Why does a child write numbers and letters in mirror image: reasons, what to do? How to correct mirror spelling of letters and numbers in children: tips, exercises

Why does a child write numbers and letters in mirror image: reasons

What causes mirror writing to appear in children? The study of this phenomenon is carried out taking into account special samples: mirror writing is considered as dysgraphia, and the phenomenon of right-handers with a “writing” right hand is also highlighted.

• Mirror handwriting (letters and numbers are written from right to left) is observed with a low level of development of spatial thinking in relation to one’s own body.

Entries in the diary of Leonardo da Vinci

• Children with pronounced mirror handwriting make mistakes when determining sides: where is the right and where is the left, they cannot indicate which arm or leg is which.
• The perception of the visual series and its generalization is formed insufficiently.
• Among the reasons for “Leonardo’s handwriting,” experts point out the too rapid mastery of the technique of writing with printed characters.
• Children may not grasp the connection between a letter symbol and its meaning or may not grasp the relationship to an insufficient extent.

Dysgraphia is observed in primary school children

Leonardo da Vinci wrote mirror images in numerous diaries, as evidenced by recent research. In honor of the genius, this phenomenon acquired the name “Leonardo’s handwriting.” This type of writing is observed in children with typical development.

Children who have dysgraphia are distinguished by a special perception of a 3D three-dimensional image (three-dimensional) - when the right or left fields of central or peripheral vision record space in a distorted version.

• The “defect window” includes a nearby 3D image, namely a distance of up to 30-40 cm. Once in this area, the picture is displayed as if in reverse perspective.
• Here the image is reversed.

Mirror writing in children

• A child who experiences the phenomenon of mirror writing has no choice but to write graphic symbols that fall on the area of ​​the “defect window” the way he sees them, namely, upside down in a mirror.
• Dysgraphia can also be observed in children without a pronounced impairment in the perception of 3D volumetric space. This may be a disturbance in the perception of images at a short distance. As for long distances, perception disturbances may not be observed here.

The localization of reverse perspective can be compared to a kind of “window”. In this area lies the defect of the near 3D space, which is called in the scientific community “Lobachevsky space”.

Dysgraphia in children

Symbols and numbers, entering Lobachevsky's space, turn out to be mirror-inverted both in the vertical and horizontal directions. Mirror handwriting is observed when a letter or number gets into the defect area during writing. The child simply perceives the image “as he sees it.”

• The presence of such mechanisms that contribute to the occurrence of dysgraphia at the physiological level in a child is a diagnostic criterion.

Retraining a left-handed child to write with his right hand is one of the causes of dysgraphia

• They are detected as a change in perception, and are markers of the effectiveness of psychophysiological or neuropsychological correction.
• A child with a pronounced pathognomonic phenomenon, when copying text from a book or magazine, makes a few mirror errors. However, when trying to write from memory, he “reverses” the alphabetic and numeric characters.
• The phenomenon of mirror handwriting appears at the stage of mastering the skill of writing along with other errors against the background of the child’s normal development.

In a child with dysgraphia, the connection between the hemispheres of the brain is insufficiently formed

What are the reasons why a child mirrors (writes in a mirror)?

• One of the reasons is psychological factors. Right-handedness, left-handedness, and gender have an influence.
• Previously written texts can also cause mirror spelling. The page from which the child began to write the text, the place on the page lead to the appearance of “Leonardo’s handwriting.”

An example of mirror handwriting in a child

Among the factors of optical dysgraphia are the following:

• Analysis of visual images and space is formed insufficiently (the child has a impaired understanding of the shape and size of surrounding objects, what place they occupy relative to other things and relative to each other).
• Visual analysis and synthesis does not provide a complete spatial picture.
• Visible images of letters are not differentiated. Letter gnosis – visual perception and recognition of letter and digital meanings – is not fully formed.

Which children are at risk for mirror writing?

• “Leonardo's handwriting” is discovered in children aged 6-7 years in the process of mastering writing skills.
• Children of preschool age who have not sufficiently acquired information about the size and shape of surrounding things.
• Children who have difficulty determining the spatial arrangement of things.
• Primary school children who make mistakes when using prepositions to indicate the location (location) of objects in space, or who do not know the meaning of these prepositions.
• Children whose working hand is their left, but are “retrained” to write with their right hand. Such students reproduce lines directed from right to left, their letters and numbers are directed from bottom to top.

