Which way did he go???

Lydia loves to write and draw. She goes through paper like crazy. One of her favourite things to do these days is to try to write words. She can write some...like her name and my name and the names of people/pets who are important to her. The thing is, if she is writing on her own/without a teacher or myself etc. it's mirror image. Like perfect mirror image. Just about every time. We've been trying to teach her left and right but try as we might she's directionally challenged. (She puts her shoes on the wrong feet and her clothes on backwards etc.) This is called directionality and according to her doctor it's a common problem 4-6 year olds have and isn't something we should be concerned about unless she's 6 or 7 and having problems. Dr. Tara (famous for doing battle with the "bad bunnies" to be found in preschoolers ears and tummies) prescribed a Leapster for our girl. Now I know what you're thinking, aren't parents suppossed to keep their children away from video games that rot their minds and muscles? Well maybe, but Lydia gets plenty of body work out and Leapster does anything but rot the mind as the games are all educational. So far Lydia loves it. She gets frustrated with up and down and left and right...she wants me to do that part...but I say no and make her. Hopefully it'll help with her directional problem and hopefully we won't have to be selling the house to buy the AA batteries she's bound to burn. :-)

Comments

[to sing and to dance]

I've heard Leapster is wonderful for kids. Cady doesn't have one but she has a computer that we outgrew and uses that to go onto pbskids.org where there are also plenty of fantastic learning games. She's OK with her left and right, but mostly because when I take her shopping with me, she stands beside the cart now. If we are about to turn right, I say to her "turn right" and she's learned that even if she didn't know her 'right side', the cart gently moves her in that direction. It takes more time to shop this way, but she has mastered left and right from doing that with her.
What Lydia is doing might be the beginning signs of dyslexia. I have dyslexia. Mine is mostly spatial dyslexia (so I can relate to Lydia's confusion with right and left) Many times, I still can't tell which direction I'm usually driving in, or where to turn off of a highway ramp, even if it's a normal path for me. TomTom was the best gift DH ever got me!!
If Lydia has spatial difficulty a lot, they won't test for dyslexia till she's 6 or 7 because it's difficult to know if this is just brain development at her current age or if it's dyslexia, but the more often she continues to mix up her directions or her letters, the higher the odds that she also has dyslexia.
It's really nothing I can't live with, and nothing that's kept me down in life.....My brain has over compensated in other ways to balance. But it can be distracting and frustrating at times.

side note-I sent a message to Russ a few days back. I can't get into the forum because I've forgotten my PW. Could you or he help me out? :-)

[christina]

not all "video" games are bad for kids. I got some writing apps and some pre-reader apps for the iPod and my kiddo loves it. She is learning to write and read and listen -that's a great thing! Go Lydia!

[christina]

oh, forgot to mention that when the kiddo was younger we taught her left-right with a game we played. I'd sit across from her and we'd have our palms of each hand up against each other and then we'd do stretches left and right (while I said left and right), and then after a few rounds of that we'd release and then she had to mirror my hand movements (closed fist, four fingers out, wiggle thumb, etc) while I called out her left-right. "Left hand wave!" etc. OF course at first it was hard because i was doing the exact opposite and had to call out the correct hand, but I think it helped her a lot, she learned her left-right fairly quickly. (not bragging, just saying that i think the game helped and it was fun, not a chore).

[Yoli]

Sally has it and loves it!