Left-Handed Writers

Teaching left-handed children to write takes thoughtful procedure on the part of educators. Penmanship is a dying art, but until we live in a completely digital world, we need to teach handwriting to our elementary students. Left-handed students need early identification and help with their writing. Here are a few points to remember:

Pencil Grip
The Handedness Research Institute, which contains a wealth of information on how to deal with left-handed students recommends having the student hold the pencil two and a half centimeters back. The correct pencil grip look like this:

　

If a child is holding the pencil incorrectly, I prefer the use of a Stetro.  These are designed to position the fingers correctly. The arrow is pointed to the floor and the pencil is inserted. A left-handed child places the index finger on the star. (Right-handed a thumb)

 

Paper Positioning
For a left-handed child, the paper should be positioned left of the child's midline, and tilted so that the top right corner of the paper is closer to the child than the top left corner. The paper is placed so that the child's hand is to the left of, and away from, the body at the start of the writing line, and ends the line with the hand closer and in front of the body or slightly to the left of midline.