Mirror writing is found in children 6-7 years old

Mirror writing and the reasons for its occurrence in children

Before we talk about the causes of optical dysgraphia, let’s focus on age. How old is your child now? If from 5 to 7, then there is no reason to panic. The fact is that preschool children are still developing the mental functions responsible for reading and writing. In preschoolers, the right hemisphere of the brain is dominant, so they more often perceive space from right to left, and therefore confusion arises when reading and writing.

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All you can do now is just show your child how to write correctly. And when he goes to first grade and his brain matures, everything will begin to work out by itself.

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But, if your child is already in school and is over 7 years old, then, most likely, mirror writing is already an established violation and urgent action needs to be taken.

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Let's understand the reasons.

How to correct mirror spelling in children: tips

How to identify in time the prerequisites for the emergence of “Leonardo’s handwriting”?

• Place two pens or sticks in front of the child: place one vertically in front of you. The other hand is placed on the right at a right angle to the first.
• Invite your child to repeat your actions with other sticks. He can attach a second pen or stick to the vertically located “mirror” one on the left.
• This happens when transferring three-dimensional images, simple shapes, and figures onto paper. The child copies the sample he sees, but transfers it to paper in a mirror image.
• If the mirror handwriting appears partially, then this indicates an unsystematic, random manifestation of the phenomenon. We are talking about writing individual letters in mirror image.

The phenomenon of dysgraphia in children

Therefore, it makes no sense to correct Leonardo’s “handwriting”, which occurs in the case of writing some letters. We need to get rid of the problem as a whole.

Tips for eliminating mirror spelling:

• Before starting work on correcting mirror handwriting, it is necessary to carry out a preparatory stage. The purpose of the preliminary work is to teach the child the skill of orientation in space, relative to himself, on a sheet of paper.
• The child needs to learn where the right side is and where the left side is, to know which side a certain part of the body is on.
• After acquiring a stable skill in recognizing the right and left sides, you can move on to the next stage: developing the skill of accurately navigating your own body. Invite the child to show his left ear, right hand, right leg, left cheek.
• Taking into account the right and left sides, the child must learn to navigate the surrounding space. The adult’s task at this stage will be to explain the location of objects relative to his body, relative to other objects: for example, what is closer to the right hand is on the right, objects on the left hand are on the left.
• The same exercises are carried out regarding the location of the notebook in relation to the magazine or book. After mastering the peculiarities of the spatial arrangement of things, the child will understand whether a line should be drawn to the right or left of the vertical stick, and on which side to write an oval in the letter “u”.

Causes of dysgraphia

Left-handed child

Mirror letter writing is often found in children who have been retrained to use their left hand. Such children have a number of neurological abnormalities, including stuttering, enuresis and incorrect writing. If parents did not consciously wean off using the left hand, then the reasons need to be looked deeper. Perhaps the child is afraid to use the left hand as the dominant one due to pain or some other reason.

Sometimes a baby can be a hidden left-hander when nature has given him left-hand dominance, but everyone around him does things differently. Children unconsciously copy the behavior of the adults around them, often to their detriment.

Hidden left-handedness can be determined by performing a new task. Parents must find something that the child has not tried to do yet. Perhaps you should offer your child to wash the dishes, grate carrots, or water the flowers.

You cannot show the execution of the selected task before this kind of test. Try to explain to your child in words what is required of him:

“Take a sponge and scrub the plate with it”; “Take a carrot and run it along the grater”; “Take a watering can, tilt it a little, let some water pour onto the flower.” Such an unexpected and new thing will awaken the child’s natural abilities and, if left-handedness is truly present, he will take objects with his left hand.

Mirror writing may remain in a left-handed child, but he will also need to be taught correct writing.

