Im teaching a 5 year old German.He learns it at KG.He wanted to show me the numbers,but he wrote them mirrored

Question

the 1 having this small line on the right instead of left
the 2 was also mirror image, the 3 and 4 as well.. then the rest was right
but then, the 11 and 12 were both, mirrored AND the numbers in 12 were reversed, i.e. "21" AND mirrored!!
when i told his mother she didn't seem to make a fuss about it, and told me "it'll come by time"
a friend now is telling me that this might be an illness and the mother should take that into consideration

any experience abt such a matter?

Answer 1

My son is five (almost six) and though he can write most of his numbers (1-5) correctly, he turns around many letters. He knows, for example, how to write an "S" (it's the first letter in his name), but about half the time, he writes it backwards. The same happens with B, D, R and K.

Most little kids do this to some extent, unless they're mega genius children who start writing at 14 months. Given that many of the boy's numbers are NOT mirrored, I'd say there's a good argument that he is not dyslexic, but rather a five-year-old who is so excited that he can "write like a big person" that he doesn't discriminate on WHAT he is writing.

Keep an eye on it, obviously. It is better to be safe than sorry. But given the child's age, some amount of mirroring is normal. If it keeps on, he may need to be checked for dyslexia (which many famous and successful people have. No worries!).

Answer 2

Almost all children under 7 are dyslexic to some extent. If they are still writing backwards by 10 they can be assessed for dyslexia...a condition that makes people see things backward.

Some adults have that and it must be compensated for but nearly all children see that way in the early years. It is nothing to worry about.

Consider taking some early childhood education courses. You will hear more about it in those classes.

Answer 3

I teach Kindergarten and I see this every year by at least 4-5 students. It does come with time. I would recommend the student tracing the numbers a few times then trying it on their own a couple of times. Check out www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com

You can make your own worksheets where the first line they trace and the second line they try it on their own.

You are doing the right thing by modeling to this child...just keep modeling and have the child keep practicing. It is normal and should grow out of it.

Some 2nd graders still do reversals with their letters or numbers...Thats more of the grade level to start looking into why the student isn't forming the letters/numbers right.

Best of luck

Answer 4

All I can tell you from being a parent of 3 children that have made it to that age of 5 and one other that is 8 months. Is transcribing numbers backwards is a VERY normal growth issue. Really absolutely nothing to worry about at all at this point.

Answer 5

a lot of children have this, it is very common. If it should continue past age 7 or so then I would have him tested for dislexia. That's the illness your friend is telling you about. My 4 year old does the same thing, her 6 year old cousin used to do that and now it is fine. Most of the time they will outgrow it. Good Luck!

Answer 6

Yes, my son did that, and grew out of it by the time he was 7. At that point, if the numbers are still reversed, transposed, mirrored or similar ideas, then I would get him checked for dyslexia.

Answer 7

I volunteer in a K-garten class. It's very common for kids to write their letters backwards and reversed. So twenty-one is written as "12" for example. And three looks like "E". This is really normal at this age. Don't worry about it.

Answer 8

sounds like dyslexia. not real serious, it is considered a learning disorder, it can cause learning and reading to go at a slower pace. however, there are ways to work with it and not make learning/reading as hard as it could be for these people. check out the sites below and the mother might want to take her son to a center to get him diagnosed and helped.

Answer 9

At age 5 it isn't unusual for children to do this. This can continue into the second grade, at which point you would want to have him tested to see if he has Dyslexia.

Answer 10

Yes he more than likely has dyslexia, it should be checked out asap to avoid problems in the future.