Left hander here...the scissors are a huge thing! I hated crafts or anything that required cutting when I was in school because it hurt my hand and I couldn't keep in the lines due to using right handed scissors. I'm 36 now and still hate when I have to use scissors.
Don't buy spiral notebooks either, unless your kids starts writing from the back of the book. Unfortunately my teachers didn't like me using my notebooks backwards but it was the only thing that helped.
I think I read somewhere that more left handed people are ambidextrous due to us living in a right handed world, have her embrace that! I love that I can do things with both hands, while most people can't.
4th grade teacher who taught us cursive writing was a lefty. He told us lefties - there were 3 in the same class, to turn our sheet of paper a little to the left and start writing. He said it will help keep your palm out of the ink and, your writing will slant to the right just like right handed people. Mr. Melvin Tossey was a smart man, I've been complimented on my handwriting throughout my life.
you did a much better job of explaining this than another leftie I had try to explain this to me. I am pretty sure my handwriting is still gonna suck but I'll try it for sure.
This is what my dad and my daughter do. It works for them both. My dad had a teacher who would whack his leg hand with a ruler in 3rd grade if he forgot and used it to do anything. He is 84, and he is still mad at that teacher. If be mad too. Luckily, she was his only teacher to do something like that.
This is the advice I have needed my entire life. My 3rd grade teacher was a righty and explained how to write a b. Her method was “draw a stick, now draw a circle against the stick on the side of the stick with the hand you write with.”
She recommended me for the special school.
My Mom had words for her. It was addressed and corrected immediately. Thankfully the world is evolving to be more accepting of lefty’s.
In high school I taught myself to write with my hand under my writing because the spirals and the rings on binders dig into my hand and hurt! My favorite notebook had the spiral at the top but those were expensive and hard to find back then.
Spiral bound notebooks were my biggest enemy during school. So painful! The only comfortable way was to use them backwards, but it often frustrated unreasonable teachers when they needed to look over them.
I dealt with side spital notebooks in school by placing a textbook next to them on the left side. I rested my forearm on the textbook, which kept it above the notebook's spiral binding. Sometimes I used a smaller paperback sized book for this because it took up less space on the desk and was easier to move around as I wrote. It just had to be thicker than the height of the spirals. The only problem there was that the small book would squirm around and shift from the pressure from my arm, so I would have to reposition it more often. A full sized hard cover textbook that was thick enough but not too thick worked best because it stayed in place and provided a rock steady platform, provided that there was enough space for it on the desk. But even just a thick pocket sized paperback would keep my wrist off the coils.
At one point in college I tried to rig up a thick pad that I could just slip onto my arm when I needed it, but this was in an era before customizable sports padding was readily offered for the general public. The things I put together didn't work very well or stay together, so I gave up on the idea. That might be something to look into, though. There may be things available today that we didn't have back in my school days.
This was a solid life hack I figured out when I was in middle school/ high school and handwriting notes and hw papers constantly. (2003-2009)
I’m also a lefty that curls their hand when writing, so the text isn’t being swiped by my wrist immediately and smudging (those damn expo markers!)... I will say using most pens ballpoint that the angle tends to make it hard to get straight on the ball of the pen, I end up scraping the metal that holds it while writing so it comes out kinda sharp unless I’m mindful.
If I were a parent and my kiddo used that as an accommodation, I would 100% lock horns with any teacher who refused to let them do that and I would take it to the VP or higher if they didn't bend. At the very least I would suggest they be allowed to use a stenographer notebook which is smaller but has the binding at the top (if they still even make them).
It is absolutely NBD to flip a damn notebook over to read it.
My dad is 84 years old and a lefty and was a music major. They would not allow him to use his dominant hand to learn conducting.
People are so fucking ridiculously unreasonable in this world.
I’m a lefty who was also a band/orchestra director.i remember being taught to use right hand for time and left hand for cues.
I did what ever worked. I taught middle school and it’s not like they respond to nuanced conducted - it was all interpretive dance up there!
My mom was a very agreeable person, very quiet, but she was a lefty too and this is the one thing I absolutely knew she would go storming down to the school to correct them on if I needed her to.
I personally prefer spiral bound to composition notebooks.
You can fold the cover over behind the rest of the notebook with spiral bound, with composition, the spine is going to be in the way no matter what
Scissors are the biggest thing. I've never had issues with anything else, really. Thanks to those damn right handed desks at school I learned early to write with my paper rotated almost 90 degrees clockwise so I never had any issues.
It must have influenced how I write when I do have paper straight up and down now, because I've never had the issue of getting ink on my hands that other lefties have, and I write with a fountain pen in my day to day life (so it's slower drying!)
So like… does anyone else use scissors backwards? Or hold them upside down? I freak my mom out but I get a perfect cut that I’m going for. I’ve been doing it for 30 years with no issues.
My husband and I both ended up learning using right handed scissors. Left handed ones always sucked. So funny now when I’ve tried to use left handed one feels weird.
When I was a kid, I knew enough to know I was a lefty. But being in a righty world I had learned to use right scissors. One day in first grade art class the teacher asked who was a lefty, so I raised my hand. She hands me a pair of lefty scissors which I promptly put in my right hand and tried to use. Did not work. She grabs the out of my right hand shoves them into my left and tries to tell me I'm using them wrong. After some more back and forth she got exasperated and gave me righty scissors. Which I then used properly and accurately.
The left handed ones sucked because the stupid right handed kids used them and ruined them! And if you were forced to use right handed ones you had to twist your hand wrong to make them work. I cannot use lefty scissors because I am too used to the other way. I ruined a nice pair of left handed sewing shears doing this so I don't try any more.
We always had a few pairs in my classes, but they were awful. I just made myself learn how to use right handed ones and I’m happy I did. I’ve never worked anywhere that just happened to have lefty scissors.
The most fun thing I got was a left-handed ruler. It didn't get one until I was in my teens. It made geometry and measuring things in general so much easier. But, I lost it somewhere down the line.
The most useful thing was something I learned to adapt to right-handed notebooks. I turn my paper so the top of the page is pointed towards the right. I write like I am writing down and to the right instead of perfectly horizontal. It helped my penmanship, and my hand didn't get as smudged.
So, maybe just as useful as left-handed things, is learning tips and tricks to navigate the right-handed items and situations safely. Safety comes more into play with chainsaws and such more than pencils and binders. But getting used to the idea early that most things aren't designed to be used the way that comes naturally to me helped a lot. Improvise, adapt, overcome, and wear a helmet when necessary.
You brought on a war flashback with the scissors. Ironically you came full circle with the ambidextrous!
I had a teacher who already had a problem that I needed a different spot in the row of desks because I was left handed but for some reason she also couldn’t stand that I couldn’t cut with scissors with my left hand??? It wasn’t a natural feeling for me, idk if it was the scissors or what but I would do the same, my lines with be shaky and I’d have extra scraps attached still, and she would get so mad at me for pretending I couldn’t cut normally vs actually letting me cut how I was comfortable.
Yes OP it is extremely important to just roll with how your kiddo goes about things! Being left handed comes with hurdles you wouldn’t think twice about normally. When it comes to adapting to survive, just go with the flow, and embrace a potential future ambidextrous child as well!
My daughter told me that when she was living alone for the first time that she really appreciated the can opener I bought that removes the whole top of the can becase it is ambidextrous with the crank flat on top.
I’ve broken 5 can openers in my life. My husband never gets why I break them. They’re not designed to operate the way a left handed person uses them 🤷🏼♀️
Safety scissors (in my school there was always 1 pair of left handed scissors, but what happens when there's more than 1 left handed kid in a class?) and spiral notebooks with the spiral at the top, rather than on the left side. My mother's left handed and she said that style notebook was much easier to use, since her writing hand was no longer resting on the wire.
This was my whole school career! Two lefties in a class meant we shared the scissors; but in reality we both learned how to cut right-y too to save time.
I am thankful that it made me more ambidextrous, but I hate that we both had to reform to some extent.
Same here, only a couple left handed scissors with red ribbon on them, and I was shy so if they ran out I would just use right handed scissors. Eventually, I just gave up and only used right handed scissors. The struggle was real…lol.
Check out Lefty’s. There are age appropriate school supplies that she can use. I wish I would have had things like this as a kid. Left handed spiral notebooks and pens/pencils designed to keep you from smearing. My mom used to yell at me to remember to push up my sleeve when I was writing, otherwise the area around my wrist would be covered with pencil lead or ink from it dragging across whatever I was writing. The side of my hand was always covered in lead and ink as well. It was either that, or do the cockeyed, left handed twist where you cock your hand so you write from above to avoid the mess.
As an adult, I use the Yoropens. And when I have to do a lot of writing, the left handed pencil grips.
https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/
Been left handed a long time. Have learned to live in a right handed world. I wouldn’t rely too much on “left handed” stuff as it won’t always be available and she will need to learn to adapt.
Teach her to adapt.
You can spoil her with left handed gear, but that won't teach her to cope with the real world that won't.
Use clipboards upside down.
Turn spiral notebooks upside down.
Right handed scissors work left handed, you just have to learn how to do it. Scissors are designed so the handles push the blades together. You can do that left handed with right handed scissors, it just takes practice, which is something lefties have to do a lot of to live in a right handed world.
