Raising a Left-Handed Child

As your child grows and develops, you may find them rapidly doodling as their brains switch between using the left and right hands. Never fear, it doesn't mean your child is necessarily ambidextrous... Nor does it necessarily mean they use their right hand.

First of all, is your child a lefty?

Babies normally starting showing signs of a hand preference between the ages of 7 and 9 months old, but they'll generally not make a final distinction until they reach school age.

Lefties actually think differently

How cool is that? Lefties think differently. You see, the left side of your brain, which controls the right hand, is in charge of speech, language, writing, logic, math and science. Whereas, the right controls the left hand, which is responsible for music, art, perception and emotion. 

Thus, the right-hand handles abstract, big picture ideas and the left side thinks in straight lines. Which means, a right hander's brain organisation is usually quite rigid. The right side only handles language and logic, the left side only handles emotion and perception. 

But being a left means your brain is more flexible. Imagine... Being a left-hander, having to be brought up in a world of right-handed equipment, instruments, appliances and tools, they have to give their nondominant side a bit more exercise than your normal, generic righty! Et voilà, more flexibility in your mind! 

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Buy them sporting equipment

While the likes of polo and field hockey are probably out of the question, as both sports require to play right-handed, there is in fact a lof ot sports that actually allow significant advantages for lefties. 

For instance, left-handed fencers routinely win in their competitions, and left-handed boxers pose serious problems for their opponents. Even playing tennis left-handed has proved pretty great for the lies of John McEnroe and Rafael Nadal. 

Take them to public speaking lessons

Why? Because they'll come in use when our kiddie becomes president or prime minister one day. After all, the current President of the United States of America, Barack Obama is left-handed. Plus, four of the past seven presidents in the U.S. have been certifiably left-handed, plus Ronald Reagan was ambidextrous. 

Encourage them to paint

Some of the greatest and most recognisable artists in history were lefties, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Rembrandt. And not only does this apply to artistic talent, but some studies have shown that left-handed students excel in the schools of architecture, music and math, too! 

Of course, excelling in all of the creative subjects isn't necessarily always easier for left-handed children. Using equipment that is designed for right-handers can end in serious frustration, understandably. So as a parent, prevent the problems by investing in good left-handed scissors and smudge free pencils and pens for your child. 

You can also make things easier by switching the settings on computers to make a mouse or cursor more lefty friendly!