Left Handed Printers
Do you know a child who is left-handed? Here are the key points you need-to-know for lefties
1) Page position:
For left-handed students, position and angle the page as shown here. This is the most comfortable position for most lefties. Some lefties prefer the page to be even more angled so go with your child / student’s preference as long as s/he is not hooking his/her wrist.
2) Neutral wrist position:
You want to avoid this hooking posture. Children develop this hook in order to see what they are writing and avoid smearing. Likely they are also holding the pencil too close to the tip.
3) Positioning on the pencil:
Have lefties hold the pencil 1-1.5" from the tip with their hand below the line so they can see what they are writing and to reduce smearing. Ensure students are sitting high enough over their desks so they can see over their work and the lighting is not causing a shadow from their hand.
Also, encourage a tripod grasp (just as you would for righties).
4) Letter Formation:
Encourage the formation of an O to be counter-clockwise (as for righties) as this will increase overall speed and fluency of writing. When forming letters such as: A, E, F, f, H, J, T, t, the student can pull back to make horizontal lines, rather than push like righties do. This will help prevent tearing the paper.
Bonus Tip:
Flip bound books or books with spirals backwards, starting from the last page to put the binding on the outside (right side).
Action Plan:
Set your child / student up for success using the information above.
And as always, be the hero you are meant to be!