How to correct mirror spelling of letters and numbers in children: exercises

Exercises for correcting “mirror” writing:

• Prepare cards, stencils, cubes for the child to reproduce standard letters.
• While writing, invite the child to run his finger along the letter, along the line of the letter.
• Invite the child to trace the letter with his finger in the air, accompanying him with his eyes and pronouncing it.
• Write graphic dictations: dash, dot, cell down, two cells up, four cells to the right, cell up, two cells to the right).
• Develop the ability to remember visual images. Repeat various movements, reproduce series of speeches (months, days of the week).
• Develop fine motor skills of the hands by using techniques such as massage, self-massage of the fingers, finger games, modeling with plasticine, tracing, shading pictures.
• Invite the child to model letters from sticks, from elements of other letters: the letter “H” can be transformed into the letter “P” by moving one stick. Name or show letters that consist of three elements (ZH, I, Y, Z), or two (U, CH, T). Reconstruct a letter from several elements - an oval, a semi-oval, a long or short stick.

Mirror writing: ways to solve the problem

The work is devoted to studying the causes of mirror writing in children and ways to overcome this problem.

Key words : mirror writing, interhemispheric interaction, leading hemisphere of the brain.

I love writing stories. But I’m afraid that they won’t be able to read my books, because I often write letters in a mirror image (“mirror”).

Not everyone has thought about what a mirror letter is. Why does it occur in people?

Psychologists call mirror handwriting a phenomenon in which a person writes not from left to right, but vice versa. Moreover, all the letters look as if they were written in a mirror image. This feature also has another name – “Leonardo’s handwriting”.

Today there are two main theories that explain this phenomenon of Leonardo da Vinci. The first is that the genius needed to hide his notes from reading, that is, encrypt. The second explains this feature of the records by its convenience for the author himself. According to some assumptions, the scientist used his left hand to write. And as recent research by scientists has proven, if a person is left-handed, then it is much more convenient and faster for him to write letters in mirror image.

In fact, the phenomenon of mirror writing is not uncommon. Most children who were taught to write in preschool often have this characteristic: writing letters or numbers in the wrong direction. This disorder may be a temporary phenomenon that goes away early in school, but in some cases it may persist into later life.

The reason for such deviations, according to scientists, is the leading hemisphere of the brain. The human brain is one of the most important organs of our body. It has two hemispheres - right and left. The functions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain are different (Table 1).

Table 1

Functions of the cerebral hemispheres

The differences in the functions of the right and left hemispheres of the brain can be clearly seen in the illustration (Figure 2)

Rice. 2. Differences in the functions of the cerebral hemispheres

As a rule, until the age of seven, the right hemisphere of the brain is more active. In this case, the surrounding picture is studied from right to left, which is why confusion occurs. Later, when children start going to school, the left hemisphere becomes more active and everything falls into place.

There are no exact data on the frequency of occurrence of mirror writing. According to some sources, in secondary schools there are about 1% of children who write mirror words. The literature emphasizes the connection between mirror writing and left-handedness. Mirror writing was found in 32% of left-handed boys and 33% of left-handed girls. [Kapustin A.L., 1994].

As we have found out, as a child grows up, the left hemisphere of the child begins to develop, forming connections with the right hemisphere. These connections are very weak at first, which affects the child’s skills such as counting, writing, reading, and symmetrical movements of the arms and legs. Over time, stable neural connections must be formed between the hemispheres, transmitting information. There are various exercises to develop interhemispheric interaction.

Having studied the literature, we came to the conclusion that in most cases, children with mirror writing can and should be helped. We have studied and tried on ourselves various ways and techniques to solve this issue.

There are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet, and writing 22 of them is difficult due to their mirror properties. 11 letters are symmetrical. These are A, D, F, M, N, O, P, T, F, X, W, so writing them is not difficult.

In the Russian language, due to the properties of mirroring, 22 letters cause difficulty for children:

– B, V, G, E, Yo, I, J, K, R, S, C, Shch, Y, ь, ъ, Yu – are written on the right.

– Z, L, U, Ch, E, Z – are written on the left.

