I have a 4-year-old daughter who is working through the phonics program. She is very excited about reading and initiated me purchasing the product on her own (apparently advertising works). She is making very good progress and tries to sound out everything she sees. However, she has started to try to read words from right to left and is also often writing her name from right to left. She turns around all the letters so it is written perfectly backwards. She is left-handed if that has any bearing on the situation. Any thoughts on how I can correct her?

Writing backwards is a very common problem in my 4-year-old class. Almost every one of my children do it sometime during the school year—perfectly formed letters, perfectly spelled words, and perfectly backwards. Names included, even if they’ve been writing them correctly before. Usually, it’s nothing to worry about. Writing left to right is how English is written, but other languages are written from right to left or up and down. It’s just a matter of teaching “point of reference.” Right now she’s excited about putting all this together and focusing on how it all fits. As she sits down to write, where she starts on the page is probably one of the last things she’s focusing on.

So it’s usually just a matter of reminding her where we start. Making a mark on the left hand side of the paper is a good reminder. Sometimes I’ll highlight the entire left side and remind my kids that this is where we always want to start. When she writes things backwards, compliment her on her writing, the formation of the letters and the spelling, and on the attempt. What a great effort. Then gently tell her that we need to start on this side (the left side) and ask her to do it again, using lots of praise and recognition for her efforts. It’s also fun to hold her backwards-written things in the mirror and see how they read correctly.

Just a reminder as to “where we start” should be enough to cure the backwards problem. Don’t be too frustrated, some kids need lots of reminders—sometimes most of the school year, but they get it figured out eventually, and remember that we go from left to right. Good luck and enjoy the process of working with your child. It sounds like you’re doing a great job!