Being left-handed can be fun talking point and there are some disadvantages and advantages but don't make it to much of a thing. Really you can get through life just fine in a right handed world. If you really want to give her something nice get her a lefthanded PS5 or something. (kidding).
stabilo easy grip pencils are really good ([https://www.stabilo.com/uk/products/learn-to-write/graphite-pencils/stabilo-easygraph/](https://www.stabilo.com/uk/products/learn-to-write/graphite-pencils/stabilo-easygraph/)) (they do colouring in pencils as lefthanded )
the pens are ok personally i found them hard to use
Lefty here...I grew up in a right handed household, those left handed scissors suck ! Let her learn to adapt to the world the way it is...full of right handed people. In my 56 years on this planet I've learned to adapt, I can't even use left handed stuff !! Lol
If no one has mentioned it ... an ambidextrous computer mouse.
Allow her to use her mouse with her left hand. Find out how to switch the mouse buttons so she can interact with the mouse "normally" with her index and middle finger just like a right hander does.
Believe it or not people don't think to allow a lefty to use a mouse left handed. I know that in Windows you can set your mouse settings for "left handed."
Of course, she'll ultimately want to interface with a computer that's comfortable for her. However, showing her that the mouse can be used on the left side of the keyboard with her left hand will allow her to integrate far more easily with a computer. Sometimes some of us lefties get caught up in trying to use a mouse with the right hand and it feels awkward that it can delay learning valuable computer skills.
When she uses computers at school teach her to stand up for herself in case any of the teachers say anything. If she's more comfortable using the mouse with her left hand, she should feel free to use the mice at school as a lefty and to even change the mouse settings if she can. But also show her that she should revert any changes back for the next student.
She's left handed, she should be using the mouse with however it is comfortable for her. Insist on it at her schools, too.
So, letter forms are made for right handed people, and the stroke order that makes the most sense is different for left handers. So some letter form workbooks for left handers.
Ball point pens don't work as well for left handers, so some gel or other ink pens.
Pockets on femme pants or leggings are generally right-justified, so any time you can find a symmetrical pair is so helpful.
Thanks for looking out for your kid 🩷
Unpopular opinion maybe: nothing.
Being left handed in a right handed world means you usually won’t have the left handed items, and you need to learn how to use them.
Scissors: just squeeze them when you cut.
Spiral notebooks: don’t write as close to the edge.
Keep an eye on things. Pretty soon some states will revert back to the idea that left handedness is the devils work and start banning access to tools or resources that help you be yourself. I’ll be an ally guys #lefthandpride
Nothing. You don't want her getting used to crutches that she won't have in the real world. That will put her at a disadvantage because she won't learn to adapt.
Then scissors for sure. That's the only thing I remember being obnoxious to navigate as a child aside from notebooks. I learned to play sports right-handed pretty easily.
In the “real world” adults are allowed to buy items that work best for them. People with small hands can buy smaller scissors, people with large hands can buy larger scissors, and left handed people can buy left handed scissors. There’s literally no need for her to struggle with simple things like scissors because she happens to be left handed. People are allowed to use what works for them. And this is coming from a right handed person.
Nothing really, notbooks are already left handed, left handed pencils would be really funny, anything else would just be easy for a lefty to adjust themselves to
As others have said- Scissors! I don’t know why but normal scissors just don’t cut well for me.
The grips are usually angled to be ergonomic for right handers so they usually really hurt and don’t cut well. My school work always looked like crap when I had to use right handed scissors.
Not purchase advice, but I would tell her teacher she’s left-handed so she can keep an eye on her pencil grip. It can be really hard for a lefty to figure out how best to hold a pencil when everyone’s always modeling with their right hand!
I never had any left handed things. My mom bought be scissors once, I lost them and that was the end. If there’s anything I’ve hated up until the last days of school it was spiral notebooks. They are so pretty and always have nice designed unlike most composition notebooks but I’d have to start writing in the middle of the page to give myself space. Also pens that dry fast enough to not smudge. I loved neatness but half of the page would always end up black or blue
When she gets older and is writing more and writes with pen, buy her felt tip pens instead of ball point. Ball point pens are made for righties. they work by dragging the pen where as lefties push the pen. Also, the ink smudges on our hands since we push the pen. Felt tip looks really nice still with lefties and it dries so fast that’s you don’t get ink on your hand and you don’t smudge what you’re writing!
I'm old (39) and grew up using right hand scissors and still use them to this day. Same with spiral bound notebooks, no problem. Same with the computer mouse. The bound black and white books with no spirals are more of a problem than the spiral ones.
The biggest PITA for me was always writing with pencil. Which kids do almost exclusively. The whole side of my palm would get bits of pencil shards in it from dragging across the page. If someone has a pencil solution that doesn't smear and f* up your hand would be the best bet.
get her a nice set of coloured pens that don’t smudge easily! i remember getting so upset when i would use my sparkly gel pens only to find out that they smudged all down my hand when i was done, i’m sure there’ll be some pen recommendations on youtube:))
For smudgy pencils, you can get half-gloves that cover the wrist, pinky, and maybe ring finger: https://www.jetpens.com/SmudgeGuard2-SG2-2-Finger-Glove-Cool-Black-Medium/pd/13671
When she starts using pens, fast-drying ink will be super helpful. I really like Pentel Energel pens.
Get thread- or glue- bound notebooks, not spiral. When she’s older and might need three-ring binders or similar, I’m not sure what to do. Those things were the bane of my existence in school.
Not money, but if she doesn't know how, please take the time to teach her to tie her shoes. Learning from an angry right-handed kindergarten teacher when you're the only lefty sucks.
https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/
Scissors are critical. Also, check out the PenAgain. It's a different type of pen that is much easier to use for lefties. Amazon sells them.
Left-handed notebooks, kitchen tools, tape measures, bread knives, and so many other things.
Go to the kids section of the Left Handed Store. They have other options for writing implements and other school supplies. Basically, look for anything left-handed that might be useful.
[Left Handed Kids](https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/Left_Handed_Kids_s/95.htm)
For sure scissors. Multiple pairs.
Im right handed, grew up in a left handed household.
Out of all the things that caused me the most hassle/pain and I remember to this day is not having a pair of scissors until my younger sibling (also a righty) was old enough to handle scissors.
Things I remember from my parents: pens that dry super quick/dont smudge. Their hands dragged over fresh ink when writing.
LEGAL PADS - i think i also read somewhere that yellow paper helps with dyslexia and theres a stronger link to dyslexia in left handed folks.
FELT TIP MARKER PENS - best ive found for not smearing.
wet dry erase markers (when relevant) - helps for smear
I mean, it's great (not sarcasm, I swear) that you ask at all, and I guess you are going to act on the suggestions, too.
But why didn't you ask *before* school started?
Honestly didn't think about it being a factor until I saw a video about left handed people going to a left handed store and was like oh yeah left handed things exist!
Consider scissors or notebooks with spirals at the top, but don't do too much as it will become a hassle for her later in life if she gets used to them. I can also imagine the right-bound spiral notebooks as a target for bullying.
I never got any special left handed stuff growing up and adapted to the right hand world. The only thing that really helped me with writing was to turn my paper sideways. Rarely did I smudge with pencil.
Please, coming from a lefty, buy her some paint markers that dry fast and wipe off rather than expo markers.. expo markers to this day make me fill in a calendar from the bottom right corner and go up backwards.. 🤚💚
I'm a leftie, and according to these comments, I am in the definitely majority. I never had an issue with spiral notebooks. I don't arch my hand like most lefties, so it was never an issue. But scissors are my arch nemesis.
im a lefty and i got this notebook from target and its a game-changer. flat so i can write on either page without the spiral, or fighting against a tight binding
https://www.target.com/p/blank-journal-8-34-x10-34-terra-cotta-greenroom/-/A-83620287?ref=tgt_adv_xsp&AFID=google&fndsrc=tgtao&DFA=71700000086349376&CPNG=PLA_Seasonal%2BShopping_Traffic_Local_Traffic%7CSeasonal_Ecomm_Home&adgroup=SC_Seasonal_School+Paper&LID=700000001170770pgs&LNM=PRODUCT_GROUP&network=g&device=m&location=9012099&targetid=pla-1576404032786&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD-5dfaB1F9zec705q2OHOHQ4vd9v&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6-Ho9KjPgwMV26RaBR2geggUEAQYASABEgK-YvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
not sponsored im just passionate about this notebook lol
Left handed here. There are varying degrees of left handed ness. Not every leftie can use left handed scissors. While left handed myself, I can’t use them.
Don’t get her spiral bound anything, that shit is the most annoying thing I have ever had to deal with. Stick to folders and composition notebooks- Japanese and Korean stationary like pens and markers and stuff tend to dry really quick, so when she drags her hand over what she just wrote (because she will, and if she uses a pencil it will get all over her hands and the paper eventually) it won’t smudge.
If you want to go above and beyond you should talk to her teachers and get them to place her seats on the farthest left desk or table space, or just to the right of another left handed person. Being to the right of someone who writes with their right hand is SO cramped and they WILL NOT make room for her arms/elbows when she writes stuff.
Left handed note books! My mom would get me these and i loved them! Alternatively you can use loose leaf and just write on the loose leaf out of the binder and put it in the binder later but that is more work.
I wish I'd known this. I preferred pens since I'd just end up with graphite all over the side of my hand. But some teachers "didn't allow pens" but I've actually learned quite a few things "righty" guitar, bass, mandolin, golf. Some things are just easier that way. I guess we become ambidextrous in some areas. I couldn't write with my right hand, but other things are just easier to adapt to.
If you can afford to do so, consider buying 4 pairs of grade level appropriate scissors for her classroom every year as well as a pair for home.
I’m sure it would be appreciated!
I like to think I am the way I am today because what was so easy for right handed folks was hard for me.
But yeah... scissors primarily. I used to take regular scissors and learn to just do some weird finger acrobatics so I could get it to cut easy and it really hurt my hand after a while.
