Saturday, November 19, 2011

A-N-N-A

I experienced a bit of an epiphany the other day regarding Anna's handwriting. She is left-handed, which adds awkwardness to the positioning of her arm. When working with her a few weeks ago, I realized that something was not quite right about how she was holding her arm and hand but in the chaos of early evening, I couldn't place my finger on it.

Earlier this week, I was working at my cluttered desk and reached over a stack of folders and papers to scribble down a number and note on a pad of paper. It's hard to write neatly when my arm is up in the air like this. IT'S HARD TO WRITE NEATLY WHEN MY ARM IS UP IN THE AIR LIKE THIS.

I wanted to rush home to sit down with Anna and help her position her arm with the hopes that she would be able to write easier. Unfortunately, it took a few days before she would work with me. When I first mentioned it to her, she flat out said, "No." No explanation. Just a simple no. She finally told me that she didn't want to try because she couldn't do it. I told her that she could do anything she put her mind to.

The worksheets from her OT at school have three rows of blocks. In the first row, her name is written and she needs to trace it. In the next two rows, she fills in the blocks herself but, of course, she can refer to the first row. After she successfully completed one worksheet, I placed a blank piece of paper in front of her and removed the worksheet from school. I wanted her to think about what she was doing and not copy and not have any help from me.

This is what happened...

nov19a

She's proud of herself and I'm so very proud of her!!

10 comments:

LaurenLC said...

YEA for ANNA!

Julia said...

What a cute smile! You must be proud indeed - nothing like a Momma who has her mind always on her kids to do this!

My husband is left-handed, but we never had any doubt that neither of the girls were. They have used the right hand for everything since they`ve started on solids.

They say left-handed people have special intelligence and gifts.

Sophie Slim said...

Yay Anna! :) Good thinking Mama

Miss Megan said...

So proud! And she has every right to be! Go Anna!

Summers Family said...

YEAH for ANNA! She is so precious!

Wendy said...

YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!! Way to go, Anna!!!

Just the Tip said...

woo hoo Anna!!

Peyton is going to be an obvious lefty, we don't know if that's how it was supposed to be or because her stroke affected her right side.

The other girls are right handed?

Kinda odd how that works out.

Glad you thought of something to help her!

Carla said...

I have two boys and both of them have ended up as lefty even though neither my ex-husband or I are. Funny how it works out. It makes it much more difficult for us righties to help them write. Such a proud moment when your child writes their name. Congrats. :)

Kayla said...

Fantastic - she is just so proud of herself in that shot! That's one very nice looking A N N A that she did.
My oldest is left handed and it was difficult to help her learn to write because it's different than right handed writing.
Keep up the good work - both of you :)

Unknown said...

Aw! I am so glad she is overcoming her obstacles. And she looks so pleased with herself!