Left-handed

Your child prefers the left hand? Absolutely okay! No need to worry: this is nothing out of the ordinary. About every tenth person is left-handed or left-handed from birth. Your child should be free to choose what he or she does with which hand. To make the start in school easier for your left-handed child, you can promote it specifically.

Left-handedness is congenital. It means that the right side of the brain is more pronounced. Scientific research has long shown that left-handedness says nothing about a child's aptitude or ability. Your child only activities that require particularly high speed, strength or skill, prefer to do with the left.

A re-education, however, would have fatal consequences! Must the weaker half of the brain, so here the left, take over more power, this can lead to overload and developmental disorders. This is to be avoided at all costs. With right-handed people is it by the way exactly the opposite: A re-training on the left would have the same negative consequences.

As a right-handed parent, it is often difficult to empathize with the left-handed child: how do I explain the correct pencil position and how to use scissors? Pretending doesn't work. Textbook publishers and manufacturers of educational materials have information and accompanying materials available for parents. In addition to special school materials, there are also many utensils that make it easier for your left-handed child: from children's cutlery to paring knives, carving knives to computer keyboards and mice. Even specially designed for left-handed children musical instruments are now available in specialized stores.

In school, the rule of the "right" and the "wrong" hand has long ceased to exist. Scientifically, both hands are "right" as a writing hand. Therefore, if your child has the right disposition, he or she should definitely write with the left hand from the beginning and not feel that you are worried about it. Also, left-handedness should never make your child feel "wrong" or "clumsy." However, since children do not like to stand out, it is important to make sure that your child does not try to retrain himself to right-handedness by imitating.

• At the workplace for homework, make sure there is enough room for the left arm to move. Also, the light should come from the right.
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• Help your child push the writing notebook to the bottom right edge. This will allow your child to keep his writing hand relaxed and not smudge the writing later with the fountain pen or rollerball. It also makes it easier for them to see what they have written. A special writing pad helps to find the right position.
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• Promote a relaxed writing posture of your child: The left hand rests on the side edge and the right hand holds the notebook or sheet firmly.
• Often in beginning lessons, children are asked to copy letters that are prescribed at the beginning of the line. Support your child here by writing the appropriate letter at the right end of the line. So your child can better see what to write.
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• Think about breaks for your child and yourself!

Perhaps your child has not yet decided which hand it uses as the better one for itself. This can also happen. Some children switch back and forth in their "handedness" several times during the first years of life. Usually, the issue clears up by the age of five, but it can take longer in isolated cases. By the start of school, it should be clear which hand is the writing hand. If necessary speak to your pediatrician about it. If necessary, the handedness can be clarified via special tests. This is important so that your child can learn to write from the beginning without tension and in a relaxed posture.