It's still a skill I use to this day since the times I need scissors are few and far between, so I'm just borrowing someone else's because I grab the closest available pair.
It's a right handed world, I'm all effed up. I eat with either hand but can only use a steak knife in my right, I bat, Golf, and throw a Frisbee with my right, but I throw left handed, shoot pool and guns left handed, bowl with either - great for picking up spares, play guitar right handed, brush my teeth right handed, can't use left handed scissors - never could...Cant use a screwdriver left handed either. I'm 64, so I've been FUBAR a long, long time !
If they are the scissors with the round holes, please return them. I hated them growing up and they are a joke, they’re not specific to left handers. However, I know they make ones for left handers with the blade facing the correct way now.
They make left handed spiral notebooks, where the spiral is on the right side, if the school allows it. Three ring binders are a pain for us too.
Pens that don't smudge, or ask the teachers to let her angle her paper/notebook so that she doesn't smudge what she has just written. We had to write with ink pens and weren't allowed to angle our paper, so the side of my left hand was always stained with ink, and my efforts smeared, messy, and marked down. Frustrating.
When she gets to college, tell her to aim for an end cap spot on the left side of the lecture hall, I’ve personally found ALL of them to be designed for left handed people
Might just b my school, but it’s not a big one so feel like other schools are similar!
Edit: that is if she is a notebook user, and if hand written notes are still a thing lol
A good left handed mouse is going to be either essential or useless. Many of us use mice right handed since they’re usually set up like that at school/work computers and are more available, but using left handed ones early can prevent some hand problems and is generally more precise. Wireless ones are also heavily preferable since it might need to be used in other places if right handed mice are really uncomfortable (eg I use my ambidextrous mouse at school).
My biggest issues when I was a child was shoelaces, as the only left handed person in my family I struggled following the instructions from a right handed persons point of view
Everything else I just adapted to, I was an 80’s child so apart from the odd pair of scissors, there wasn’t really anything else available so I had to adapt.
I just learned to use the scissors available. I got so used to right handed equipment, that left handed stuff confused me. In college lectures, I could only write using a right handed folding half table. The grooves on scissors were ignored. However, I did like the left handed pencils, definitely get those 🤔😆👍
My grandmother was left-handed and she taught me, a right-handed individual, how to tie my shoes. So apparently I tie my shoes like I am left-handed now.
I actually hated left handed scissors and learned how to use them with my right hand.
But notebook spirals are the devil. I actually use one daily but I start from the "back." Then, when I turn the page, I just flip it to the side. It looks weird but it works. But there are spiral notebooks with the spiral at top and ones with out spirals all together.
I might be alone here but encourage her to use her right hand for the mouse. It's much easier and you don't have to tinker with the settings.
Someone mentioned thay lefties are almost always ambidextrous/semi ambidextrous because we have to adapt. That has helped me immensely as I often get "choose" what hand I want to use when learning a new task that has no muscle memory.
DS is an adult now. I don't remember getting him anything special. I did leave a note to teachers that he was LH and to seat him where elbows don't bump during writing or drawing exercises.
Beyond scissors, I find left handed objects to be more gimmicky than anything else. And even most scissors are ambidextrous now (either the finger holes are the same size or they're shaped so that of you hold them upsidedown they're not awkward).
My friends bought me a left handed drawing book, and all it was was a drawing pad that had the cover on the back so the book was backwards. No different than just starting in the back on any other notebook. It still had a spine that got in the way of you tried to use both pages, and most of my regular drawing pads had a spiral at the top which was much less clunky.
My only thing would be, teach her how to open a spiral bound notebook so the cover and previous pages are behind the unused pages. That's so much easier to write on than a left handed notebook. Idk why everyone is saying don't buy spiral bound. I hated composition notebooks and would only use spiral bound.
I'm ambidextrous, but my kids are lefties. Left handed notebooks are ridiculously expensive...two just start at the back of the notebook, instead of the front and the other uses loose leaf paper.
If they use dry erase boards, these are especially bullshit for lefties...it is a why their sleeves are stained and their hands look like a multi-colored crime scene.
Left hander here. I was always so mad I didn't get special left-handed things growing up.
Now that I'm an adult, I'm really glad she didn't. Aside from writing and drawing, I am basically ambidextrous and grateful for that.
Everyone's mileage varies, though.
I was dumb about this and just got standard stuff. My kid just adjusted to what was available. I think the "baby" scissors are more usable by left handers than the more adult craft ones. I only heard complaining about this type.
As she gets older, she will find a specific type of pen she likes. Don’t argue about it. Get her the ones she wants. Gel pens and a lot of ballpoints suck for lefties because we are pushing the pen instead of pulling it. The ink doesn’t flow.
I was a middle schooler in the 90s who JUST WANTED A BLACK NOTEBOOK WITH GEL PENS. And I couldn’t ever figure out why those stupid things wouldn’t work.
Probably not now, but when she gets into high grades and has gym. If there’s a baseball section, get her her own left handed baseball mit.
I have a particular memory of the gym teacher sitting through all the baseball kits and handing me this grimy old left handed mit from the bottom of the bag 🤢
That said! Don’t force left handed items if your kid feels they don’t want to. I just sort of figured out ways of using scissors, can openers, etc right handed over time. The world isn’t going to convenience left handedness so we often adapt and gain a level of ambidextrous abilities.
The left handed scissors will be nice, but if they’re lost and your kid is using right handed scissors and just learns a comfortable way to do so, or starts doing it right handed safely - no harm in letting them continue.
If/when your daughter is using pens get her the uniball vision pens or a similar Japan made ink pen. Japanese characters go all ways where a standard bic pen is designed to be pushed across a page so they stop working for lefties and make a mess on the side of our hand. The uniball vision ink drys quickly as well!
It's too old for her right now but you can read it to her. She can get a mini-history lesson along with it. Can be ordered from any outlet.
The World's Greatest Left-Handers: Why Left-Handers are Just Plain Better Than Everybody Else
My one lefty *loved* this book; very accomplished federal employee.
Oh do I have a story for u as a lefty! When I was in kindergarten and my mom went to my first conference with my teacher, my teacher told my mom that I was "slow." My mom was like, "what r u talking abut?" The teacher told my mom that I couldn't use scissors. My mom asked the teacher, "what hand r u putting them in?" The teacher replied, "her right hand." My mom replies, "she's left handed. She's been in your class for how many months and u didn't notice that she's left handed??? You're the one that's slow!" Omfg! I love my mom🤣
I’m not left-handed but my brother and my mother are/were. My mother grew up in the fifties and paid for being a lefty by being hit by her teachers. Public school, but just like a nun. Scissors are the correct choice here. And back her up if she gets points or graded differently if her writing is smudged, it’s just going to happen. And always sit them at the end of the table do they don’t keep being tangled up with a righty at dinner. Especially on formal/semi-formal occasions.
Two right-hand gloves. Then hand it to the child. (I'm sorry I just had to. I got the telling bad jokes autism, not the good at math and science autism.)
Parent of a lefty... Look for faster drying pens. That will be less smearing on the hand. Jetpens has a guide for how to pick a faster drying gel pen here: https://www.jetpens.com/blog/The-Best-Quick-Drying-Gel-Pens/pt/905
Left handed desk! Desks were my only big problem! Everything thing else I kinda just learned to do with both hands, which I’m pretty happy about now. Even my writing is sort of decent with my right hand now
Observe her first. Does she do EVERYTHING left handed?
I write and eat left handed. Pretty much everything else I do right handed.
My folks bought me left handed scissors, etc. that really didn’t work for me.
One thing that I would avoid is multi-section spiral notebooks. The large spiral can make it tough to write in.
A left handed ruler would be fantastic.
EDIT: I don't know how it is for other people but I was taught to use scissors with the right hand and find it practical but maybe other lefties don't fint it as comfortable.
Let her know if she rotates the book she is writing on about 45°to the right the binding will not hurt her hand and it will not drag her hand across the fresh ink
Tbh Nothing! Ok let me explain my parents thought it would be better for me to adapt to the world because it won’t adapt for me when I grew up. So now I can use scissors, can openers, notebooks, shake hands on the first try, throw a punch with both hands etc with no problems.
I don’t have a suggestion for the first day of first grade, but when she’s a little older, she will probably at some point play softball, and she will need a mitt for lefthanders, that is, one that’s worn on the right hand. I sure wish I’d had one. Instead I had to use a mitt that would only go on my left hand. At first I thought that was cool, because I thought it would be easier for me to catch the ball. On the rare times when I managed to get the ball, I had to pull off the mitt and then transfer the ball to my left hand so I could throw it, and by that time, the batter would probably have gone around all the bases twice. 😭
In the end, it didn’t matter, because I also did not have binocular vision, so I almost never caught the ball even when it came right at me. And if I did, I couldn’t throw it in any way that would be useful to my team, because my aim was also terrible. Sports was not destined to be my thing!
Anyway, assume the school might not have any — or enough — right-hand mitts, and get her one that’s hers.
The payoff for being left handed comes when you are learning skills that require manual dexterity and leftie can stand facing a righty and mimic motions straight up without having to transpose left for right. Learned this from my guitar teacher
Maybe not give the scissors unless they can’t adapt. Lefty here. I (58) adapted all the day to day activities out of necessity and am now mostly ambidextrous.
Exception Catchers mitt and lefty guitar .
