Question about undetermined handedness

Trevor is a rightie, clear as it gets. Trent, though, switches OFTEN. Especially in fine motor tasks, he does better with his left. We're working on writing their names. Do I show him and pass the pencil to his left hand, put the pencil on the table for him to choose which hand, or pass it to his right and let him switch to the left if he likes? Or am I overthinking this and it doesn't matter?

 

handedness usually develops between ages 2 and 3. but its normal for some kids to take up to 4 or 5 before being fully established, and other kids continue to be ambidextrious into adulthood. i wouldn't think about it too much as how you hand him the pencil--if it helps, just do it with the point facing upward so he has to turn it and reposition it on his own (and he might or might not pass it to the other hand). i think what might help you is to observe him as he colors or uses writing utensils so you can check his grip, and how he seems more comfortable.

if you notice he is struggling you could say "does the pencil feel comfortable in that hand, or would you like to try with the other one?" and respect his answer. if you pressure him to use one over the other it could lead to confusion, so i would just sit back and see how he continues to develop...ETA: it is fine, however, to teach him the correct way to grip the pencil so he has most control over it...

 

Debi - this is spooky! I logged into TS to ask basically this same question. Neither of my girls seems to favor one hand or the other. They're currently coloring with crayons and switching hands with almost every crayon. I suspect that Cricket is left handed and Piper is right handed based on watching them over the past few weeks, but that's only a guess. Right now I put things (crayons, paintbrushes, utensils) directly in front of both girls so that I'm not favoring one hand over the other, but I don't know if that's the right thing to do.

My dad and I are the only right handed people in our family and DH's family is equally split between right and left handers, so I recognize my girls have a high chance of being left handed. Just not sure how to encourage them properly at this age... whether I should teach them how to hold utensils and crayons in both hands, or just let them do it however they want now.

 

Let them do what comes natural to them. By the time they get to K, they should determine their preference.

 

I think Sandra had good advice. Correct his grip if you need to, but just do it in the hand that he's already holding the crayon. He'll figure it out soon, I'm sure.

We always just gave Nadia a utensil or a crayon, and let her use it the way she wanted to -- and 100% of the time, she used her left hand. We didn't worry about correcting her grip until she was 4, and even now in kindergarten, they still work on that.

My younger two appear to be right-handed so far, but I think it's too early to tell. They both self-feed fairly well right-handed, though, virtually all the time.

Total tangent, but something interesting -- Nadia's kindergarten class uses the Orton Gillingham method of learning to read. Part of the method is to tap out words and sounds on the shoulder, elbow, and then slide between those two. But, left-handers use the opposite hand and arm to do it, and they tap the elbow, wrist, and slide between those two, instead. Something about the brain actually processing differently depending on if the child is right- or left-handed, which I never knew.

 

cameron uses both hands also. in fact, you'll often find him drawing with a crayon in each hand! i expected him to be a leftie because of his extreme left dominance as a baby (we saw a neurologist and had an mri because of it). but now it seems he might end up a rightie - he throws with his right hand, but still uses both to write - so i really have no idea! whenever i've tried to encourage him to try switching hands to see if it's easier to control the pen or whatever, he resists, so i'm now trying not to say anything about it.

 

Sarah is the same way. For the longest time she would switch hands and I never knew which hand to give her things. To this day she now colors, draws, and writes right handed, but bats, plays golf, and other sports left handed. So, when I was working with them, I began just putting the pencil or crayon down in front of Sarah and letting her pick it up instead of handing it to her because I felt like I was forcing her to be one way or the other. She naturally chooses her right hand all the time now for drawing, coloring, etc., but still switches for sports related activities (which her dad is totally stoked about).

 

That's so funny, because Nadia is exactly the opposite. She writes and eats with her left hand, but she plays golf and tennis right-handed (she's had lessons in both, and the instructors both said she was *much* stronger right-handed), and she kicks with her right foot.

We asked the pediatrician about it, and he did a little test to find out which eye was dominant -- he rolled up a piece of paper to make a telescope, and asked her to look through it. Well, the silly kid put it directly in the middle of her forehead, LOL.

 

I'm an adult (duh!) and I play sports left handed, write right handed and eat left handed. Fortunately people allowed me to just choose handedness for each thing. But I'm in no way ambidextrous, I can't throw with my right hand nor write with my left.

Having just checked, evidently it's called 'cross-dominance'. And just as the article states, although good at sports I can't shoot or do archery as my eye preference and hand preference don't align.

Maybe this is what Trent has? I think by allowing him to develop his own preferences you're doing the right thing)

(eta: here's an interesting articleabout handedness)

 

Jacob and Boden go back and forth - but they are opposite in what they do, which I find kinda interesting. I don't know if identical twins are "supposed" to be the same handedness or not.

Anyway - Jacob usually colors with his left and eats with his right. Boden is the opposite.

Ella is left handed and a lot of DH's family is as well (including DH). Everyone in my immediate family is right-handed.

 

My mom is a lefty and so am I. Because I felt like it was tough growing up a lefty, I really hoped that this trait would skip my kids. No such luck.

DD is SO lefty. She has been from day 1. I was super cautious to not put items in that hand so I wasn't subconsciously introducing bias, but she does it all left-handed. I also noticed that when she was learning stairs, she always led with her left leg, too.

DS is a different story. He eats left, generally writes left, plays with his cars left, but every now and then colors with his right.

When we do crafty things, I just put things in front of them now. As DD does more doodle pro/coloring tasks, I am trying to show her how to hold the utensil so that her wrist is rotated (so thumb is pointing up instead of pointing downward).