An important feature of children with the leading left hand is the individual speed of development. Due to the violation of spatial-visual perception, it is more difficult for them to learn to read https://argoprep.com/blog/project-based-learning-pbl-examples/, write and count in the world of right-handers.
We tell from our practice what problems left-handers most often face when learning to read:
1. Orientation in space
If for a right-hander there is nothing difficult to raise the right or left hand and understand which side of it the object is, then for the left-hander this is not an easy task if there are no auxiliary signs. Next, we will explain what these signs can be.
How does this affect learning to read?
It is difficult for a child to remember how the letters and https://argoprep.com/blog/goal-and-strategy-for-schools/ should look correctly, in which direction their constituent elements should “look”. For example, a left-hander can easily confuse “A” and “L”, the Russian “I” and the English “R”, because he does not notice the difference between them.
How to help a child?
First, teach your child to clearly distinguish between right and left. To do this, on his leading hand, you can draw a checkmark with a pen or tie a thread. Thanks to this, he will know that everything relative to this hand is “left”, and relative to the other – right.
Further consolidate this skill. Every day ask your child questions: “What is on your right and what is on your left?”, “What is above and what is below?”, “Are you going forward or backward?”
Over time, orientation in space will become automatic and it will be easier for the child to remember the letters and their spelling.
2. Dyslexia in lefties
Dyslexia is a selective impairment of the ability to master reading and writing skills while maintaining a general ability to learn.
How does this affect learning to read?
For such children, letters in words look like hooks and are remembered as pictures. That is, in order for a child to learn a word and attach a meaning to it, you first need to remember the picture from the hooks in great detail. And then he already guesses what might be written there. As a result, reading turns into torment and takes a lot of time and effort.
So that you can independently determine whether your child has dyslexia, we have made a detailed article. It also contains tips on how to properly teach a child with dyslexia. Read here Why can’t a child learn to read?
3. Mirror reading
Since the child does not have an understanding of the left and right directions, generalization occurs in the field of mirror orientation. Symmetrical generalization creates difficulties in understanding and leads to errors with letters such as “I” and “R”, “p” and “q”, etc.
Such a phenomenon may disappear by itself when interhemispheric connections are formed in the child and mirror-symmetrical movements are inhibited, by about 8-10 years.
How to help a child?
Ask your child to complete the missing elements on their own.
For classes, you can purchase a special coloring book, where there are unfinished characters. It is important that in the process of drawing the child leads the line where necessary, and not up, down or sideways. Help with your hand if he fails.