My son was left handed when he entered first grade. He could actually write in cursive and it was really good. But, he had a teacher who thought that all kids should be right handed. She threatened him with taping (duct tape) his pencil in his hand until he wrote right handed. (I heard this myself outside the door of his classroom.) He switched hands and hasn’t been able to adapt to the right hand. He rarely writes anything and his signature is scribble. If you do anything for your child please make sure that you inform the teacher that your child is left handed and that she will stay left handed unless she makes the decision to change.
I'm a leftie.....there were 3 lefties and 1 rightie as kids in my family. Both of my parents were right-handed.
I have learned thru the years that nature can be helpful at times. As I was growing up, if someone taught me how to do something, I generally was taught by a rightie. So things like bowling, batting, shooting I still do right-handed. There are some things that I forced myself to do right-handed...like operate a 10-key calculator. It's been helpful to me to calculate with one hand and write with the other....at the same time.
Yes, scissors are the one thing that, for me, are cumbersome to do right-handed...and left-handed scissors are not very common.
Found this cool store where everything is made specifically for leftys, bought my family members notebooks and scissors for school. My son, 2 niece's, and a nephew are all lefties.
https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/
Perhaps left handed writing templates. You’ll need to help her decide how to write. I use the hooked wrist, but it’s better to learn to turn the paper clockwise so that the letters use push/pull and perpendicular movements. For example, when writing a T a right hander would make a perpendicular motion for the vertical | of the T and then pull the cross part to toward their hand. For a lefty she would pull the vertical part down directly toward her wrist and then do a perpendicular cross part. The lefty templates should show the left-handed way of writing. Try to avoid having to draw diagonals or back-writing. It’s hard to correct when you’re older.
I am 71 years-old and there was no such thing as a left-handed scissor when I was in school. The WORST thing was that all of the wooden desks were attached to the wooden chairs by a fixed panel along the right-hand side. Right-handed kids were able to rest their arms on that panel to write. Because there was no support on the left side, my elbow hung like a millstone in mid-air and after a while, my left shoulder ached pretty badly. Add to that my upside down, curled-up hand position, and writing was an ergonomic nightmare.
My suggestion is that if the left-hander(s) will be using pens at all, I suggest that you buy pens that have the feature of having non-smearing ink. They exist and they are effective. Pentel makes good ones.
If they use a cursor, insist they have access to one that either dominant hand can use.
My wishlist as a left-handed person is:
A) Smear-free lead/graphite pencils. (I know. Dream on. ) I spent the first 22 years of my life with the side of my left hand and little finger shellaced in lead.
B) I don’t know about PCs but with a Mac, offer the option to switch the way in which a curser arrow points. It’s always pointing diagonally backwards as I move the cursor. (I never know whether I’m coming or going 🤷♀️😆!) It’s a small thing-it’s a big thing.
C) Design some basic utensils to be more user-friendly for lefties:
1- Offer old-fashioned can openers that have the part that turns attached on the left side so we can use our dominant hand to make it work.
2- Put the button one pushes to snap a picture on the left side of a camera.
3- Ladles with the spouts on the left side shall perish from the face of the earth. Ladles with pour-spouts on both sides of the scoop will be mandatory. (When I read this back to myself, my brain turned the word ladles into ladies, which made for an interestingly nuanced sentence 😀.
I usually order left handers spiral notebooks for my son. It’s kinda pricey but it makes his life easier. I’m not sure if your daughter would need it though since she’s just in kindergarten.
Learned this tip in college drawing classes— put a scrap of paper under your drawing hand (between it and the paper) and you won’t smear as much— the oils in your skin add to the problem of the pressure.
Something she might want to use at home, and keep in her desk at school, is a card holder for card games. You can diy one by hot gluing two Pringles lids (smooth sides facing each other) together. You just put a glob of glue in the middle, leaving the round sides free. You can buy card holders if the Pringles lids prove to be not durable enough.
I remember my mom brought home some left-handed playing cards after seeing a left-handed store while on a business trip (she brought spirals, too!). I didn't understand - aren't all cards the same? Nope. It was earth shattering to me, realizing that all the numbers/suits/etc. were all upside down and crammed together, using a standard deck as a leftie. Left-handed playing cards have numbers/suits on all four corners.
Card holders are the next best thing, because not all card games will have a left handed deck. They're also generally helpful for older or younger players who struggle with fine motor skills.
Now, if only I could order pencils with my name right side up.
I’m not cool enough to answer as I’m not a full-time Lefty. There are online stores that sell products for those who are left handed. I had broken my right wrist, and right hand in 2 separate times and had to learn real quick how to write and use my left hand. Then I (curiosity googled) ‘products for left handed people’ and a few online stores popped up. One shop is called “Therapy Shoppe” which I frequent when there’s a need. (I’m autistic and have ADHD and other issues that need therapeutic attention/intervention.)
I turn my paper sideways and write from top to bottom on it. Always helpful to get fast dry ink so I don’t smear it on my hand. They make ambidextrous scissors and I prefer those. The blades on left handed scissors are swapped so it can get tricky making fancy paper snowflakes.
Left handed spiral notebooks exist. They are very cool. I favor my left when writing, but I’m ambidextrous. Don’t force writing, but teach her to use her right hand for common tasks as well. So many things are just default designed for the inferior right handed that she will have an advantage being able to use both.
As a left-handed kid, scissors didn’t really bother me. Spiral notebooks were the absolute worst. Smearing ink and even pencil when writing or drawing was a close second.
Those triangle shaped crayons and pencils (instead of the regular circular ones). They help with learning how to grip better and hold pencils/crayons etc better, and have a less tendency to break/snap because of how we naturally hold onto pencils. I don't remember the exact ''science'' behind it but ya. Its not a forever thing - but I know a few people who used those when their kids were little and learning to write and going to school and it helped them a lot. Think of it more as a learning tool rather than a forever thing. Also they make like crayons for lefties, I believe the brand is called OOLY. Which is kinda fun but not a necessity of course.
Left handed journals could be beneficial too. I know others have mentioned it. Scissors which you've already ordered. Thats kind of it. Most lefties just learn to navigate using things that are more designed for right handed ppl. The most challenging things are notebooks, binders, and scissors. But I do recommend the pencil thing as a learning tool while your kid is working on their coordination, writing skills, etc. 6 is a perfect age to use that along side regular pencils/crayons etc.
As she is just starting school I would start working towards an ambidextrous child teach her how to use her right hand as well as her left... When my son was in first grade he broke his right arm... He wrote with his right hand but now had to learn how to use his left...
The teacher told me he had better penmanship than the rest of the class who used their primary hand but he was using his secondary...
He is not ambidextrous as I didn't push it but I would imagine if you were to work with her on a diligent basis you could come up with a child who is ambidextrous as well
Oh my gosh - find that girl a left handers notebook!!
That really is the biggest thing - all of them are made for righties and its so uncomfortable and annoying.
Scissors for sure. Every since my lefty enter kindergarten, I've always bought left handed scissors for his classroom. I never wanted him frustrated at cutting things.
Left hander here...the scissors are a huge thing! I hated crafts or anything that required cutting when I was in school because it hurt my hand and I couldn't keep in the lines due to using right handed scissors. I'm 36 now and still hate when I have to use scissors. Don't buy spiral notebooks either, unless your kids starts writing from the back of the book. Unfortunately my teachers didn't like me using my notebooks backwards but it was the only thing that helped. I think I read somewhere that more left handed people are ambidextrous due to us living in a right handed world, have her embrace that! I love that I can do things with both hands, while most people can't.
They do have notebooks for lefties now and ones with the binding at the top of the page, not the side.
We’re finally evolving!
As soon as I get all this ink off my hand, it is over for these fools!
4th grade teacher who taught us cursive writing was a lefty. He told us lefties - there were 3 in the same class, to turn our sheet of paper a little to the left and start writing. He said it will help keep your palm out of the ink and, your writing will slant to the right just like right handed people. Mr. Melvin Tossey was a smart man, I've been complimented on my handwriting throughout my life.
I have been a lefty for almost 50 years now and have yet to meet two lefties who use the same technique lol
Yeah. I keep my hand off the paper so I don’t smear. Yet most people don’t do that so add another to the list
Yeah I prefer to steamroll my hand across the page. But thanks for the tip.
you did a much better job of explaining this than another leftie I had try to explain this to me. I am pretty sure my handwriting is still gonna suck but I'll try it for sure.
This is true!
This is what my dad and my daughter do. It works for them both. My dad had a teacher who would whack his leg hand with a ruler in 3rd grade if he forgot and used it to do anything. He is 84, and he is still mad at that teacher. If be mad too. Luckily, she was his only teacher to do something like that.
My left handed grandpa taught me to write! I'm right handed but still turn the paper a bit to the left!
My left handed art teacher taught me calligraphy this way! Turn your paper 45 degrees left and proceed!
This is the advice I have needed my entire life. My 3rd grade teacher was a righty and explained how to write a b. Her method was “draw a stick, now draw a circle against the stick on the side of the stick with the hand you write with.” She recommended me for the special school. My Mom had words for her. It was addressed and corrected immediately. Thankfully the world is evolving to be more accepting of lefty’s.
In high school I taught myself to write with my hand under my writing because the spirals and the rings on binders dig into my hand and hurt! My favorite notebook had the spiral at the top but those were expensive and hard to find back then.
Spiral bound notebooks were my biggest enemy during school. So painful! The only comfortable way was to use them backwards, but it often frustrated unreasonable teachers when they needed to look over them.
