Classroom Support For
Left-Handed Kids

• Fine Motor Support For Left-Handed Kids
  
• Left-Handed Pencil Grip  
• Left-Handed Handwriting - positioning is important
• Left-Handed Challenges With Hands-On Subjects  
• Other Classroom Considerations  
• Helpful Resources

Fine Motor Support For Left-Handed Kids

The more a left-handed child uses their left hand in fine motor activities, the more skilled the hand and finger muscles will become.

Parents and teachers should make sure that lefties are using their left hands when using fine motor tools such as tweezers, tongs and paintbrushes, to get as much practice as possible.

All of the fine motor activities on my website are applicable to lefties, so please do check them out if you think your child needs some more fine motor practice.

Painting with the left hand

Scissor cutting is an important fine motor skill, because it develops the muscles of the hand that are used for controlling a pencil.

Your left-handed child needs to cut with the left hand, using left-handed scissors, in order to get these important fine motor benefits!

Cutting with the left hand

• Read more about why left-handed scissors are a thing!
• My 3 part series: teach your child to cut

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Left-Handed Pencil Grip

For both left- and right-handed kids, the tripod pencil grip (with the thumb, index and middle fingers on the pencil), is described as an ideal grip (shown alongside). This pencil grip enables the fingers to move freely.

However, there are a number of slight adaptations that are still efficient for all kids - pop on over and view photos of different "correct" pencil grasps.

But please remember that your lefty should not be forced to hold the pencil with three fingers - they need to move through the different stages of normal pencil grasp development as their fine motor skills improve.

 If your child tires easily when writing, you can strengthen the hand and finger muscles with simple activities. You may also want to consider the use of a pencil grip or ergonomically designed pens^#Ad and pencils to help your child.

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Left-Handed Handwriting: Positioning is Important!

Handwriting has historically been a challenging activity for left-handed kids. But the correct positioning of the child’s hand and arm, and the position of the paper on the desk, can help left-handed kids with writing tasks.

 - Left Hand Writing Position

Many left-handers develop a “hooked” wrist, as a way of seeing what they are drawing or writing on the paper. This is not ideal, as the “hooked” wrist blocks good finger movements, and it is very tiring to write in this position.

The best writing position for lefties, is to position the paper slightly to the left of the body, and then tilt the paper slightly to the right (clockwise), as shown. This enables them to see what they are writing as they write, prevents smudging, and helps the hand and fingers to maintain a functional pencil grip.

 - Seating Position for Lefties

When a left-handed child is seated on the right hand side of a desk, next to a right-handed child, the elbows of their writing hands may bump.

Left-handed children should be seated on the left hand side of a desk, or with other left-handed students, to avoid bumping elbows! ^{(Image created by AI)}

If kids are working on a project in pairs , remind your lefty to work on the left hand side of the table/equipment/project to avoid accidental knocks and bumps.

If your classroom uses chairs with writing tablets attached, please ensure there is a left version available for your lefties, or look out for left-handed desks, which have more writing surface and arm support on the left side.

 - Teaching Left-Handed Writing

When they are learning to write, some lefties tend to work from right to left and reverse their letters and numbers, because it feels more natural to them. You may need to spend more time reinforcing the correct letter formations.

Try Handwriting Heroes, which is a fantastic program teaching letter formations and handwriting in a multi-sensory way - effective for both left- and right-handers.

To help your child to work from left to right, it may help to draw an arrow at the top of each handwriting page, or to put an arrow on the desk.

Having an effective seating position as described above, and positioning the hand and arm for writing, will help a lefty to see their work better, which makes it easier for them to work from left to right.

An effective position for handwriting

You may also want to consider using left-handed notebooks^#Ad. These open on the other side, so the spine of the book is not in the way.

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Left-Handed Challenges With Hands-On Subjects

Many tools and instructions for hands-on subjects are designed for the right handed majority. This often results in lefties experiencing unnecessary frustration, clumsiness and embarrassment.

