"She Mixes Up Left and Right"
A 1994 study found that children use left and right on their own bodies first. Using them on a person facing them came last. These are findings about groups of children. They are not a checklist for one child. No study we hold makes left-right confusion a sign of a learning difficulty.
TL;DR
- A 1994 study found that children use left and right on their own bodies first. Using them on a person facing them came last. These are findings about groups of children. They are not a checklist for one child.
- No study we hold makes left-right confusion a sign of a learning difficulty.
- In our view, use the words on your child's own body. Say "your left shoe" or "your right hand." When you give a direction, point as you say it. Add a landmark: turn left, toward the shop. These steps are our own practice. We hold no study that tests them.
What a 1994 study found about left and right
One study asked children to use the words left and right (Rigal, 1994). They used them correctly on their own bodies first. Then they used them on a person facing away. Using them on a person facing them came last. These are findings about groups of children. They are not a checklist for one child.
Left-right mix-ups and learning
No study we hold makes left-right confusion a sign of a learning difficulty.
Practicing left and right at home
- In our view, use the words on your child's own body. Say "your left shoe" or "your right hand."
- When you give a direction, point as you say it.
- Add a landmark: turn left, toward the shop.
These steps are our own practice.
We hold no study that tests the steps on this page. That is a gap in what we hold, not a finding that they do not work.
When to ask for help
Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.
- Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
- Schoolwork well below what school expects.
- A teacher who raises a concern about learning.
- Extreme upset about schoolwork.
- Complete avoidance of school or learning.
- Hopelessness about learning.
- Sadness or worry that lasts.
- Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
- A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.
If no skill has gone, start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.
Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.
In the classroom
When you give left and right directions in class, point as you say them.
Two sentences for an email home: "She sometimes mixes up left and right in PE. How does it go at home?"
Tonight, name each shoe as it goes on. Say "your left shoe" and "your right shoe." Let your child name the second shoe.
”What to do tonightWhat to use next
An overview of processing skills. Our work on each runs alongside reading, spelling or math instruction, not in place of it.
Common questions from parents
My child mixes up left and right. Is that a sign of something?
A 1994 study found that children use left and right on their own bodies first. Using them on a person facing them came last. These are findings about groups of children. They are not a checklist for one child. No study we hold makes left-right confusion a sign of a learning difficulty.
How do children learn left and right?
One study asked children to use the words left and right (Rigal, 1994). They used them correctly on their own bodies first. Then they used them on a person facing away. Using them on a person facing them came last. These are findings about groups of children. They are not a checklist for one child.
How can we practice left and right at home?
In our view, use the words on your child's own body. Say "your left shoe" or "your right hand." When you give a direction, point as you say it. Add a landmark: turn left, toward the shop. These steps are our own practice. We hold no study that tests them.