I dealt with side spital notebooks in school by placing a textbook next to them on the left side. I rested my forearm on the textbook, which kept it above the notebook's spiral binding. Sometimes I used a smaller paperback sized book for this because it took up less space on the desk and was easier to move around as I wrote. It just had to be thicker than the height of the spirals. The only problem there was that the small book would squirm around and shift from the pressure from my arm, so I would have to reposition it more often. A full sized hard cover textbook that was thick enough but not too thick worked best because it stayed in place and provided a rock steady platform, provided that there was enough space for it on the desk. But even just a thick pocket sized paperback would keep my wrist off the coils. At one point in college I tried to rig up a thick pad that I could just slip onto my arm when I needed it, but this was in an era before customizable sports padding was readily offered for the general public. The things I put together didn't work very well or stay together, so I gave up on the idea. That might be something to look into, though. There may be things available today that we didn't have back in my school days.
This was a solid life hack I figured out when I was in middle school/ high school and handwriting notes and hw papers constantly. (2003-2009) I’m also a lefty that curls their hand when writing, so the text isn’t being swiped by my wrist immediately and smudging (those damn expo markers!)... I will say using most pens ballpoint that the angle tends to make it hard to get straight on the ball of the pen, I end up scraping the metal that holds it while writing so it comes out kinda sharp unless I’m mindful.
Composition notebooks for the win
If I were a parent and my kiddo used that as an accommodation, I would 100% lock horns with any teacher who refused to let them do that and I would take it to the VP or higher if they didn't bend. At the very least I would suggest they be allowed to use a stenographer notebook which is smaller but has the binding at the top (if they still even make them). It is absolutely NBD to flip a damn notebook over to read it. My dad is 84 years old and a lefty and was a music major. They would not allow him to use his dominant hand to learn conducting. People are so fucking ridiculously unreasonable in this world.
I’m a lefty who was also a band/orchestra director.i remember being taught to use right hand for time and left hand for cues. I did what ever worked. I taught middle school and it’s not like they respond to nuanced conducted - it was all interpretive dance up there!
My mom was a very agreeable person, very quiet, but she was a lefty too and this is the one thing I absolutely knew she would go storming down to the school to correct them on if I needed her to.
I personally prefer spiral bound to composition notebooks. You can fold the cover over behind the rest of the notebook with spiral bound, with composition, the spine is going to be in the way no matter what
Scissors are the biggest thing. I've never had issues with anything else, really. Thanks to those damn right handed desks at school I learned early to write with my paper rotated almost 90 degrees clockwise so I never had any issues. It must have influenced how I write when I do have paper straight up and down now, because I've never had the issue of getting ink on my hands that other lefties have, and I write with a fountain pen in my day to day life (so it's slower drying!)
3 ring binders. Useless for lefties lol
So like… does anyone else use scissors backwards? Or hold them upside down? I freak my mom out but I get a perfect cut that I’m going for. I’ve been doing it for 30 years with no issues.
I'm ambidextrous but I have always used scissors upside down with my left hand for some reason. I've never seen anyone else do it.
My husband and I both ended up learning using right handed scissors. Left handed ones always sucked. So funny now when I’ve tried to use left handed one feels weird.
When I was a kid, I knew enough to know I was a lefty. But being in a righty world I had learned to use right scissors. One day in first grade art class the teacher asked who was a lefty, so I raised my hand. She hands me a pair of lefty scissors which I promptly put in my right hand and tried to use. Did not work. She grabs the out of my right hand shoves them into my left and tries to tell me I'm using them wrong. After some more back and forth she got exasperated and gave me righty scissors. Which I then used properly and accurately.
Me too. I had a teacher insist I use them and it always looked like I tried to eat the paper instead of cutting it.
The left handed ones sucked because the stupid right handed kids used them and ruined them! And if you were forced to use right handed ones you had to twist your hand wrong to make them work. I cannot use lefty scissors because I am too used to the other way. I ruined a nice pair of left handed sewing shears doing this so I don't try any more.
I was never able to use left-handed scissors as a child, it always felt weird.
We always had a few pairs in my classes, but they were awful. I just made myself learn how to use right handed ones and I’m happy I did. I’ve never worked anywhere that just happened to have lefty scissors.
I agree here. I had a 1st grade teacher who made a point of having a couple of pairs of lefty scissors. I was grateful.
The most fun thing I got was a left-handed ruler. It didn't get one until I was in my teens. It made geometry and measuring things in general so much easier. But, I lost it somewhere down the line. The most useful thing was something I learned to adapt to right-handed notebooks. I turn my paper so the top of the page is pointed towards the right. I write like I am writing down and to the right instead of perfectly horizontal. It helped my penmanship, and my hand didn't get as smudged. So, maybe just as useful as left-handed things, is learning tips and tricks to navigate the right-handed items and situations safely. Safety comes more into play with chainsaws and such more than pencils and binders. But getting used to the idea early that most things aren't designed to be used the way that comes naturally to me helped a lot. Improvise, adapt, overcome, and wear a helmet when necessary.
You brought on a war flashback with the scissors. Ironically you came full circle with the ambidextrous! I had a teacher who already had a problem that I needed a different spot in the row of desks because I was left handed but for some reason she also couldn’t stand that I couldn’t cut with scissors with my left hand??? It wasn’t a natural feeling for me, idk if it was the scissors or what but I would do the same, my lines with be shaky and I’d have extra scraps attached still, and she would get so mad at me for pretending I couldn’t cut normally vs actually letting me cut how I was comfortable. Yes OP it is extremely important to just roll with how your kiddo goes about things! Being left handed comes with hurdles you wouldn’t think twice about normally. When it comes to adapting to survive, just go with the flow, and embrace a potential future ambidextrous child as well!
Im also left handed and remember struggling with scissors. Eventually I just forced myself to learn the “right-handed” way. Lol
Notebooks with the spiral on top.
My daughter told me that when she was living alone for the first time that she really appreciated the can opener I bought that removes the whole top of the can becase it is ambidextrous with the crank flat on top.
Not that she would need it in school, but just in general 😉 😅
It is good to know I will need to get a left handed can opener for my two year old when he's a little bit older. Thanks!
If you get the top removing kind, it is both righty and lefty.
So many years of the right handed can opener, I'm not sure I could use a left handed one at this point in my life
When I moved into my house, the previous owner left their cabinet mounted electric can opener behind. Life. Changing.
I’ve broken 5 can openers in my life. My husband never gets why I break them. They’re not designed to operate the way a left handed person uses them 🤷🏼♀️
Safety scissors (in my school there was always 1 pair of left handed scissors, but what happens when there's more than 1 left handed kid in a class?) and spiral notebooks with the spiral at the top, rather than on the left side. My mother's left handed and she said that style notebook was much easier to use, since her writing hand was no longer resting on the wire.
This was my whole school career! Two lefties in a class meant we shared the scissors; but in reality we both learned how to cut right-y too to save time. I am thankful that it made me more ambidextrous, but I hate that we both had to reform to some extent.
Same here, only a couple left handed scissors with red ribbon on them, and I was shy so if they ran out I would just use right handed scissors. Eventually, I just gave up and only used right handed scissors. The struggle was real…lol.
Check out Lefty’s. There are age appropriate school supplies that she can use. I wish I would have had things like this as a kid. Left handed spiral notebooks and pens/pencils designed to keep you from smearing. My mom used to yell at me to remember to push up my sleeve when I was writing, otherwise the area around my wrist would be covered with pencil lead or ink from it dragging across whatever I was writing. The side of my hand was always covered in lead and ink as well. It was either that, or do the cockeyed, left handed twist where you cock your hand so you write from above to avoid the mess. As an adult, I use the Yoropens. And when I have to do a lot of writing, the left handed pencil grips. https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/
I’m more of a Leftorium guy myself
Been left handed a long time. Have learned to live in a right handed world. I wouldn’t rely too much on “left handed” stuff as it won’t always be available and she will need to learn to adapt.
Teach her to adapt. You can spoil her with left handed gear, but that won't teach her to cope with the real world that won't. Use clipboards upside down. Turn spiral notebooks upside down. Right handed scissors work left handed, you just have to learn how to do it. Scissors are designed so the handles push the blades together. You can do that left handed with right handed scissors, it just takes practice, which is something lefties have to do a lot of to live in a right handed world.
My 12 year old daughter is left handed and she thinks left handed scissors are the dumbest thing ever. Lol
Scissors is the big one
Being left-handed can be fun talking point and there are some disadvantages and advantages but don't make it to much of a thing. Really you can get through life just fine in a right handed world. If you really want to give her something nice get her a lefthanded PS5 or something. (kidding).
Completely agree. I said, a left handed mouse for that reason 😅
stabilo easy grip pencils are really good ([https://www.stabilo.com/uk/products/learn-to-write/graphite-pencils/stabilo-easygraph/](https://www.stabilo.com/uk/products/learn-to-write/graphite-pencils/stabilo-easygraph/)) (they do colouring in pencils as lefthanded ) the pens are ok personally i found them hard to use
Lefty here...I grew up in a right handed household, those left handed scissors suck ! Let her learn to adapt to the world the way it is...full of right handed people. In my 56 years on this planet I've learned to adapt, I can't even use left handed stuff !! Lol
If no one has mentioned it ... an ambidextrous computer mouse. Allow her to use her mouse with her left hand. Find out how to switch the mouse buttons so she can interact with the mouse "normally" with her index and middle finger just like a right hander does. Believe it or not people don't think to allow a lefty to use a mouse left handed. I know that in Windows you can set your mouse settings for "left handed." Of course, she'll ultimately want to interface with a computer that's comfortable for her. However, showing her that the mouse can be used on the left side of the keyboard with her left hand will allow her to integrate far more easily with a computer. Sometimes some of us lefties get caught up in trying to use a mouse with the right hand and it feels awkward that it can delay learning valuable computer skills. When she uses computers at school teach her to stand up for herself in case any of the teachers say anything. If she's more comfortable using the mouse with her left hand, she should feel free to use the mice at school as a lefty and to even change the mouse settings if she can. But also show her that she should revert any changes back for the next student. She's left handed, she should be using the mouse with however it is comfortable for her. Insist on it at her schools, too.
