How to determine if my 5-year old child is left-handed or right-handed?

Question

My son can't seem to decide if he is left-handed or right-handed. He uses both from time to time. At kindergarden the teacher says he's right-handed. But he writes certain letters in the left-handed way. And, his writing and drawing skill is behind his peers. Surely there must be ways of finding out. Help!

Answer 1

Determining Hand Dominance
How can one decide which hand the child should use in writing? Wrong choices at the readiness and early primary level could be detrimental to the child's writing and perhaps to the child's learning ability and personality. The choice, then, is an important one.

If the child is definitely left-handed, it is better to teach her or him to use that hand in writing. If, however, there is some doubt as to which is the dominant hand, there are several simple ways of determining which will be the hand to train.

A few guidelines should be observed in these procedures. Do not tell the child that she or he is being tested. Work with only one child at a time. Keep a record as to which hand is used for each specific situation. Let the child pick up the testing materials; do not hand them to the child. Keep a tally of the procedures. If the child indicates true ambidexterity, it is probably better to train the right hand.

Several procedures are listed below. There are many other simple play situations that the observant teacher will find helpful for determining hand dominance.

Hand puppet
Place a hand puppet on the table. In a play situation, observe the child to see which hand she or he puts the puppet on.

Key and lock
Padlock a cupboard in the classroom. Place the key on a desk. Ask the child to take the key and unlock the padlock and bring you an object from the cupboard. Observe the child as she or he unlocks the padlock and picks up the object.

Hammering nails
Place a toy hammer and nails, or pegs and pegboard on the table. Observe the child as she or he hammers several nails into place, or puts pegs into pegboard.

Screwing lids on jars
Place several jars of various sizes with removable lids on the table. Place the lids in a separate pile. Ask the child to match the lids with the jars, put the lids on the jars, and close them.

Throwing a ball
Place a rubber ball on the floor. Ask the child to pick up the ball and throw it to you.

Holding a spoon
At lunchtime, or in a play situation where the child must use eating utensils, observe which hand is used.

Cutting with scissors
Place a pair of scissors and a piece of colored construction paper on the table. Instruct the child to cut the paper into strips. Observe which hand is used to pick up the scissors and to cut the paper. Next, place paper of a different color on the table and have the child repeat the process. Did the child use the same hand or change hands? Repeat with a third color.

Positions for Writing
Paper Position
For manuscript writing, the left-hander should position the paper with the lower right corner a little to the left of the midsection. For cursive writing, the paper is slanted less, with the lower right corner pointing toward the midsection or just a little to the right of it. The strokes are pulled down toward the left elbow, whether manuscript or cursive is being written.

Pencil Position
The writing instrument is held between the thumb and first two fingers, about an inch above its point. The first finger rests on the top of the pencil or pen. The end of the bent thumb is placed against the writing instrument to hold it high in the hand and near the large knuckle. The top of the instrument points in the direction of the left elbow. The writing should take place within the left half of the desk surface, i.e., to the left of the midline of the body. The paper should be shifted to the left as the writing progresses across the page.

Answer 2

My son had the same problem. He would say "this is my crayon hand and this is my painting hand". I am sorry to be the one to break this to you, but in cases as extreme as this it is often the sign of a some type of learning disability. Spend some time watching your son and see which hand he uses to pick things up, throw a ball, look at which hand produces the neatest writing. This problem can also cause a delay in learning to write. My guess would be that if you watch your son he will use his body as a half way point and if his has something in one hand and wants to move it to the other side of the table he will put it down or change changes hands half way there. You should really talk to the teacher and have her recommend your son for something called a "Physco-Educational assessment" All this means is that they will be testing your child for learning disabilities. Trust me these things are better when they are caught early.

Answer 3

You're not a terrible mom because you realize that what you did was out of line. She's too little to understand that eating poop is bad. They put everything they can get their hands on in their mouths. Having a child is as much of a frustration as it is a blessing, so you need to learn some self control. I was mentally and physically abused as a child too. I remember feeling so empty one time when I was little, like something was missing from my day and I realized that it was because I didn't cry at all that day or get my daily beating from my mother. She was abused too, as was her mom, and I made a conscious decision to end the cycle with my mother. When you feel the urge, stop yourself immediately and ask yourself if you want your baby to go through the same abuse you went through. An occasional thump on the butt is ok when she is out of line, but at 1 year old, it's way to young because at this age, she doesn't fully understand good and bad. If you feel depressed (and some anger issues?), get to a doctor. It's not good for you or your child. You need to end your cycle of abuse as well.

Answer 4

I wouldn't be concerned about it. It is great that he uses both hands from time to time. Encourage that as much as you can. If you have to know right now then I would go with what the teacher says since the child is there at school all day and she can observe his behavior.

Answer 5

Your son is probably right handed. Boys tend to lag in fine motor development so don't worry about him being behind for now. Alot of children form their letters the "left handed way" because it makes more sense to them and is more comfortable. Handed-ness is not really something to worry about! Give him things to do that improve his fine motor skills like building with little Lego's, coloring books, cutting with small scissors and tracing.

Answer 6

Sorry to tell you but noboby knows if they are right or left handed some people find out later in live, so dont worry just work with him and let the teacher help him to he should be fine so dont worry, and so you will know I can write with both hands just fine.

Answer 7

I play snooker or pool mainly with my right hand, darts only with my left, I "write with my right" and do other things with either.

He may well develop a degree of ambidexterousness.

A quick idea though would be to "play catch" with a ball and then ask him if he can try and catch a few with just one hand - which does he favour?

Answer 8

It's possible he's ambidextrous. Don't force him to choose a handedness, but wait and see. If you're concerned about his developmental rate, talk with his teacher and pediatrician about that, and mention his handedness at that time.

Answer 9

My best Friend bats lefty and writes with her Right hand he might be able to use both so just wait and see it's no big deal.

Answer 10

throw a ball to him in surprise.

do it few times from few angles.

(small and soft ball)

make it like a game for a day or two and you will know.

there are people that can use both hands