All I know is that it is considered a "developmental step" for guy. When I worked preschool, we had a check list, and that was one of the things on it.
When I was considering putting my ds in 1st grade, (he's in 9th grade now)the first grade teacher gave him some "tests" to see if he was mature enough to go to the first grade. She said because he did not draw necks on his people, he was not mature and because he used both his hands - right and left hands - he was not mature. He is still uses both hands. He is left handed to write, but uses right hand for other things. My dd does not know how to tie her shoes yet, but has finished with K. She has mastered all that K expected of her and is continuing on to 1st grade things now. Each child is different and each child matures at different ages. My 15 dd is still not mature. Do what is working. If she is willing to learn, continue.
You're right, but if there are more than one of these things, it COULD be indicative of a learning delay of some kind. It has to do with how the nervous system matures. Hand dominance is an interesting issue, because ambidexterous people are usually considered more intelligent, but at the same time, clear hand dominance by a certain age is often a sign of learning disability. So go figure!!!
well my 3 1/2 yr old pees standing up and has since he was 2 1/2 to 3yrs old but while he prefers his right hand he still cant hold a pen properly and none of my kids ties shows but they only have velcro shoes so they havnt really had a chance
Well I can say by going off of the stuff we are using this year. That knowing how to read simple words, knowing simple punctuation, short and long vowel sounds, knows all letters and sounds, site words (the, is, has, yes etc (many others), reading right to left top to bottom, knowing simple spelling rules (like when to use c or k), able to count to 100 by 1's, 5's and 10's, count by 2's to 20, know odd and even, simple addition and subtraction, greater than less than and equal too, the number before after and in between, able to read the color words, and many other things are required in what we are doing. I opted for a K curriculum. I needed it for me. I was not and am not confident enough to come up with everything on my own. I like having the piece of mind that I know we are doing what is needed at that level. Even if it is someone else who set that level it is still a level for us to be at. Now that is just me.
I also am a lefty but do certain things righty. True ambidexterity past a certain age can be (but isn't always) a sign of learning disability. There used to be certain milestones by which all kids knew they had become "big kids" - tying shoes, telling time, and riding a two-wheeler. Nowadays, though, velcro shoes, digital watches, and battery-powered four-wheelers have blurred the lines.
A lot of kids end up ambedextrious because of teachers trying to force them to be right handed too. Not saying any of you have done this but some of the problems we have with seeing things reversed etc are because the child is using the wrong hand to write. I let my kids try both hands in the early years to figure what side was right for them and I use both hands, it has come in handy when I injured my shoulder and had tendonitis and got hit by a car, oh man im a clutz lol! Any way I taught my kids to value using both hands because you never know when you can't use your domanent hand.
Oh, I agree, TM, that the ability by choice to be able to use either hand is wonderful! But most of the ambidextrous people I've known who were that way just because they never developed handedness have had learning disabilities... like my nephew. When I was in first grade (we didn't have K back then), I was the only lefty, and I tried to change myself - don't know if that's why I have direction problems (go down here and turn left,.. no I mean the other left!) and can get lost in an elevator (did that once, for real... it was one of those with a front and a back door). LOL at me!!!
My French teacher in high school is ambidexterous. One day, she showed us how she can write "mirror image"...a pencil in both hands, the right hand writing forward, and the left writing the same thing backward at the same time!!! THAT was amazing!!! Keep in mind, that these things are POSSIBLE INDICATORS. There are always exceptions to every rule! I mean, a 2yo who isn't talking MIGHT have a hearing problem, or he might have older siblings that do all his talking for him, or maybe he's just not in a hurry to talk.
Jackie thats what I do too! My kids went through a faze a while back of asking me to do it for thier friends, lol like I was a trained pet ! I first realised it when we had an art project to do the mirror thing of your name and Ihad watched a lady on tv write b oth ways at the same time, so I did it just to see if I could. It was so easy none of my friends could do it though so I stopped doing it around them lol
Jackie, our neighbor when I was growing up had seven kids - five girls, a boy, then another girl. They got concerned because the boy wasn't talking yet, when they thought he should, so they took him to the doctor. The doctor laughed and said, "He'll talk when he has to! Stop giving him everything as soon as he grunts for it!" He knew that with five older sisters at home, this boy never needed to talk - so when they quit doing everything for him, surprise-surprise: he talked!
