The Weekend Update

Okay, this is just plain teasing your Mom ...

James, drawing pictures, his name, and the word "sun," using both hands.

That Left-handed Thing Again

A YES! moment: James' teacher, aide, and O/T are finally coming around to looking into the possibility that James might be left handed.

We are going to start trying to encourage his left hand for writing. This is totally against conventional wisdom (you are supposed to put the pencil in the middle and let them choose which hand to use), but that is James, who is now having a meltdown fit if I turn left instead of right on the way home (he is that tied to routines). I think that he is choosing to write with his right hand because it's been his routine to do so.

He throws and kicks with his left. Without a pencil or crayon in his hand, he will write with his left fingers. My mom's family is full of lefties. When he grips a pencil with his left hand, the grip is better than with his right one, and while the writing is messier, he can still write using his left hand.

And I would like to clarify that even though this issue has been frustrating me, I still admire and have confidence in his team at school. They are looking at James, not just pushing him through a system, and I really appreciate it.

I Think He's Left, But Is That Right?

How do we determine hand dominance? It's a question about James that's been bugging me for almost a year. His sister was pretty easy to determine as a right-handed and footed person because she consistently used the right side of her body to write, draw, kick, and throw. James, in keeping with the mysterious/super powers aspect of his personality, is keeping the whole dominant hand card game close to his chest (with both hands).

Last year, when he had better mastery of eating with utensils and was starting to use markers and paint brushes, I started watching his to see which hand he used. A lot of times it was his left. Then he started to use his right. I know that many kids do this, but by a certain age, children need to have a dominant hand to support. I started discussions with his preschool teacher, who recommended a wait-and-see approach, as well as a helpful suggestion of not handing him something, but rather putting it on the table in between his left and right hand. James continued to experiment, but then picked it up with his left and transferred to his right.

Through this Spring and Summer, he continued to throw consistently with his left hand, kick with his left foot. He also used his left fingers to draw in the sand and WRITE HIS NAME IN THE CAPRET (this, when his teacher and O/T said he could not write and needed to concentrate on making circles and crosses). Yet for table activities he usually picked up with his left and transferred to his right.

I am not trying to discount the knowledge and experience of James' preschool teacher or O/T (the same O/T as in his preschool), but I continue to push the question of hand dominance with James. There are many left-handed people in my Mom's side of the family, and my uncle has shared stories about being punished when using his left hand and being made to use his right (which he hated and now no longer does). My mother taught SpEd for many years and I remember her talking about how not determining hand-eye-foot dominance can make some learning disabilities harder to overcome. In short: I worry that James' development will be negatively impacted by this protracted waffling about which is his dominant hand.

I am now being told that "some people" are ambidextrous, which is "fine". That "some people" don't settle on a dominant hand "for a while". That "some people" have a dominant left foot and a dominant right hand. This adds to my concern, because while I am sure this is fine and dandy for many of the "some people", this is our James, and I think we need to start supporting the appropriate hand NOW, because he is just getting this school thang, is absolutely in love with it, and does better when he builds consistently on a routine.

I've watched him get excited about playing a game with other kids in a room full of beach balls, just waiting to be kicked. I've seen how long it takes his brain to process (1) the ball (2) the activity (3) triangulation of said ball in regards to his body (4) figuring out where his legs, then feet are (5) shifting from one foot to another to find his starting foot and then (6) brace on one foot and start the kick with the other. Somewhere in between steps 4 and 6, I watch another kid zoom in and kick his ball out from under his foot. Yes, that's a game; he had fun and practiced; it won't always be like that. I want this to limit this happening with him at school, learning-wise.

I'm his mom and I worry. It goes with the job. If anyone has any helpful ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Magic Marker Monday: Paints

Lately I've noticed a big difference with James' paint technique. He's gone from using his fingers and wiping them on his shirt to being able to hold a paint brush and use it correctly on the paper.

I notice that the hand that is not working gets drawn back behind his body. Sometimes in a fist and sometimes palm up, fingers semi-folded. I have been trying to help him place this hand on the table or paper, to provide stability. Sometimes the hand gets moved to the seat of the chair, and sometimes it remains on the paper.

Look at this -- I am so proud. He knows what colors he wants and where. James has painted a jazzy moose book, and I love it!

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Magic Marker Monday: Hand Out

This little project from Valentine's Day just keep on giving. I was stumped for an idea of personal (but not too overboard) cards that I could make with James for his teachers and aids. They do add up. So I settled on tracing his hand and cutting it out from coloured paper. James helped me fold another piece of paper and helped me position and tape it down (oh, how that guy loves tape!).

I added a little extra slit where the base of the thumb curves into the palm of the hand, and would then insert a cut-out heart, suitably decorate. I helped James write his name under a special message inside.

Well, the hand paper looks good in a reverse cutout, so I sent a few of those cards to family members. I've also used the original idea with a star and a triangle as well for a birthday or gift card. I like the simplicity and personality. I like that James helps and is a part of the process.

I have saved a few of the hand silhouettes because his hand will never be this small again. Scrapbook, here we come!

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Magic Marker Monday: Valentine Work

I got to volunteer the week James had the letter "V" for his preschool class assignment.

James loves finger painting. My trouble is that he likes to paint his face and shirts as much as the paper, so I like to keep an eye on him. I let him swirl first the purple, then the red colours with his fingers.

I could not resist having him make a left hand print in purple and a right one with the red. He is growing so quickly that I want to preserve these fleeting moments of childhood for him.

James has grown a quarter of an inch in two weeks. Yikes! More of him to love.

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