LO is 4 years old and knows all her big and small letters, she also knows her numbers and many sight words from memory. However she often writes the lower case letters backwards and does the same with numbers too.For instance number 9 she writes as p and she writes d as b. I read online that this is somewhat normal for some kids unitl 2nd grade. Just wondering if anyone elses child does this
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Yup, normal. LO still sometimes mistakes "d" and "b." He also writes "s" backwards sometimes. We didn't do any writing until he was 5 (we did lots of fine motor skill stuff instead), so I definitely would not worry about this at 4.
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Yup, my LO is 4 too and has been tracing letters for awhile but is just now starting to write on his own. So far he only writes his name but he usually writes the g backwards. My friend is a second grade teacher and she says it is totally normal at this age.
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ok thats good to hear. Its interesting how only certain letters come out backwards haha.
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I did this and never stopped. I was eventually diagnosed as dyslexic. I'd still keep an eye on it.
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Very, very normal. It usually corrects itself and is not a cause for concern.
The LetterReflex app is a good way to practice proper orientation of commonly flipped letters in a fun way.
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Some of my 2nd grade students did this (usually b for d). Really not a concern until then.
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yep! my daughter writes her Y's backwards. i think its cute! when i was little i'd write my n's backwards. i wouldn't be worried at this age.
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Totally normal!
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thanks everyone
@Charm54: Thanks I'll check out that app too! -
Very bormal! b, d, q, and p and common reversals until the end of 2nd grade (longer if your child is young for the grade".
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@Mrsbells: I teach preschool and, like others said, totally normal. Plus, b, d, p, 9 all look so similar! When I watch kids do it, it usually stems from not starting the letter in the "right" spot and then they end up orienting it wrong. It's NBD until 2nd (I taught 2nd grade for a few years as well and by then it's mostly b/d).
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@ladybee: Thanks
@JoyfulKiwi: yes you are 100% she doesnt start them right and thats why! I'm glad to know its ok for now as she is still quite young
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@Mrsbells: try looking up handwriting without tears. They have cute sayings to help her remember. Also, I sing "we always start our letters at the top!"
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@ladybee: Thanks I'll check it out
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@Mrsbells: @ladybee: handwriting without tears is my favorite letter writing program! It's worth checking out for sure.
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@youboots: research has found that students with dyslexia greatly benefit from a multi-sensory approach that incorporates phonies instruction with cursive writing. The thought is that cursive letters, such as b, d, p, and q aren't easily confused in cursive.
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Yup. My sons handwriting is atrocious too. Not that I expected it to be brilliant for a four year old but it's not legible to anyone but me. He doesn't understand the concept of writing letters next to each other in a left to right format. So when he writes his name, the letters are scrambled in various areas of the page. His b is always backwards.
I've tried to work with him on handwriting and holding the pen correctly, but he is resistant so I don't want to push him because he's still so young. -
DD is 4yo and hasn't really been interested in writing. Yesterday, I got her a bubblegum smelling pencil and a matching pink journal. She ran off and wrote her name in it. The order is rarely right when she writes it on her own (but it's legible and I'm super happy).
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My son is 5 and he sometimes writes letters backwards, although it isn't with as much frequency as before. It usually occurs when he's done a bit of writing and his hand gets tired. You can tell the difference from the first to the last letters.
Another interesting thing that he does is that he forms the letters from the bottom up. I have some adult friends that still do this, I don't know if it's an issue that needs to be corrected, truth be told.
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@looch: my son is 4.5 and also writes letters from the bottom up. I'm pretty sure I remember mrs. cowgirl (kindergarten/first grade teacher) sharing that we should teach them from the top down.
I bought my son one of those dry erase letter practice books and it does show the proper order to write letters. We have only done it together a couple times. He doesn't get it yet. But again, he's 4.5 so really I'm not concerned at all. -
LO writes letters and numbers backwards as well. Practicing once a day usually does the trick. I just ask him to write his numbers and correct the wrong ones. Do it again the next day, and he usually commits it to memory. We like using dry erase boards.
When LO was first learning his alphabet and numbers we used these practice books from Lakeshore.
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@yin: we have some dry erase books like that but LO really prefers doing it on her whiteboard side of her easel. I think because then she can do the letters bigger. we have the 2 sided crayola easel
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My DD does that occasionally, with just her S, which is funny because it's the first letter of her name. She's 4 now and has been writing it mostly correctly recently, but before nearly always wrote it backwards. She also sometimes sounds words out backwards. I think when they're young they play around a bit and it's pretty normal to do things backwards as they learn.
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@Mrs. Pen: I think they are taught from the top down, at least that is what I can see in those handwriting books with the letter formation arrow pictures. I am just wondering how big a deal it is if he forms the letters from the bottom up, is it a problem that needs to be corrected or does it work itself out as they get older, because the letter is correct, you wouldn't know it was formed from the bottom while looking at it.
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@SugarplumsMom: so cute!
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Funny, today I spelled out a word for my son to write (while I wasn't watching) and he wrote the entire word backwards, like a perfect mirror image. He used to write his name backwards pretty often but normally writes it the correct way. He's 5, I'm not worried about it.
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