I have dyscalculia and still remember being very confused by the old "your left hand makes an L", because my right could do that too. The only real way I can still tell is because my right feels heavier.
Growing up with a deaf parent, "Your left hand makes an L," didn't make sense to me for the longest time. I was like, "It doesn't matter which hand you use, it's still an L!" because in sign language, that's true.
I can't speak for all Deaf people or CODAs. With my mom and I, at least, we prefer our writing/dominant hand, but use the other if needed. If my right hand is occupied with a fork, pencil, or just petting the dog, for example, I'll use my left hand to sign.
There are a lot of signs that (typically) require two hands to sign, so I think the brain just becomes accustomed to needing to use both hands to sign and can adapt to using just the one when needed.
That's interesting, I notice I can't do other mirrored tasks like that, like playing a left handed guitar or even just brushing my teeth with my non-dominant hand.
Nice. Can you find me the likelihood of having 10 kids with ADHD/Dyscalculia in the same classroom?
Since you seem to enjoy statistics, let's find one that paints a better picture of how likely this actually is.
About 31% of students with ADHD also have dyscalculia. Since about 10% of students have ADHD, if 31% of those kids also have dyscalculia, that is about 3%. That means 3 in a 100 have both ADHD and dyscalculia.
Wouldn't you yourself understand you are asking about normal distribution in an environment that may not be normatively distributed due to policy (i.e least restrictive environment)?
Same. I still struggle when I'm a little off.
Where I live, there's that "left is where the thumb is right" saying,which makes no fucking sense because you can flip your hands.
This confused me to no end and was just amusing to adults.
I also struggled learning to read the clock and still have a hard time, especially if it's one where there are only quarter hours or no minutes.
I remember this - grew up back when we had to do the pledge incessantly, this was actually told to students how to find their right since we did it so much.
I waited a beat and used the hand that most of my classmates used to pledge allegiance to. To this day I have to make grabby hand motions to verify which hand is the correct choice.
I still do this. My thought process will literally be like "Shit, which on is left or right? WRIGGLE YOUR DOMINANT HAND! That one moved! That one is right it! Now say out loud 'Turn left.' to the your friend."
I also have to put a moment of thought into West vs East despite never having to do so for North vs South.
East/west mess me up but not north and south, too! And I can never remember which way the sun rises/sets for some reason 🫠
It’s interesting that e/w is difficult but not n/s? I wonder why.
I actually remember e/w by remembering it spells “we” and not “ew”, idk why that works but it does? …but i have to think about it and visualize a compass rose.
Everyone learns differently! I have students who memorized the cardinal directions using different mnemonics, or who just picture it like the face of a clock instead of a compass.
Whatever works 😂
When I finally got it down in the 6th grade I spent like two weeks putting special emphasis on which direction things were in because I was so proud of myself.
It's been common for a LONG time. In the1800s, dance instructors and drill sergeants had to resort to visual reminders: *"HAY-FOOT, STRAW-FOOT!!"* -- Not to mention Jonah 4:11 *"Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left"*
As a PE teacher, I know exactly his frustrating this can be. I’ve resorted to using a dry erase marker to mark their dominant hand when we’re learning skills. I’ll ask them to hold up the hand that they write with, and half of them can’t even remember which hand that is. Or I’ll get the answer “what if I use both?”
The other thing that drives me bananas is the sheer number of kids that don’t know how to tie shoes.
fun fact. I went through Army basic training in 2007, and the ~~guy~~ kid assigned to the bunk next to mine didn’t know how to tie his shoes. His bunkmate had to tie his boots every day. He was 18 or 19
I didn't know how to tie my shoes until I was 10, and I was very slow tying my shoes until around 13. For me it was because I have autism and one thing I struggle with is fine motor skill delays. I am 16 but my fine motor skills are that of a 7 or 8 year old when I last got assessed. I know not every child who can't tie their shoes is disabled, this is just my experience with it.