To correct “mirror” writing, scientists recommend using the following types of exercises:

 reproduction of letters using cards, stencils, cubes;

 tracing the letter with a finger in the air and pronouncing it;

 writing graphic dictations (dot, two cells up, one cell to the right, one cell down, one cell to the left);

 recognition of letters “written” on the back, on the arm, in the air by the child’s hand, recognition of letters by touch;

 modeling letters from sticks, from elements of letters, changing letters. For example: from the letter P you can make the letter H by moving one stick. Determination of letters that can be laid out from three (I, A, P, N, S, F) and from two elements (G, T, K). Construction of letters from the elements: oval, semi-oval, long and short stick;

 writing problem letters under dictation (letters are dictated in an indefinite sequence to eliminate the possibility of guessing, for example: E, E, E, E, E, E, E). Before writing each letter, you need to say what elements it consists of and which direction it “looks.”

For a month, I regularly practiced these exercises with my mother. In addition, we made difficult letters together from salt dough. Above my work desk, together with my dad, I hung the letters that I wrote in mirrors. This work has yielded results. Every day I noticed that it was easier and easier to write letters that I could have made mistakes in before. Now I can confidently say that such exercises help a lot, and I recommend them to all students who have difficulty with mirror writing.

Having studied the literature, we found out that such a phenomenon as mirror writing is not uncommon. Most children who were taught to write in preschool often have this characteristic: writing letters or numbers in the wrong direction. Such a disorder may be a temporary phenomenon that goes away at the beginning of school.

Scientists call the reasons for mirror writing due to the peculiarities of the human brain. Constant special exercises allow you to get rid of this feature and write letters correctly.

Literature:

1. Gukovsky M.A. Leonardo da Vinci, L. - M.: Education, 1967.
2. Ozhegov S.I. Dictionary of the Russian language. Under the general editorship of Professor L.I. Skvortsova. – M.: Onyx Publishing House, World of Education Publishing House, 2008.
3. Schoolboy Yu.K. Man: a complete encyclopedia. – M.: Eksmo, 2012.
4. https://tmndetsady.ru/metodicheskiy-kabinet/konsultatsii-dlya-vospitateley/news5861.html
5. https://mother-and-baby.ru/zerkalnoe-pismo.html
6. https://www.kakprosto.ru/kak-250441-zerkalnoe-pismo-chto-takoe-pocherk-leonardo
7. https://schastlivoeroditelstvo.blogspot.ru/2014/09/blog-post.html

What to do if you are faced with the following problem: “The child mirrors letters or numbers when writing”?

• To correct mirror writing, you use such types of work as the child’s reproduction of standards, cards on which a letter or number is depicted correctly written.
• Place a dot on each line or cell where the top of the letter should be. Explain to your child, using an example, how he should print the letter so that it lands on the dot.
• Use simulation games. Sticks are ideal. Invite your child to make letters using sticks. In addition to the fact that this will help the baby write correctly, such a game will develop motor skills, which will also have a positive effect on him later.
• Look at what the child has written, highlight those letters that he mirrors and start working with these elements.

As can be seen from the above, it is not difficult to correct a child’s spelling; the main thing is to pay attention to the problem and, most importantly, to do everything on time. The sooner you start correcting mirror spelling, the easier it will be for your child to draw conclusions and start writing each letter as it should.

Most often, preschoolers or first graders write in a mirror or inverted image at the very beginning of school. This may be due to the fact that the child does not have a clear enough image of the letter in its printed or capital form or the image of the number. And in this case, simple exercises will be enough to help the child clearly remember how letters and numbers are written, or rather in which direction the letter “faces.”

If you are faced with an established habit of mirror or inverted writing of letters or numbers in a child by the age of 7-8 years, then it is necessary to conduct a diagnosis and understand the reasons for such writing. The sooner you fix this problem, the faster you will get results.

Conversely, if you do not help your child cope with the mirror writing of letters or numbers, then there is a high probability that other more serious problems with written speech will arise in the child.

So, if your child encountered the problem of inverted or mirror writing of letters or numbers at the first stage of learning to read and write, then you can help him with simple games and exercises.

Firstly, while reading or writing, always draw the child’s attention to the connection between the sound and the graphic image of the letter. And for this, cards on which the letters are depicted using the appropriate image are best suited. For example, children often forget which way the letters “Z” and “E” are written. Draw together and look at the following pictures, for example.

