Lefthandedness

This week I did a PowerPoint presentation for my Children's Literature class on lefthandedness. Last year I did a research project on this subject for my psychology class which I expanded on for my English research paper. This subject was of great interest to me because my granddaughter, who is in fifth grade,  is left handed. She struggles immensely with writing and her handwriting is worse than a preschooler. I wish I would have known about how I could have helped her while she was developing her handwriting skills. Every one who is studying to be a teacher needs to know the techniques of teaching handwriting to their left handed students. They need to equip their classroom with left handed scissors, rulers, and pencil grips.They need to learn the correct positioning of paper or journals that the student is to write upon. What is so troubling is that teachers or those who are learning to be teachers are not taught how to help students who are left handed. This is a subject that does not come up. These students need proper guidance and instruction in forming their letters when writing, how to sit, and how to hold their hand when they write. There are many books on the subject and their is even a Lefthanders web site that has a newsletter and sells supplies just for lefthanders. They have many interesting facts on the history of lefthandedness, plus a survey they conducted with left handed students. The survey is quite revealing and gives great insite into the classroom of a left handed student.  I would recommend to anyone who is going to be a teacher to investigate this area further.You will be doing your left handed students a great service; one they will use for a lifetime. The website for more information on lefthandedness is http://www.lefthandersday.com/.