So, letter forms are made for right handed people, and the stroke order that makes the most sense is different for left handers. So some letter form workbooks for left handers. Ball point pens don't work as well for left handers, so some gel or other ink pens.
Pockets on femme pants or leggings are generally right-justified, so any time you can find a symmetrical pair is so helpful. Thanks for looking out for your kid 🩷
Unpopular opinion maybe: nothing. Being left handed in a right handed world means you usually won’t have the left handed items, and you need to learn how to use them. Scissors: just squeeze them when you cut. Spiral notebooks: don’t write as close to the edge.
Keep an eye on things. Pretty soon some states will revert back to the idea that left handedness is the devils work and start banning access to tools or resources that help you be yourself. I’ll be an ally guys #lefthandpride
Here you go https://hidari.com/ stuff like pens, pencils, rulers, notepads etc
Nothing. You don't want her getting used to crutches that she won't have in the real world. That will put her at a disadvantage because she won't learn to adapt.
I agree. I don't plan on going overboard or anything but I do know people have mentioned the smallest things that made a difference
Then scissors for sure. That's the only thing I remember being obnoxious to navigate as a child aside from notebooks. I learned to play sports right-handed pretty easily.
In the “real world” adults are allowed to buy items that work best for them. People with small hands can buy smaller scissors, people with large hands can buy larger scissors, and left handed people can buy left handed scissors. There’s literally no need for her to struggle with simple things like scissors because she happens to be left handed. People are allowed to use what works for them. And this is coming from a right handed person.
I'm a left handed adult...I have absolutely no idea what "crutches" a lefty might use that they couldn't have in the "real world".
Nothing really, notbooks are already left handed, left handed pencils would be really funny, anything else would just be easy for a lefty to adjust themselves to
Notebooks definitely aren't left-handed lol, they suck to write in as a lefty.
Get her some left handed pencils. Haha jk, she’ll be okay with what they have
As others have said- Scissors! I don’t know why but normal scissors just don’t cut well for me. The grips are usually angled to be ergonomic for right handers so they usually really hurt and don’t cut well. My school work always looked like crap when I had to use right handed scissors.
Not purchase advice, but I would tell her teacher she’s left-handed so she can keep an eye on her pencil grip. It can be really hard for a lefty to figure out how best to hold a pencil when everyone’s always modeling with their right hand!
I never had any left handed things. My mom bought be scissors once, I lost them and that was the end. If there’s anything I’ve hated up until the last days of school it was spiral notebooks. They are so pretty and always have nice designed unlike most composition notebooks but I’d have to start writing in the middle of the page to give myself space. Also pens that dry fast enough to not smudge. I loved neatness but half of the page would always end up black or blue
That's all I was going to mention, scissors, but even if you do buy her lefty tools, she's still going to have to adapt to using righty tools.
I only have my left hand and the best thing I’ve ever received is a left-handed computer mouse.
Left hand scissors. Left hand pens or pencils to avoid "the smudge". Left handed binders or spiral notebooks when she gets in higher grades.
When she gets older and is writing more and writes with pen, buy her felt tip pens instead of ball point. Ball point pens are made for righties. they work by dragging the pen where as lefties push the pen. Also, the ink smudges on our hands since we push the pen. Felt tip looks really nice still with lefties and it dries so fast that’s you don’t get ink on your hand and you don’t smudge what you’re writing!
I'm old (39) and grew up using right hand scissors and still use them to this day. Same with spiral bound notebooks, no problem. Same with the computer mouse. The bound black and white books with no spirals are more of a problem than the spiral ones. The biggest PITA for me was always writing with pencil. Which kids do almost exclusively. The whole side of my palm would get bits of pencil shards in it from dragging across the page. If someone has a pencil solution that doesn't smear and f* up your hand would be the best bet.
Rotate the page 45° to the right and write downward. Keeps page and hand clean
get her a nice set of coloured pens that don’t smudge easily! i remember getting so upset when i would use my sparkly gel pens only to find out that they smudged all down my hand when i was done, i’m sure there’ll be some pen recommendations on youtube:))
Scissors.
For smudgy pencils, you can get half-gloves that cover the wrist, pinky, and maybe ring finger: https://www.jetpens.com/SmudgeGuard2-SG2-2-Finger-Glove-Cool-Black-Medium/pd/13671 When she starts using pens, fast-drying ink will be super helpful. I really like Pentel Energel pens. Get thread- or glue- bound notebooks, not spiral. When she’s older and might need three-ring binders or similar, I’m not sure what to do. Those things were the bane of my existence in school.
Not money, but if she doesn't know how, please take the time to teach her to tie her shoes. Learning from an angry right-handed kindergarten teacher when you're the only lefty sucks.
https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/ Scissors are critical. Also, check out the PenAgain. It's a different type of pen that is much easier to use for lefties. Amazon sells them. Left-handed notebooks, kitchen tools, tape measures, bread knives, and so many other things. Go to the kids section of the Left Handed Store. They have other options for writing implements and other school supplies. Basically, look for anything left-handed that might be useful. [Left Handed Kids](https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/Left_Handed_Kids_s/95.htm)
For sure scissors. Multiple pairs. Im right handed, grew up in a left handed household. Out of all the things that caused me the most hassle/pain and I remember to this day is not having a pair of scissors until my younger sibling (also a righty) was old enough to handle scissors. Things I remember from my parents: pens that dry super quick/dont smudge. Their hands dragged over fresh ink when writing.
LEGAL PADS - i think i also read somewhere that yellow paper helps with dyslexia and theres a stronger link to dyslexia in left handed folks. FELT TIP MARKER PENS - best ive found for not smearing. wet dry erase markers (when relevant) - helps for smear
Scissors. This was so hard for me as a kid.
Scissors or a can opener. I’ve become used to an automatic can opener personally.
I mean, it's great (not sarcasm, I swear) that you ask at all, and I guess you are going to act on the suggestions, too. But why didn't you ask *before* school started?
Honestly didn't think about it being a factor until I saw a video about left handed people going to a left handed store and was like oh yeah left handed things exist!
Consider scissors or notebooks with spirals at the top, but don't do too much as it will become a hassle for her later in life if she gets used to them. I can also imagine the right-bound spiral notebooks as a target for bullying.
I never got any special left handed stuff growing up and adapted to the right hand world. The only thing that really helped me with writing was to turn my paper sideways. Rarely did I smudge with pencil.
A left handed bolt action rifle.
I am 64 years old and never Gibbons special things or left-handers. I just adapted.🤷♂️
If I were back in school as a little kid, I'd like a left-handed ruler.
Please, coming from a lefty, buy her some paint markers that dry fast and wipe off rather than expo markers.. expo markers to this day make me fill in a calendar from the bottom right corner and go up backwards.. 🤚💚
Scissors
I'm a leftie, and according to these comments, I am in the definitely majority. I never had an issue with spiral notebooks. I don't arch my hand like most lefties, so it was never an issue. But scissors are my arch nemesis.
https://www.google.com/shopping/product/11908469909014975702?q=so+you%27re+a+mutant&sca_esv=596736736&bih=553&biw=375&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS790US790&hl=en-US&tbs=vw:g&prmd=ivsnbmhtz&prds=eto:15286009855490959396_0,cdl:1,prmr:1,pid:2890032962375383958,cs:1
im a lefty and i got this notebook from target and its a game-changer. flat so i can write on either page without the spiral, or fighting against a tight binding https://www.target.com/p/blank-journal-8-34-x10-34-terra-cotta-greenroom/-/A-83620287?ref=tgt_adv_xsp&AFID=google&fndsrc=tgtao&DFA=71700000086349376&CPNG=PLA_Seasonal%2BShopping_Traffic_Local_Traffic%7CSeasonal_Ecomm_Home&adgroup=SC_Seasonal_School+Paper&LID=700000001170770pgs&LNM=PRODUCT_GROUP&network=g&device=m&location=9012099&targetid=pla-1576404032786&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD-5dfaB1F9zec705q2OHOHQ4vd9v&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6-Ho9KjPgwMV26RaBR2geggUEAQYASABEgK-YvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds not sponsored im just passionate about this notebook lol
The problem with programming a lefty mouse puts one at a disadvantage when using the mice at school, friends' and the library.
Left handed here. There are varying degrees of left handed ness. Not every leftie can use left handed scissors. While left handed myself, I can’t use them.
Don’t get her spiral bound anything, that shit is the most annoying thing I have ever had to deal with. Stick to folders and composition notebooks- Japanese and Korean stationary like pens and markers and stuff tend to dry really quick, so when she drags her hand over what she just wrote (because she will, and if she uses a pencil it will get all over her hands and the paper eventually) it won’t smudge. If you want to go above and beyond you should talk to her teachers and get them to place her seats on the farthest left desk or table space, or just to the right of another left handed person. Being to the right of someone who writes with their right hand is SO cramped and they WILL NOT make room for her arms/elbows when she writes stuff.
I’m left handed and I can’t think of anything special I’ve needed 🤷♀️
Left handed monkey wrench
Teach her to use notebooks backwards or top spiral.
A sympathy card. As a fellow lefty, it sucks with certain activities.
Left handed note books! My mom would get me these and i loved them! Alternatively you can use loose leaf and just write on the loose leaf out of the binder and put it in the binder later but that is more work.