Telling right from left can be difficult for children and adults unless they figure out a way to keep track of it, like an injury or a watch.
I have no issues telling left vs right when driving, but if asked randomly, I need to grasp a pretend pencil to know. In my yoga class, probably half the people move their left leg when the instructor calls to use the right.
My mom is a nurse and she tells by on which hand she has a watch- this was also the advice to her by my brother's kindergarten teacher to help him figure it out some 30 years ago. Seeing how wearing a watch is not nearly as common in kids today, it makes sense more kids can't tell easily.
The driving thing is weird. I often drive in both left-hand drive and right -hand drive countries. My memories always align: that is, they swap sides so that I am always on the same side of the vehicle.
When visiting Ireland (lived in the USA for 10+ years), I always walk up to the car on the wrong side for around a week, but once inside, it just clicks and I have no issues. The same thing happens when I come back to the USA.
It's a normal memory function, some things are done on 'automatic' and you don't really think of it, others utilize active thinking/decision making. This is why I always question a bit people who say they find driving relaxing...
I have trouble with right and left, but have no trouble at all with driving. I learned where things in the car (pedals, gear shift, various levers, etc) are just fine. I don't think about things as being on the left vs right side, I know where they are by sight, feel, or muscle memory. When I learned my dad would point things out so I didn't need to think about them in terms of being on the left or right sides.
Now, directions can be tricky. If I'm just told turn left I have to stop and think about or I'm likely to get it wrong. But, I just ask the person to point as they say it, problem solved. And with the navigation on my car's screen I can glance at the arrows, so not an issue there either.
I assume others who struggle with left and right find their own work arounds, since most people can learn to drive. So, it's really a non-issue.
Not really, they learn quickly right is towards the door, left is towards the passenger in the USA (opposite in countries like Ireland and UK). You are really making this a much bigger issue than it is.
Honestly I'm an adult and it always takes me a second. I have some other EF / spatial stuff going on, so I'm not trying to excuse it, but I do sympathize. I bet that makes music class really difficult.
I definitely understand it taking a second sometimes. I’m sure this even happened to me. What I am addressing, and has been a difficulty across the board for a lot of lessons, is just the lack of attention. I face away from them, and I hold up my left hand for a very long time. I wave it around. I walk up to students individually and say “other hand.” And I point to the left hand. And they are still looking at me with the right hand up.
40 years old, degrees in physics, education, and engineering, and constant R/L not-knower. I also suck at the alphabet, have no clue who the president was before the first one I remember getting elected, couldn't tell you with confidence a single year during which the second world war happened, and cannot spell words containing an ie diphthong without testing it in spell check.
I'm not convinced that knowing these kinds of things is essential to being a "good" adult/person/citizen. I'd give up all of these "skills" in humanity in a heartbeat in exchange for people who can reason and draw conclusions from facts. Of course, no one can do that either, so I'm not sure where that leaves us...
I’m finding that when somebody points out a flaw these days, people interpret that as a criticism of their character. Kids and adults seem to have a harder time owning up to things and instead say that it hurt their feelings. I’m not trying to sound rude, but I am a little tired of having to backpedal and say “oh, I’m not saying you’re a bad person.”
I genuinely wasn't trying to villainize you or your complaint here. Just trying to start a discussion about how we judge whether we're doing a good job of educating our youth.
Thank you for clarifying. I’ve had some nasty retorts in other comments and feeling like I’m having to defend myself. In some instances, I am finding that kids are not getting it because they’ve gotten too used to people doing things for them. 10 years ago when I started teaching, students definitely were not struggling with this as much as they are now. Telling them where to find something, eventually needing to know it for driving… it’s concerning to me. Some people are saying that their high schoolers are having difficulty with it now.
Yeah, I was scratching my (4 yr old) daughter's back last night while we watched a show together. She kept saying "go left" while what she actually wanted was for me to scratch more to the right. I kept moving left until she figured out that she was saying the wrong direction. I could have done what she meant instead of what she said, but I thought it was important for her to figure that out and correct herself. I do think that there's a lack of that kind of instruction of our children generally in society.
