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Left handed cursive writing

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We recently had an email on cursive writing and the design of our Left handed writing guide mat and thought others may be interested in the answers.
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Customer email

Hi,
Thank you for your email requesting some product reviews. I have one general feedback comment which is that your products do not come in cursive script. My son's school begin by teaching cursive writing believing it is generally neater and easier (I have to agree). I have overwritten the writing guide that I bought with a pen, so that all the small letters begin at the bottom. Having done this, I have to say that it seems easier for children and particularly left handers to grasp letter formation as all the letters begin in the same place. I realise though that you may not have enough demand for these.
It wasn't too much of a problem to change the guide (although a cursive version would be nice), but the skills pad is more problematic as my son wants to form the letters the same way that they appear in the pad. A cursive version would be wonderful!
Finally, I would like to say that I am slightly disappointed with the finish of the guide. I thought it would be more like the plastic dinner mats that children have which are a bit more robust for regular use. I have taken one into school and advised them to laminate it, which they have done, to improve its durability.
I hope my feedback is useful.
Regards, Amanda
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Reply from Keith

Hi Amanda

Thanks you for your comments and taking the time to let me know about it.

As schools differ widely in their teaching approaches (and also around the world), we didn't go for a cursive style on the mat so it was more widely useful.  However our guides on Left Handed Writing Skills all use letter formation that progresses into cursive writing to have the appropriate hooks and endings.  The third book in the series uses cursive script.

Left handed writing Skills Book 1 - Fabulous Fine Motor Skills


Left handed writing Skills Book 2 - Funky Formation And Flow


Left handed writing Skills Book 3 - Successful Smudge Free Writing

Regarding the quality of the mats, we always have a trade-off between production quality and weight for posting against the cost of the product and we try to get a balance where we can provide a usable product at a low price.

That said, next time we produce these I will look at the cost of a heavier duty version, but we would no doubt have to sell it at a higher price.

I hope that helps.
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Comments 13

  1. Karen
    I am 41 and struggled at school with scissors and handwriting. It wasn't until many years later, that I found out that it was because I was left handed. At no point did any of my teachers tell me to write with my right hand, but neither did they help me understand why I could not 'cut out' neatly or produce lovely handwriting.
    It was only in my senior school when learning to write with fountain pens, that I discovered that If I turned the paper 90 degrees, that I could produce lovely handwritten notes, withough leaving ink smudges over the page, and avoiding a 'blue crescent moon' on my left hand (caused by my hand travelling over the ink.
    I still have any workbooks at a 90 degree angle to this day. I have also learned that if you use a computer mouse as a right handed person would, you have the added advantage of using a computer and making notes at the same time - a useful skill.

    Hope this helps a little in helping any children struggling with lefthandedness.
  2. Rachel
    I have a nine-year old left-handed son who is having trouble doing "joined-up writing" at school and is being made to do it. It's very slow and he never seems to get it right. I'm interested in discussion and will try him out with tilting the page to the right, as your contributors suggest, and hope it will work!

    In the meantime, please could someone explain what is meant by writing "backhand"?

    Thanks, Rachel
    1. Sonia
      Don't worry! There is nothing unusual about a 9-year-old, left-handed, boy having difficulty with cursive. Developmental maturity is probably the issue here since boys, especially left-handed ones, are late to mature in their fine-motor skills. The school's insistence on it could be the issue. Remind them children learn best in a stress-free environment where they are permitted to develop their skills at a developmentally appropriate pace without shame, pressure, or frustration. Perhaps he can be encouraged to learn cursive without being forced to perform a skill in which he has not yet developed proficiency and confidence. It is not an academically necessary skill, so teachers just need to give your kid a break and allow him time to mature.
  3. Linda Evans
    When i started Nursing school in the Mid 80"s I was able to fine left handed spiral notebooks for my notes can you help me in locating them again,it makes writting and takeing notes so much easier,I awate your answer,thank you Linda Evans
  4. Caty
    I well remember the day (in the late 50s), that I decided that something had to change.

    I was in the 4th grade, and we were working on a writing assignment, in class. My paper had inky transfers all over it, and the left cuff on my new dress was smeared with blue.

    "There HAS to be a better way. I will NOT go through life like this!" I'm sure that it was the first time that I ever reflected on the many years that were, likely, ahead of me.

    It took only a couple of minutes to find the correct angle for the paper. I had known that I was different, because I wrote overhand. But, it didn't really bother me. Now, that I was making a "life adjustment," I decided that I wasn't going to crook my wrist backward, either.

    I set out to develop beautiful, readable handwriting, and I succeeded. Of course, you guys know the rest. Since then, I've heard: "You have such beautiful handwriting ... for someone left handed." I just laugh.
    1. Davene
      I don't know if anyone else knows this. They probably do, but would like to share how to teach a left hander to write. It all has to do with the tilt o the paper. When I was learning to write the teacher told me to angle paper to the left. You can only write overhanded like that. Tilt the paper to the right and you can write beautifully with hand straight up. Wish I could draw you a picture.
  5. David
    I feel a bit of a fraud here. I've been a Right-Hander for 50 years, and pretty good with it, but a stroke 2 years ago has left me completely dependent on my left hand. My writing is atrocious. I've not even got to joined up (cursive?) writing yet. Will these left handed writing aids help me? Or am I too far gone right handedwise, and stick to one-fingered-typing?
    1. Kelly
      David,

      First: I'm terribly sorry to hear about your stroke. I hope you are doing well.
      Second: I had to write right handed for a while when I broke my left wrist and hand, and I always felt clumsy. I could never, and still cannot, find a comfortable way to hold a pen right-handed. I felt like I was learning a whole new alphabet! Writing with the hand that isn't natural for you will always be challenging. Right-handed people are left-minded so, as a natural righty, using your left hand to write is completely opposite to what your brain is accustom to. So don't get discouraged! Just take it slow and maybe practice in a notebook, if you have nothing more exciting to do =P

      Kelly
  6. Joan Swanson
    Where can I find information on hooked left handed and hooked rightg handed?
  7. Bill
    I'm 80 years old and I'm glad that my parents told the Teachers to leave me alone, don't try to change me. I learned cursive writing by forming the letters that were always above the blackboards. I immediately canted my paper to the right. Even today people comment that I don't write "backhand". I remembered that the windows in the classroom were always on the left so that the "righties" would not have a shadow across their work. In truth I taught myself to write. It really isn't natural for a leftie to be writing "backhand". I think one of the problems is the parents start teaching the lefties to write the way they do and sometimes that's when the "backhand" writing is started, so the Teachers can't be blamed for all of it.
  8. Kay
    I hope that in your quest for getting information out to teaching lefties that you also include angle of the page...it IS different for us!! My son and now granddaughter have argued with the teachers on angle of page....once I turned the page for them their writing improved dramatically!!
  9. Mary
    The books are good as well - I am sure it is good for the children to practice various styles of writing until they find what they are most comfortable with.
  10. Joe
    My son has found the writing mat very helpful and we thought the quality was good - it has lasted well and we have wiped off his practice work a lot of times.

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