While playing with a card, pay the child’s attention to which direction the letter “looks” relative to the direction of the entire line. By the way, at this stage it is already important that the child orients himself in the directions “right”, “left”, “right hand”, “left hand”.

For example, combine the card with any text from a children’s book and say with your child: “Look, the bunny has jumped up and is looking at the letters. Which way is the bunny looking? Correctly towards the letters. But the letter “Z” turned away and didn’t want to get to know each other. She's probably shy."

Where is the letter “E” hidden? Yes! The spruce covered it with branches. The letter “E” is friendly, turned its paws to all the letters, and wants to hug!”

And if you show the letter “E” in the image of such a cheerful hedgehog with apples on thorns, then the child will not forget to put the apple dots.

When transitioning from learning printed letters to capital letters, it is important to show your child cards and images of the corresponding letters as much as possible. At the same time, draw the child’s attention to similar elements. Use paired cards. For example, give your child a card with the letter “A” printed on it and ask him to find the corresponding capital letter in your set of cards. To make it interesting for your child, play fishing.

Write capital and block letters on small pieces of paper and attach regular metal paper clips to them. Using a fishing rod from the fishing game, let the child catch the “fish” according to your instructions.

Mirror writing: how else can you help your child?

1. First, calm down: if mirror writing errors are observed in a child of 3-4-5 and even 6 years old, and they are not repeated systematically, there is no reason to worry.

2. You can help your child remember the correct spelling by showing books in which the letters are printed large and clearly. Perhaps the baby has simply not yet remembered how the letters look correctly. In addition, at the initial stage, children may have difficulty controlling their fine motor skills. The child is happy just because he can do at least something!

3. Copybooks made by parents are very helpful for a preschool child. They can be made on a regular landscape sheet and on a large scale, since small letters in a school notebook will create additional difficulties for the baby. Write the letters large and show your child the process - how you do it. Invite your child to repeat after you. Repeat the exercise after some time. And be sure to praise them for the correct, beautifully written letters even with the slightest successes.

4. It is very important that the child sees the correct form of letters as often as possible. Hang a poster with the Russian alphabet on the wall. In this way, you will help your little student activate his visual memory, and it will be easier for him to control himself in the future.

5. Most preschoolers who write mirror words do not have any other deviations: their development is completely appropriate for their age. But if mirror writing still appears in a preschooler’s notebooks, it wouldn’t hurt to watch the child, especially if he continues to regularly make mistakes. Where to contact? The path is still the same, to a child psychologist: he will determine whether the child has other developmental characteristics. Perhaps the inability to relearn regular writing speaks of a remarkable talent for fine art.

6. The child’s reluctance to write correctly may also indicate that he is openly or latently left-handed. If your child instinctively picks up everything with his left hand, then he is clearly left-handed. It is clear that it is more convenient for him to write in mirror image. It is possible that he will retain this feature for the rest of his life. But it is necessary that he master the correct spelling of letters, even when writing with his left hand.

A small test will help determine hidden left-handedness. Show your child an object that is completely new to him and pay attention to which hand he takes it with. In addition, encourage your baby to join their palms by interlocking their fingers. If your child is left-handed, the left thumb will be on top.

A lot depends on you, dear parents: mirror writing can disappear after well-thought-out games and activities with a preschooler. Don’t leave things to chance, make every effort to correct and correct the detected problem. After all, success not only in a child’s education at school, but also in his future, adult life, depends on this.

Why do children write letters backwards?

Although it is strange, it is a simple habit. Adults cannot follow the child's example and mirror the letters on paper. This is easy for children to do because they use the same visual system when looking at a letter that we adults use to visualize other objects. They perceive the image and the mirror rotation of that image as one and the same. This is how vision usually works.

Thus, in order for children to learn to write correctly, they need to be taught that the reflection of an object corresponds to the same object. Many parents who notice that their child writes backwards think that the baby is developing poorly or is abnormal. So it's better to pause, take a deep breath and relax.

You don't need to worry as this is a completely normal habit for a child. This happened regularly during the evolution of human vision. You just have to try to get your child out of the habit of writing letters backwards as he learns.

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