his right. He writes better than she does, and he mastered the skill much faster. I think mastering handwriting is more about good fine motor skills than whether you're left- or right-handed. My son has always had excellent motor skills, so he really just seemed to grasp how he needed to hold the pencil to make it work. I will add, though, that I'm no stickler for the idea of holding a pencil a certain way. I figure if the kid is writing and it's legible, then his way of holding it is obviously just fine. People always tell me that I hold my pen wrong, but they also say I have excellent handwriting.
this year we tried something new called "Pentime" available from Rainbow Resource - it is a different approach (we are using it for grade 6) where they learn certain letters/blends, then copy a paragraph about an animal. Even our educational specialist at the charter thought it was one of the neatest programs she had seen! My ds (a lefty) has the WORST handwriting (no joke - I would put it up against any of your "worsts" - it has not changed since first grade) and while his printing is still ATROCIOUS, his cursive is legible. He HATES cursive -- he says it hurts his hand -- and prefers to print, but he knows that if someone wants to read it, including himself, he needs to write cursive. We have been very happy with this program. We had tried HWT and some Christian programs, and this has worked the best thus far. The other thing we have done is integrate Draw Write Now into the program as well, to help the overall hand control. We use it on our off-times, or during the summer, and the kids really like it.
Elijah is a lefty and has beautiful handwriting, both printing and cursive. We used A Beka - that is what he started with at the Christian school and we just continued with it. He also would rather print than use cursive. My older son is the same way, left handed and nice handwriting.
I think you'd be fine just finding something that looks good to you and trying it. If it doesn't work out you can always switch. Here is a link to show you different styles.
Your welcome. There are lots to look at. Also, looking through the RR site helps a bit. You can what categories the books fall into.
I'm left handed too. I hated trying to write like the teachers wanted me too. I didnt slant my paper like they wanted me too. All of my kids so far are right handed, and I still let them slant however they want to. As long as their writing looks decent, I could care less how they angle their paper.
All of these kids with poor handwriting may just be on the road to becoming tomorrow's doctors!! I do work on writing with my youngest, but once they are old enough to write a paragraph, it's on to typing! It takes the "ugh" out of revising writing assignments. Just change what needs to be changed and press "print!"
My dd7, my only lefty, has improved SO much since we began HWT Cursive. I've always made sure that she slanted her paper the right way.
My dd10 is a lefty for writing and eating. she throws and bats right handed though. We use the Getty-Dubay Italic handwriting, and her handwriting is beautiful!