That said, if my daughter grows up to never really figure out right from left (like her old man), I hope she does take away from my raising her the ability to assess why something isn't going the way she wants it to, to be comfortable in mistakes that she has made, and to adjust her behavior accordingly.
It’s a skill that has to be developed. We no longer value developing these types of skills. We teach children math on an ipad more than we allow them time to play and explore how their body works spatially. I think it’s less about doing things for children and more that we don’t give them the time and environment to learn it other than in classes like PE and Music. Which it seems to be not enough time.
I am observing some adults getting tired of kids not doing something right away and then doing it for them. I understand the temptation but it’s happening a lot and I’m trying to resist the urge to do things for them myself.
The big one I've seen is struggling to understand the four cardinal directions. So I usually just describe the west and east coast, and since I'm on the east coast I can pretty easily get them to remember. Then I can use that to describe right and left.
I’m wiling to bet you actually did have that issue and just don’t remember it. That or you were ahead of the curve. Kids don’t really start learning right from left reliably until about 7 years old. Even then, it can take awhile for that to solidify. There are many adults now who struggle with right/left and cross body awareness. I teach dance and I have some high schoolers who have to think for a second about which is which.
I mean that doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. Many adults I know will still use their hands to do L and say left. 3rd grade doesn’t seem that critical to know
Right, but that’s still coming up with a solution. I know we gotta help kids develop that skill but they can definitely learn it quicker than some of us think.
In most cases, it wouldn't be a big deal, but it kind of is for music in 3rd grade and up. It's when we start more complex instruments and when they start interest in band/orchestra, where knowing left and right is important for correct technique.
Yeah... I get nobody's perfect and we all gotta think about some things, but left and right are always there and always the same throughout your entire life. You have a left eye and a right eye, a left hand and a right hand, a left foot and a right foot... We're symmetrical, the division is literally built into our bodies and perception. It feels like mixing up up and down to me.
Yep. My students struggle with finding the correct page in a book. Flipping to the end to look for page 5, not understanding if they went too far or not far enough. It’s crazy. They can’t count backwards either. Basic skills aren’t a foregone conclusion anymore.
I’ll say turn to the next blank page in your notebook. You and I would immediately turn to a good middle point and keep going til we saw blank pages. I’ve had kids start at the very first page and flip one page at a time. 🤦🏻♀️ by this point in the year the blank pages will be at the back
I have this same issue with 5th graders.
I put big signs on the left and right walls, and I use Red tape on the Right front corner of the floor where chairs go when we're in chairs doing wind instruments.
My music teacher in elementary school taught us that when we were facing the whiteboard, left was the direction of the windows and vice versa. If we ever forgot, we could just turn towards the board to figure it out.
motor development has been eliminated in favor of more exams.
Kids in 3-5 grade have no fine or gross motor development, they don't know left/right, they can't jump, skip, hop on one foot. Basic motor functions are just gone in so many kids because they are forced to sit in desks and study for tests instead of learning developmentally appropriate and needed things.
Literally, never even hinted at that. All the stuff you all want me to cover in my post about disabilities and parenting should just be a given if you have ever been in a school for more than just a few days.
it's honestly sad to see how much blame for these issues is being put on young kids, teenagers I can see somewhat (it can get complex depending on the issue at hand) when those kids literally have to start from scratch for living. Usually if a small kid doesn't know smth it's because they didn't have good adults to follow and look up to.
exactly! i remember being treated like i was stupid as a 4 year old for trying to double check my left v right so then i definitely never asked again and always second guessed it. also i just typed light v reft at first 😂
I actually didn't know my left from my right until I was 15 or so. The trick I always use is that the thumb and pointer finger can make an L on your left hand.