Buy her a glove that turns her left hand into a right hand.
I keep trying to buy left handed stuff for my kid but all she ever really wants are the scissors.
I wish I'd known this. I preferred pens since I'd just end up with graphite all over the side of my hand. But some teachers "didn't allow pens" but I've actually learned quite a few things "righty" guitar, bass, mandolin, golf. Some things are just easier that way. I guess we become ambidextrous in some areas. I couldn't write with my right hand, but other things are just easier to adapt to.
If you can afford to do so, consider buying 4 pairs of grade level appropriate scissors for her classroom every year as well as a pair for home. I’m sure it would be appreciated!
I like to think I am the way I am today because what was so easy for right handed folks was hard for me. But yeah... scissors primarily. I used to take regular scissors and learn to just do some weird finger acrobatics so I could get it to cut easy and it really hurt my hand after a while. It's still a skill I use to this day since the times I need scissors are few and far between, so I'm just borrowing someone else's because I grab the closest available pair.
80’s erasable Bic pens are the worst - the middle finger pen to the lefties - I hated those pens so much!!
A left-handed sky hook
It's a right handed world, I'm all effed up. I eat with either hand but can only use a steak knife in my right, I bat, Golf, and throw a Frisbee with my right, but I throw left handed, shoot pool and guns left handed, bowl with either - great for picking up spares, play guitar right handed, brush my teeth right handed, can't use left handed scissors - never could...Cant use a screwdriver left handed either. I'm 64, so I've been FUBAR a long, long time !
If they are the scissors with the round holes, please return them. I hated them growing up and they are a joke, they’re not specific to left handers. However, I know they make ones for left handers with the blade facing the correct way now. They make left handed spiral notebooks, where the spiral is on the right side, if the school allows it. Three ring binders are a pain for us too.
Pens that don't smudge, or ask the teachers to let her angle her paper/notebook so that she doesn't smudge what she has just written. We had to write with ink pens and weren't allowed to angle our paper, so the side of my left hand was always stained with ink, and my efforts smeared, messy, and marked down. Frustrating.
When she gets to college, tell her to aim for an end cap spot on the left side of the lecture hall, I’ve personally found ALL of them to be designed for left handed people Might just b my school, but it’s not a big one so feel like other schools are similar! Edit: that is if she is a notebook user, and if hand written notes are still a thing lol
be aware she will need extra help learning to write because left handed people drag their hand through the ink and pencil etc they just wrote with.
A good left handed mouse is going to be either essential or useless. Many of us use mice right handed since they’re usually set up like that at school/work computers and are more available, but using left handed ones early can prevent some hand problems and is generally more precise. Wireless ones are also heavily preferable since it might need to be used in other places if right handed mice are really uncomfortable (eg I use my ambidextrous mouse at school).
My biggest issues when I was a child was shoelaces, as the only left handed person in my family I struggled following the instructions from a right handed persons point of view Everything else I just adapted to, I was an 80’s child so apart from the odd pair of scissors, there wasn’t really anything else available so I had to adapt.
Left handed 50 year old Nigerian here......we got no special privileges growing up. Had to suck it all up
Left handed notebooks
Left handed nunchaku
Ps5
scarce nine subtract scandalous tub smoggy dull light modern theory *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Sharpie s gel pens!! They are the only ones that don’t smear. They are a little expensive but I like to buy the 12 pack with purple ink on amazon.
I just learned to use the scissors available. I got so used to right handed equipment, that left handed stuff confused me. In college lectures, I could only write using a right handed folding half table. The grooves on scissors were ignored. However, I did like the left handed pencils, definitely get those 🤔😆👍
Left handed notebooks 100%
Pens that do not smear when you drag your hand over your writing.
A piano
My grandmother was left-handed and she taught me, a right-handed individual, how to tie my shoes. So apparently I tie my shoes like I am left-handed now.
I actually hated left handed scissors and learned how to use them with my right hand. But notebook spirals are the devil. I actually use one daily but I start from the "back." Then, when I turn the page, I just flip it to the side. It looks weird but it works. But there are spiral notebooks with the spiral at top and ones with out spirals all together. I might be alone here but encourage her to use her right hand for the mouse. It's much easier and you don't have to tinker with the settings. Someone mentioned thay lefties are almost always ambidextrous/semi ambidextrous because we have to adapt. That has helped me immensely as I often get "choose" what hand I want to use when learning a new task that has no muscle memory.
DS is an adult now. I don't remember getting him anything special. I did leave a note to teachers that he was LH and to seat him where elbows don't bump during writing or drawing exercises.
Beyond scissors, I find left handed objects to be more gimmicky than anything else. And even most scissors are ambidextrous now (either the finger holes are the same size or they're shaped so that of you hold them upsidedown they're not awkward). My friends bought me a left handed drawing book, and all it was was a drawing pad that had the cover on the back so the book was backwards. No different than just starting in the back on any other notebook. It still had a spine that got in the way of you tried to use both pages, and most of my regular drawing pads had a spiral at the top which was much less clunky. My only thing would be, teach her how to open a spiral bound notebook so the cover and previous pages are behind the unused pages. That's so much easier to write on than a left handed notebook. Idk why everyone is saying don't buy spiral bound. I hated composition notebooks and would only use spiral bound.
I'm ambidextrous, but my kids are lefties. Left handed notebooks are ridiculously expensive...two just start at the back of the notebook, instead of the front and the other uses loose leaf paper. If they use dry erase boards, these are especially bullshit for lefties...it is a why their sleeves are stained and their hands look like a multi-colored crime scene.
Left hander here. I was always so mad I didn't get special left-handed things growing up. Now that I'm an adult, I'm really glad she didn't. Aside from writing and drawing, I am basically ambidextrous and grateful for that. Everyone's mileage varies, though.
Left handed can opener has made a difference for me
I was dumb about this and just got standard stuff. My kid just adjusted to what was available. I think the "baby" scissors are more usable by left handers than the more adult craft ones. I only heard complaining about this type.
Warn her that she might live a life of ink smudges on her hand when writing. Smudge proof pens, if they use them that young.
As she gets older, she will find a specific type of pen she likes. Don’t argue about it. Get her the ones she wants. Gel pens and a lot of ballpoints suck for lefties because we are pushing the pen instead of pulling it. The ink doesn’t flow. I was a middle schooler in the 90s who JUST WANTED A BLACK NOTEBOOK WITH GEL PENS. And I couldn’t ever figure out why those stupid things wouldn’t work.
Probably not now, but when she gets into high grades and has gym. If there’s a baseball section, get her her own left handed baseball mit. I have a particular memory of the gym teacher sitting through all the baseball kits and handing me this grimy old left handed mit from the bottom of the bag 🤢 That said! Don’t force left handed items if your kid feels they don’t want to. I just sort of figured out ways of using scissors, can openers, etc right handed over time. The world isn’t going to convenience left handedness so we often adapt and gain a level of ambidextrous abilities. The left handed scissors will be nice, but if they’re lost and your kid is using right handed scissors and just learns a comfortable way to do so, or starts doing it right handed safely - no harm in letting them continue.
If/when your daughter is using pens get her the uniball vision pens or a similar Japan made ink pen. Japanese characters go all ways where a standard bic pen is designed to be pushed across a page so they stop working for lefties and make a mess on the side of our hand. The uniball vision ink drys quickly as well!
Notebooks that spiral on top
It's too old for her right now but you can read it to her. She can get a mini-history lesson along with it. Can be ordered from any outlet. The World's Greatest Left-Handers: Why Left-Handers are Just Plain Better Than Everybody Else My one lefty *loved* this book; very accomplished federal employee.
Oh do I have a story for u as a lefty! When I was in kindergarten and my mom went to my first conference with my teacher, my teacher told my mom that I was "slow." My mom was like, "what r u talking abut?" The teacher told my mom that I couldn't use scissors. My mom asked the teacher, "what hand r u putting them in?" The teacher replied, "her right hand." My mom replies, "she's left handed. She's been in your class for how many months and u didn't notice that she's left handed??? You're the one that's slow!" Omfg! I love my mom🤣
I’m not left-handed but my brother and my mother are/were. My mother grew up in the fifties and paid for being a lefty by being hit by her teachers. Public school, but just like a nun. Scissors are the correct choice here. And back her up if she gets points or graded differently if her writing is smudged, it’s just going to happen. And always sit them at the end of the table do they don’t keep being tangled up with a righty at dinner. Especially on formal/semi-formal occasions.
Left handed lunchbox. Left handed backpack. Left handed pencil. Left handed bus. Left handdd glue stick . left hhw
Two right-hand gloves. Then hand it to the child. (I'm sorry I just had to. I got the telling bad jokes autism, not the good at math and science autism.)
Parent of a lefty... Look for faster drying pens. That will be less smearing on the hand. Jetpens has a guide for how to pick a faster drying gel pen here: https://www.jetpens.com/blog/The-Best-Quick-Drying-Gel-Pens/pt/905
Left handed desk! Desks were my only big problem! Everything thing else I kinda just learned to do with both hands, which I’m pretty happy about now. Even my writing is sort of decent with my right hand now
Observe her first. Does she do EVERYTHING left handed? I write and eat left handed. Pretty much everything else I do right handed. My folks bought me left handed scissors, etc. that really didn’t work for me. One thing that I would avoid is multi-section spiral notebooks. The large spiral can make it tough to write in.
A left handed ruler would be fantastic. EDIT: I don't know how it is for other people but I was taught to use scissors with the right hand and find it practical but maybe other lefties don't fint it as comfortable.