Here, I highlight some strategies and left-handed supplies which are designed to give lefties a more satisfying experience in learning hands-on subjects.

 - Cooking Classes

• Can-openers, many vegetable peelers, and the serrated edge of bread knives, are designed for right-handers.
• Take a look at your utensils - does your saucepan have a pouring lip on both sides, or is it only comfortable for pouring from the right hand?
  
• Consider investing in left-handed versions of these implements - they make great gifts for left-handed people! Amazon stock left-handed can openers^#Ad and left-handed kitchen shears^#Ad.

 - Woodwork, metalwork etc

• Many tools have operating buttons and safety overrides positioned for ease of access by right-handers. Make sure that your lefty can easily operate these without compromising on safety.
• Check that your left-hander is not contorting the body to use a power tool, as this can be dangerous. Rather set up the work area for easier access.
• Did you realize that even a measuring tape is geared to right-handed people - when a left-handed person uses it naturally, the numbers are upside down to view! This left-handed measuring tape^#Ad could be a great gift for your lefty!

 - Handcrafts

• When teaching sewing, knitting, crochet and other tasks, we usually come alongside learners in order to demonstrate the techniques. However, right-handed teachers should sit opposite a left-handed student so they can mirror the technique.

 - Stationery

• You can now get left-handed sharpeners^#Ad and left-handed rulers^#Ad (the numbers run from right to left, making it easier to measure), which reduces the awkward positioning and movement that lefties experience.
• Notebooks for left handed people^#Ad open in such a way that the spirals and spines are not in the way of writing.

These may seem like unnecessary purchases, but they can be very encouraging to lefties who have to work harder to carry out tasks that come more easily to right-handed kids.

 - Computer Work

A standard computer mouse is usually designed and set up for right-handed people.

• If you have a standard-shaped mouse, use the operating system on your computer to reconfigure the button function for left-handers.
• For a great gift idea, look out for an ergonomically designed left-hand computer mouse!^#Ad

• Keyboards also come in left-hand versions^#Ad, with the number pad and function buttons set up for left-hand dominant people.

 - Lab Work

• Be aware that controls for the microscope and other lab equipment such as burettes are often on the right hand side, making it awkward for a left-handed person to control.
  Take this into consideration, especially if there is a timed element involved, as it may take a bit longer for a lefty to use the equipment effectively.

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Other Classroom Considerations

 - Work spaces

Most workspaces/labs/computer stations are set up for right-handers - encourage your child to speak up and request permission to change the layout to make it less awkward, arranging tools, ingredients etc on the left, instead of on the right.

If your child needs to write on a board, position them to the right of the board, giving enough space for the left arm to write without smudging the work.

When working on a table, ensure there is enough writing/working surface on the left-hand side of the equipment. 

 - Question Papers

• Do your question papers have the questions in the left column with the answers to be filled in on the right? If so, lefties will constantly be lifting up the hand to see the next question before filling in the answer.
• Consider placing an additional question sheet on the right hand side so your lefty can see the questions on the additional sheet while filling in answers with minimum movement on the original sheet.

Although many lefties won't need this additional support, if your child has a learning difficulty that slows down work, then these small steps can make a difference.

Being left-handed no longer carries the stigma that it did in days gone by. However, living as a lefty in a right-handed world does have some challenges.

I trust this article will help you support the left-handed kids in your classroom, so they can focus on enjoying the learning process!

Please do consult your health professional if you are in any way concerned about your child’s development as a left-hander!

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Helpful Resources for Left-Handed Kids

• OT Mom's Fine Motor Resources - a plethora of hand exercises, finger skills and much more!
  
• OT Mom's Scissor Cutting Guide - everything you need to help your child master scissor skills!
  
• Your Left-Handed Child by Lauren Milsom
• Left Handed Supplies on Amazon^#Ad

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