Friday, July 20, 2007



Ok, Is this normal? Really, I'm asking. Why is he still doing this? He's been writing for almost 4 years and he still spells everything backwards. (he's 8) He still makes his letters backwards too if I don't prompt him to point them in the right direction. 90% of the time he uses cursive so that won't happen but he struggles to write and spell so much! The example to your left, brought him to tears. He started writing and I said "stop, it's backwards" and he gritted his teeth and wrote the next letter, continuing to write it backwards. I wrote the word for him and put it in front of him to copy, he continued to write it backwards. He had to start from scratch and I had to point to the place on the paper to write the letter and tell him what letter to write. It's SOOOOOOO frustrating for us both! He also transposes all of his numbers but he's amazingly good at math! 456 will always be written 654 in his book. If I ask him "what's 3X6?" he'll tell me "18". If he writes it down,, it's always 81.

I've tried putting a sticker in the left hand corner of his papers to remind him on what side to start writing but he acts like it's physically painful to start on the left. Please someone tell me what to do before I abandon this child and allow him to become a ward of the state!

4 comments:

~Mary~ 4boys4me said...

I hate to say it, but I think at age 8, those things should be only an occasional. But, it could just be a boy thing, too!! See if the library has any books on the topic.

Stephanie Appleton said...

I agree with Mary I think by eight that shouldn't be a constant issue. Probably time to do a little research.

~Shelia said...

This is not normal. It is time to have someone with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. His academic life will only get more challenging, and the sooner you can get this issue remediated, the better off everyone will be. I would start by inquiring to the local school district, and get some information that will serve as a starting point on this journey. Good Luck.

Anonymous said...

"Not normal", I HATE those words. My "not normal" child via the public school description is now a "not normal" HSed 10 year old who can re-do an electrical junction box, multiply the number of tile needed to re-do the kitchen and divide the number of yards I'll need to cover the new sofa in a slip cover. I haven't been reading your blogs much ~I just found them today through the WV yahoo group, but...have you read about right brained thinkers and how they learn? Have you considered whether he might be using the opposite hand to the one his brain should be using? And THEN, read about dyslexia and dysgraphia. It could be something as simple as using the wrong hand.How old was he when he began to write? Did he start "really" writing at 5? Or was it later on? If so, he's only been writing a short time. Yes, this should be checked out but I disagree with the "not normal" statement.
Keep enjoying your BACKYARD academy! And don't worry, "this too shall pass"...