Pages

11.19.2009

Things that make you go, "Hmmm"

So the other day Kylie decided that she wanted to write a letter to one of her China sisters. When she was finished I asked her if she wanted to sign her name so that Caroline would know who sent the note.

With no help at all from me (she's been singing a song to teach her how to spell her name since she could talk ~ it's the same tune my dad taught me to spell my name with), this is what she wrote.
To clarify, I have not worked with her on writing letters just yet. She's only three, I figure there is a lifetime of education coming. We have however used Handwriting Without Tears to form the letters for some time now.

I don't know if I should be proud of what she did on her own, or concerned that her letters are written backwards and in reverse order. If it matters, she does seem to be a lefty. Words of wisdom?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

LeighAnna does the same thing and she's a lefty. My sister (a 1st grade teacher and lefty) says it is very normal and gradually disappears as they get more familiar with letters. LeighAnna now only reverses her numbers. If she's in 2nd grade and still doing this, then you can worry. ;-) And if nothing else, our girls can paint ambulance signs for a living.

PS: I'm told it's because their hand hides the letters as they write from left to right. Tilt the paper the reverse of a righty would and have her write bigger letter on full sheets of paper and it should help her see how to self-correct.

Laurie said...

Looks familiar. Allison is right handed but still reversed her name when first writing it. I LOVE all the lines on her E. Adorable!

Donna said...

Great Job Kylie!!!
The backwards thing is completely normal - all of my kids did it at about that age and grew out of it.

Anonymous said...

Remember a fork is a fork no matter which way you turn it....so why would a 3 year old expect letters to be any different? That's pretty neat handwriting for a 3 year old.

Beth

Our Journey said...

I say that it may be backwards, but with no practice!!!!....That's pretty good letter writing for her 1st try!!!!

Michelle said...

Very normal Kayla did also.. How smart to be able to do this at age 3. I think I would save this one.

Jenn said...

Yay for Kylie!! That's awesome! And as the others have said above....no worries about writing it backwards. I think all of my kids did that in the beginning too. And they are somewhat normal now. :)

Cindy M said...

TOTALLY impressed! The fact that she can even do it backwards impresses me! I don't know if you've heard this before or not, but a teacher told me once that, even through 1st or 2nd grade, to little ones a Pepsi can, no matter how you turn it is still a Pepsi can. Same goes for letters. Makes sense...

Cindy M said...

Duh...just read the fork comment. And Caroline is a lefty, too, and she does write right to left.

Nancy said...

Wow! That is great for a 3 year old! Hold it up to a mirror! :)

a Tonggu Momma said...

Excellent handwriting for a three-year-old "(or so says this former preK and kindergarten teacher). No worries until she's at least five and - even then - an occasional backwards letter would be fine. And I'm a lefty, too!

Anonymous said...

That is pretty cool. Even though it is backwards you can totally tell it is her name!
Aunt Cici