Wondering if your child is right or left-handed?

These are very common questions in the early years:

• How do I know if my child is left or right-handed?
• When do children typically pick a dominant hand?

There has been a lot of research done on hand preference and there is no definitive age for when a child will choose a dominant hand.

However, it is common for a dominant hand to be established by around 6 years of age, although there tends to be an obvious preference by age 3.

In the first few years, you might see your child preferring to use one hand more than the other but you may also notice that they seamlessly use both.

As with most things in Montessori, we do not correct a child who is probably right-handed from using their left hand or vice versa. We let them figure it out on their own.

Young children spend a lot of their time exploring and learning how their body works, what it is capable of, not capable of, etc.  As Dr. Montessori said, children are "little scientists" and exploring hand preference is an experiment that can go on for many years. 

And, for some skills, they may continue to use both hands throughout their lives, i.e. write with their right hand, but swing a bat with their left hand being dominant.  

When To Correct A Child Using One Hand Over Another

What is important to consider here is that if you observe your child trying to do something with their hands and they’re struggling, it could be that they’re using their non-dominant hand. 

In the classroom, a teacher wouldn’t correct this UNLESS the child was struggling and showing signs of frustration.

Teachers will simply suggest to the child that they switch their hands, while demonstrating what that looks like. 

An encouraging "try it this way instead!" is sometimes all it takes for the child to figure out what hand(s) to use.  

Living in a Right-Handed World

Keep in mind that we live in a right-handed world so if your child is left-handed, make sure you’re buying them tools that they can use successfully. 

For example: Most scissors and spiral notebooks are designed for right-handed use.

Clothing is also designed for right-hand dominance, specifically the zippers or buttons. 

Left-handed children will, of course, adapt where necessary, i.e. they’ll learn how to do up zippers and buttons perfectly fine; it’s just beneficial to the child to be mindful of this. If you see them struggling, you can help them to figure out how to use their non-dominant hand skillfully.