Learning to write well takes perseverance and practice, whether the writer is left-handed or right-handed, and the development of very specific fine motor control.
Handwriting remains a vitally important skill – despite the ubiquitous keyboard and mobile text-pad. Early on, children need handwriting to make notes at school, to write messages and cards, and so on. Later, good handwriting is essential for homework, essays and, critically, exams – as well as in many other daily uses!
For the left-handed, development of the skill of handwriting – in the 'right-handed' world where text runs from left to right – needs even more help. Without special guidance, left-handers often develop inappropriate fine motor skills and, consequently, difficult and tiring writing styles. Their writing can become 'messy' and ‘smudged’. This is essentially because left-handed writers have to push the pen across the paper (if you are right-handed, try writing backwards to get a feel for the problem). With their hand following the pen, left-handed writers will tend to cover up and so hide what they’ve just written, and possibly to smudge their writing as they go.
To avoid these problems, the left-hander will then often adopt a crab-like posture for the writing hand. With all the other pressures on teaching staff, schools find it difficult to make special provision for left-handed children – especially when it comes to handwriting – so these practical difficulties are often over-looked.
The real problems, though, can emerge later. Poor hand posture is tiring. And poor handwriting, which others can't read easily, tends to invite the remarks such as ‘messy’ and ‘untidy’ – however good the content of what’s been written might be! Comments like these can cause frustration and loss of self-esteem to many left-handers, and subsequently lead to general under-performance. With the introduction of correct fine motor skills, however, and good writing habits - and plenty of practice – there is no reason why left-handers can't write just as well as their right-handed friends.
The Left Hand Writing Skills series helps make that a reality, whether used at school or at home – or, better still, both. The exercises help to replace the incorrect fine motor skills with more appropriate skills. The printed books are spiral-bound at the top to give free left-handed movement from the left side and across the page. And every page carries icons reminding the user exactly how to hold their pencil or pen, and how to position their paper in front of them on their work surface. Just a few minutes regular practice every day using the Left Hand Writing Skills worksheets, preferably with the encouragement of a parent, grandparent, or other accomplished writer, can make a real difference to the child's future achievement.
(For a more general introduction to left-handedness, check out The Left-hander’s Handbook by Diane G Paul, also published by Robinswood. It’s packed with helpful Guidelines and suggestions for parents and teachers of left-handers!)
"My ten-year-old grandson, Peter, is left-handed and was finding great difficulty in writing legibly and neatly. He was becoming very frustrated that his handwriting was much worse than other children of his age.
Then we spotted your Left Hand Writing Skills books. I bought those for Peter who was thrilled to have books designed especially for left-handers. He readily agreed to do a page of exercises each day during the school holidays. We helped him get into the habit of lining up the marker on each page with the edge of the table, and to hold his pencil correctly – with the aid of a pencil grip.
Peter was soon convinced that this was the key to neat writing: for the first time he could actually see what he had written – because this new technique meant that he no longer covered up the work he had already done. By the time he had completed the first book, there was a marked improvemnet in his written presentation.
When he returned to school his teacher simply couldn't believe that this neat writing came from Peter! It has made such a difference to the confidence and self-esteem of one young boy. We are so grateful to you for putting these books on the market.
Marjorie Carrier – Leamington Spa