Proper Guidance For Left-Handed Children to Boost Their Academic Skills

Ages ago, human civilisation was limited only to hunting, eating and sleeping. But today, human civilisation has advanced a lot. In the course of this development, humans learned many things. As they struggled, their bodies changed. Due to these changes evolution took place.

But it is not necessary that the same changes are found in every person. For centuries humans have been using their right hand more. But there are some people in the world whose left hand is dominant. If your child is left-handed, you need to take special measures and guide him properly so that he can succeed academically.

Education is an important part of human life. Without education, one can neither get a place in society nor employment.  So, read on to this blog and learn how to give guidance to a left-handed child.

How do I know if my child is left-handed?

Young children tend to imitate the actions of their elders, but they do not have the same accuracy. For this reason, it can be difficult to know whether the child is left-handed or not. Generally, children start making small hand gestures by the age of two and a half to three years. But some children become active till one year. Now, you might have a question like, “how do I know if my child is left-handed?”. For this you can take help of the points given below –

  1. Eating – Give your child a bowl and spoon to eat. Then, eat food with a spoon in front of him or her. The child will definitely imitate your actions. If your child holds the spoon with left hand, then he or she is probably left-handed. That’s one easy way to find out if your child’s left hand is dominant or not.
  2. Scribbling – Children start doodling from an early age. Give your child a rough copy and a pencil. If he uses his left hand to write, then he is definitely a left handed child.
  3. Sports – Arrange a ball for your child which is not too heavy. Then play with it with your children. If your child uses his left foot while playing then he is left handed.

How to teach a left handed child to write ?

Teaching left handed children to write is not as easy as it seems. Because the number of left handed people in the world is only 10%, that is why no one even pays attention. Therefore, these people are not able to give 100% productivity in their work. As a result they have to face an inferiority complex. Below are some tips with the help of which you can teach writing to your left handed child –

  • Keep the paper tilted towards the child’s midline on the left side of the table.
  • Hold the pencil at a distance of 2 or 3 centimetres from the point. With this the child will be able to see what he has written.
  • Ask your child to provide stability to the paper with his right hand. This prevents the paper from slipping while writing.
  • Show them in detail how to hold a pencil with middle finger, thumb and index finger.
  • Use a 2B pencil in the beginning. For left handed children only pencils of wider diameter are helpful.

How to teach a left handed child to write letters with attentiveness?

As a parent of a young child, you may have a question in your mind like, how to teach a left handed child to write letters ? So that it can increase your child’s curiosity. Here are some tips for this –

  • Provide colourful pencils or crayons to your child. You can also use cartoonish stationery items. This will increase the Interest of children in using them.
  • Give them some tasks to complete like making alphabets or rearranging numbers.
  • As soon as they complete the task, give them some treats and also praise them. By doing this, they will become more interested in such activities.
  • If your child is left handed then do not compare him with any other child. Doing this may create an inferiority complex in them.

Nature has made everyone different in some aspects. Because of these differences, there is something unique present in every child. If your child is left-handed, there is no need to worry or feel inferior. Through proper guidance, you can always help your child learn writing and other tasks.

Try to observe your child from a very early age and their hand movements. It will help you find out about their hand dominance early and you’ll know how to proceed further. If need be, consult a counsellor for advice.

At Kangaroo kids international preschool we treat every child equally and emphasise on their overall growth. To learn more about our curriculum, contact us today.