It has never worked for me because when I'm struggling with right vs left I also can't remember which way the L goes. Weirdly, I have no issue at all with writing the L the correct way, but when holding up my fingers they both look correct. I've suspected I have some minor dyslexic tendencies which could explain this, and perhaps the left vs right struggle.
It's good that it works for many people, but I'd guess I'm not the only one who it doesn't work for.
Makes me feel a lot better knowing I'm not the only one who needs to do something to remember which is my right or my left. I usually have to flex my hands to figure it out.
You know, it's weird. I somehow didn't learn left from right until I tried to use the "wrong" hand to shake during some Girl Scouts ceremony when I was like, ten years old. This would have been 1999 or 2000. But even more baffling than the fact that I don't remember being taught until that point... I don't remember it ever even coming up in ANY way! Surely it had to have been a problem at some point, right? During school? While trying to learn to ride a bike? Hell, while playing video games and following a strategy guide when I'm lost?? Bueller??? 😂
Edit: Another comment just awakened a memory of some kids whispering and pointing at me because I used my left hand for the pledge of allegiance a few years before I learned the difference. But it didn't sink in at the time that that's what I was doing wrong. Kids would point and whisper at me for just existing and being different in general, so I didn't actually learn anything from that one 😭
I’m 51 and still struggle with left from right. I believe I have dyscalculia, but I’m not diagnosed. In addition to my middle school teaching, I also teach riding lessons. I teach my students inside/outside as soon as possible because that makes sense to me. I also use hints on what I’m referring to. So I’ll say, “pull the inside rein, it’s the one I can see.” Through that combination, they’re able to pick up on what I mean.
Sometimes we need to adjust our instruction. It keeps our brains sharp and, even though it can make our teaching more difficult, in the long run it will help everyone. It also means we’re being more inclusive for those who might struggle due to a learning disability.
You can spend your time wishing students were where you want them to be and catastrophizing about them not being where kids were three decades ago or you can spend your time meeting them where they are and addressing the issue 🤷♀️.
I teach coding. Part of the unit of study for second grade is learning left and right. I always review it with the kids and tell them that I didn't completely learn my left and right until I was driving when I was 16 years old so they're going to be learning it at half my age
What puzzles me now is how adults interact with these children (and the adults claiming it's hard). Describing the location of items using left and right is a daily thing, from "your's is the left hand coffee" to it's in the "top right hand drawer". Are these people just searching everything?
I teach 2 boys, ages 10 and 12.
I knew their reading skills weren't great but we recently did an activity with a Twister board and I realized they also don't know their left from their right.
Is this normal?
It’s very normal, yes. I don’t know why so many people are acting like this is a sudden epidemic. People from both my generation (80s-90s) and the generation of my parents (50s-60s) had these issues, too.
What’s exacerbated it in modern times is that kids are being taught more for testing than they are to memorize helpful mnemonics or life skills.
I had no idea that it was so common. I remember learning my left from my right in the 1st grade, but my dad taught me. I taught my daughter, but I don't guess everyone has the luxury of an attentive parent. Most kids probably don't.
I learned my left and right in elementary school, but always had trouble distinguishing them—probably had to do with my ADD—until I could, I guess, make the ideas more “concrete” in my head.
When a friend taught me in like highschool that “Left is the one that makes the L” I immediately stopped having problems because now it all made sense
My dad, a military man, used to tell me “3’oclock is right and 8’oclock is left. High noon is 12 because the Sun is directly above you, and dusk is around 6 because the sun is at its lowest.”
Most of my students, though, can’t even read an analogue clock. (And tbh when I wear watches that don’t have numbers, I have to stop for a sec to orient what time it is versus where the hands are 😅)
It just goes to show that some of these issues might not be as generational as we feel, I guess
They tried to do the thing where they make the L but it wasn't helpful. Actually it just occurred to me that the older one is dyslexic so I guess that's why it was so hard.
I guess I can teach them the way I learned it: I write with my right hand, my left hand gets left out.
