About Me
I am an American expat teacher who has worked in International Schools in America, and American Schools in the Middle East. I’m married to a Middle-Easterner and have raised my children in the Middle East. Presently, I tutor private students. My blog is about both universal and culture-specific issues and dilemmas in education I run across daily, which affect students, teachers, and parents around-the-globe. I can be reached at lynnediligent@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Lynne Diligent
Dilemmas of an Expat Tutor 
July 25, 2012 at 3:58 am |
Did you ever write an article about teaching left vs. right-handed students?
Also, what do you think about the program, Handwriting Without Tears, that so many school districts in the US are now adopting?
Thanks!
Donna
July 25, 2012 at 11:55 am |
Donna, I am not familiar with the program you mention, but I will check it out and see about writing an article with my opinion. Yes, I have addressed teaching left vs. right-handed students. The short answer is that years ago, they used to tell left-handers to rotate their papers 45° to the right, while right-handers were told to rotate their papers 45° to the left. That is completely thrown out now. Left-handers also rotate their papers to the left now, just like right-handers. I was actually taught to become a cursive expert by a left-handed cursive master teacher, who also taught me about how to teach left-handers. The reason left-handers also rotate to the left is as follows: it enables left-handers to take a normal writing position, without dragging their hand and arm through what they have already written, smearing it. It also prevents them having to bend their wrist all around at a very awkward angle. (However, living in an Arabic-speaking country, since Arabic is written the opposite direction, from right to left, in this case, left-handers rotate to the right, and for exactly the same reasons–they don’t have to drag their hand or arm through what is already written.) Hope this helps. Lynne
July 26, 2012 at 2:07 am |
That is very interesting! Where can I read more about the latest research on teaching left-handers? Everything I have read has stated exactly that, i.e., rotate to the right! I have never read anything else. I have lots of left-handed students this year! Thanks so much!
July 26, 2012 at 2:15 am |
http://handedness.org/action/leftwrite.html
This is pretty typical of what I have read. The paper is still slanted to the right in Figure 2.
July 27, 2012 at 12:35 am |
Dee, I will try to contact the left-handed cursive expert who taught me, to be sure I have remembered correctly. This is assuming I can get hold of her through email in the next few days; she is presently in another country for the summer. –Lynne
January 16, 2016 at 4:19 am |
My previous supervisor, also an occupational therapist, taught me to teach the letters connecting as soon as possible, in fact, eventually connecting all lower case a-z. It worked well. It is important to practice the upper case as well, with short names of people or places. I worry about how college students will take notes (keyboard everything?) One son I taught cursive over the summer, and he can do it. My older son learned in school but didn’t like his writing. He gave it up and eventually forgot how. He can more or less read it, though. I agree on the Handwriting Without Tear: Yea! on the manuscript (printing) and Yuck! on her cursive.
January 19, 2016 at 12:34 am |
Thanks, it’s always a pleasure to read a comment from someone who agrees!