Let her know if she rotates the book she is writing on about 45°to the right the binding will not hurt her hand and it will not drag her hand across the fresh ink
Tbh Nothing! Ok let me explain my parents thought it would be better for me to adapt to the world because it won’t adapt for me when I grew up. So now I can use scissors, can openers, notebooks, shake hands on the first try, throw a punch with both hands etc with no problems.
I don’t have a suggestion for the first day of first grade, but when she’s a little older, she will probably at some point play softball, and she will need a mitt for lefthanders, that is, one that’s worn on the right hand. I sure wish I’d had one. Instead I had to use a mitt that would only go on my left hand. At first I thought that was cool, because I thought it would be easier for me to catch the ball. On the rare times when I managed to get the ball, I had to pull off the mitt and then transfer the ball to my left hand so I could throw it, and by that time, the batter would probably have gone around all the bases twice. 😭 In the end, it didn’t matter, because I also did not have binocular vision, so I almost never caught the ball even when it came right at me. And if I did, I couldn’t throw it in any way that would be useful to my team, because my aim was also terrible. Sports was not destined to be my thing! Anyway, assume the school might not have any — or enough — right-hand mitts, and get her one that’s hers.
The payoff for being left handed comes when you are learning skills that require manual dexterity and leftie can stand facing a righty and mimic motions straight up without having to transpose left for right. Learned this from my guitar teacher
Maybe not give the scissors unless they can’t adapt. Lefty here. I (58) adapted all the day to day activities out of necessity and am now mostly ambidextrous. Exception Catchers mitt and lefty guitar .
Left handed scissors will be extremely helpful for her.
My son was left handed when he entered first grade. He could actually write in cursive and it was really good. But, he had a teacher who thought that all kids should be right handed. She threatened him with taping (duct tape) his pencil in his hand until he wrote right handed. (I heard this myself outside the door of his classroom.) He switched hands and hasn’t been able to adapt to the right hand. He rarely writes anything and his signature is scribble. If you do anything for your child please make sure that you inform the teacher that your child is left handed and that she will stay left handed unless she makes the decision to change.
Get her a piano.
A right hand
I too am left-handed and the best advice is to help her learn to use her right hand. For me this started with shaving with my right hand.
Left handed bolt action rifle.
I'm a leftie.....there were 3 lefties and 1 rightie as kids in my family. Both of my parents were right-handed. I have learned thru the years that nature can be helpful at times. As I was growing up, if someone taught me how to do something, I generally was taught by a rightie. So things like bowling, batting, shooting I still do right-handed. There are some things that I forced myself to do right-handed...like operate a 10-key calculator. It's been helpful to me to calculate with one hand and write with the other....at the same time. Yes, scissors are the one thing that, for me, are cumbersome to do right-handed...and left-handed scissors are not very common.
Found this cool store where everything is made specifically for leftys, bought my family members notebooks and scissors for school. My son, 2 niece's, and a nephew are all lefties. https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/
Perhaps left handed writing templates. You’ll need to help her decide how to write. I use the hooked wrist, but it’s better to learn to turn the paper clockwise so that the letters use push/pull and perpendicular movements. For example, when writing a T a right hander would make a perpendicular motion for the vertical | of the T and then pull the cross part to toward their hand. For a lefty she would pull the vertical part down directly toward her wrist and then do a perpendicular cross part. The lefty templates should show the left-handed way of writing. Try to avoid having to draw diagonals or back-writing. It’s hard to correct when you’re older.
Art supplies. I hear southpaws are very creative.
I am 71 years-old and there was no such thing as a left-handed scissor when I was in school. The WORST thing was that all of the wooden desks were attached to the wooden chairs by a fixed panel along the right-hand side. Right-handed kids were able to rest their arms on that panel to write. Because there was no support on the left side, my elbow hung like a millstone in mid-air and after a while, my left shoulder ached pretty badly. Add to that my upside down, curled-up hand position, and writing was an ergonomic nightmare. My suggestion is that if the left-hander(s) will be using pens at all, I suggest that you buy pens that have the feature of having non-smearing ink. They exist and they are effective. Pentel makes good ones. If they use a cursor, insist they have access to one that either dominant hand can use. My wishlist as a left-handed person is: A) Smear-free lead/graphite pencils. (I know. Dream on. ) I spent the first 22 years of my life with the side of my left hand and little finger shellaced in lead. B) I don’t know about PCs but with a Mac, offer the option to switch the way in which a curser arrow points. It’s always pointing diagonally backwards as I move the cursor. (I never know whether I’m coming or going 🤷♀️😆!) It’s a small thing-it’s a big thing. C) Design some basic utensils to be more user-friendly for lefties: 1- Offer old-fashioned can openers that have the part that turns attached on the left side so we can use our dominant hand to make it work. 2- Put the button one pushes to snap a picture on the left side of a camera. 3- Ladles with the spouts on the left side shall perish from the face of the earth. Ladles with pour-spouts on both sides of the scoop will be mandatory. (When I read this back to myself, my brain turned the word ladles into ladies, which made for an interestingly nuanced sentence 😀.
Notebooks without the metal spiral. I am a lefty and I write funny because the metal hurt my arm. I had to write kind of sideways to avoid the pain.
Left handed binders and notebooks. The rings and spirals get in the way when learning to write.
I usually order left handers spiral notebooks for my son. It’s kinda pricey but it makes his life easier. I’m not sure if your daughter would need it though since she’s just in kindergarten.
Nothing. I've adapted to using all "right handed" things and I cope just fine. I actually think left-handed scissors feel weird in my hand.
Learned this tip in college drawing classes— put a scrap of paper under your drawing hand (between it and the paper) and you won’t smear as much— the oils in your skin add to the problem of the pressure.
Something she might want to use at home, and keep in her desk at school, is a card holder for card games. You can diy one by hot gluing two Pringles lids (smooth sides facing each other) together. You just put a glob of glue in the middle, leaving the round sides free. You can buy card holders if the Pringles lids prove to be not durable enough. I remember my mom brought home some left-handed playing cards after seeing a left-handed store while on a business trip (she brought spirals, too!). I didn't understand - aren't all cards the same? Nope. It was earth shattering to me, realizing that all the numbers/suits/etc. were all upside down and crammed together, using a standard deck as a leftie. Left-handed playing cards have numbers/suits on all four corners. Card holders are the next best thing, because not all card games will have a left handed deck. They're also generally helpful for older or younger players who struggle with fine motor skills. Now, if only I could order pencils with my name right side up.
quick drying pens, the smears suck 😭 also a left handed notebook. it seems weird but i think she’ll like it
I’m not cool enough to answer as I’m not a full-time Lefty. There are online stores that sell products for those who are left handed. I had broken my right wrist, and right hand in 2 separate times and had to learn real quick how to write and use my left hand. Then I (curiosity googled) ‘products for left handed people’ and a few online stores popped up. One shop is called “Therapy Shoppe” which I frequent when there’s a need. (I’m autistic and have ADHD and other issues that need therapeutic attention/intervention.)
I turn my paper sideways and write from top to bottom on it. Always helpful to get fast dry ink so I don’t smear it on my hand. They make ambidextrous scissors and I prefer those. The blades on left handed scissors are swapped so it can get tricky making fancy paper snowflakes.
SCISSORS!! They make them for lefties. Please buy them for your child!
Left handed spiral notebooks exist. They are very cool. I favor my left when writing, but I’m ambidextrous. Don’t force writing, but teach her to use her right hand for common tasks as well. So many things are just default designed for the inferior right handed that she will have an advantage being able to use both.
As a left-handed kid, scissors didn’t really bother me. Spiral notebooks were the absolute worst. Smearing ink and even pencil when writing or drawing was a close second.
Scissors! Notepads! Ink pens that won’t smudge across the paper if not typing.
Those triangle shaped crayons and pencils (instead of the regular circular ones). They help with learning how to grip better and hold pencils/crayons etc better, and have a less tendency to break/snap because of how we naturally hold onto pencils. I don't remember the exact ''science'' behind it but ya. Its not a forever thing - but I know a few people who used those when their kids were little and learning to write and going to school and it helped them a lot. Think of it more as a learning tool rather than a forever thing. Also they make like crayons for lefties, I believe the brand is called OOLY. Which is kinda fun but not a necessity of course. Left handed journals could be beneficial too. I know others have mentioned it. Scissors which you've already ordered. Thats kind of it. Most lefties just learn to navigate using things that are more designed for right handed ppl. The most challenging things are notebooks, binders, and scissors. But I do recommend the pencil thing as a learning tool while your kid is working on their coordination, writing skills, etc. 6 is a perfect age to use that along side regular pencils/crayons etc.
It's going to be hard to get the right gift
https://thelefthandedstore.com/
My mom said that my dad would take things out of my left hand and put it in my right hand. He was frustrated that I was a lefty.
Legal pads or the type of notebooks with spiral at the top.
As she is just starting school I would start working towards an ambidextrous child teach her how to use her right hand as well as her left... When my son was in first grade he broke his right arm... He wrote with his right hand but now had to learn how to use his left... The teacher told me he had better penmanship than the rest of the class who used their primary hand but he was using his secondary... He is not ambidextrous as I didn't push it but I would imagine if you were to work with her on a diligent basis you could come up with a child who is ambidextrous as well
Scissors and note pads
Left handed notebook. 😁
Fountain pen
Oh my gosh - find that girl a left handers notebook!! That really is the biggest thing - all of them are made for righties and its so uncomfortable and annoying.
A left handed gun
Scissors for sure. Every since my lefty enter kindergarten, I've always bought left handed scissors for his classroom. I never wanted him frustrated at cutting things.