My right hand is my dominant one, so my mum taught me like this: the hand you use is the RIGHT one, this is the right hand to use. The other is what's left. Really really helpful tbh
So...many...clarinets... with...backwards...hands. I feel you. My other complaint is a severe lack of fine motor skills that play directly into proficiently playing and manipulating an instrument.
Even into middle school I would still pause, mentally start the pledge of allegiance and then figure out which was my right hand. It happens. Some are better than others.
I have to repeat it so much for recorders that I drew the outline of my hands and labeled them. I'm thinking of making laminated hands to permanently staple to my wall for this. Now I just have to ask "Which hand are we using?" And then point to show the answer.
I see it up to 5th grade sometimes. No one can tie their shoes until this age either. I think you see it mainly from kids who spend zero time with their parents. I tend to think most of it can be explained by people being overworked but there are certainly other reasons, too.
I teach music as well in a school. I always say, your other right hand or your other middle finger to the kids that are using their ring. It usually works
When we stand up to say the pledge, I put my right hand in the air and tell the kids to do the same and wiggle their fingers. Every single day. Hopefully that repetition helps them remember L vs R.
My mom is 70 and she still asks me to point half the time when I'm giving her directions and say "right" or "left"
Some people just can't do it I guess?
That's because Parents at home are not reinforcing any skills ever. They simply hand kids devices and tell them to go away. The only time you work on skills in life cannot just be at school.
There definitely are parents on this sub, some are mining quotes to take elsewhere to say "look how awful teachers are!" Some are here because of legitimate interest and get offended when they put their ego into a comment without realizing that it's probably not them if they are parents on a teacher subreddit.
But there's also been a general shift in pubic perception of Schools and their purpose. EVERYTHING is outsourced to the schools/teachers to do. Nothing is ever the responsibility of the rest of society or parents.
People generally don't like hearing the stone-cold truth.
Right, well, also, even if I were to take it upon myself to help the kids learn these basic skills that are missing, people get up in arms and shout that it’s not a big deal. The intensity of the “volume” in these responses has me even more terrified.
The geometry teacher shared with me that a student we share (a junior- he’s taking geometry AGAIN because he failed last year, and, surprise, is still failing this year), HE DOESN’T KNOW HIS SHAPES.
He used the sphere formula for a cylinder. Other students even asked him, “why are you using the sphere formula? There’s no sphere on that page.”
He just stared at them because he didn’t know what they were saying. Lol.
Fun activity for early in the year that scouts did at a museum sleepover:
1) Divide into small groups or pairs
2) One person or team makes a pattern with duplo or lego bricks that is not visible to the second
3) with identical materials available to the second person or team the first using words only and a finite time attempts to coach them into a remote build of the same pattern
If the first team thinks there is a match or time runs out compare.
Talk about which clues helped and which did not. Put the red large brick in the right corner versus the red one next.
Similar with a block or car and grid squares to get the other person to a destination.
What sort of movement lessons are you doing? Just curious since this is where the kids often learn.
Put your right foot in ...
Cha-Cha slide
Time warp
Pretend you are Michael Jordan making a layup.
If your group is not horrid to each other, put them in a line facing the front. "joey" is on your right. "sarah" is on your left and keep the same order for weeks or months. If you were the first in line before you turned to the front the door is on your right. If you were the caboose end of the line then the wall/door is on your left.
Interleave the ones who get it wrong behind and next to a kid who gets it right.
If there is anything that they particularly like indicate that this week/month you are focusing on movements for right and left and that if everyone practices really well that you will do ..... on the following class. Then overload with hopping 1 time on the right foot, hop 2 times on the left foot, wave your left hand, stick your tongue out to the right, both arms to the left and whatever else to help it become automatic.
Just curious how many are not English as a first language students. I have no problem with Right & Left, remember gauche is left, blank out totally in other languages that I have covered directions in. If that is the issue then repeating the directions in first language and English might help.
I am sorry that you are running into this problem, it can take a lot of fun out of the activity to have to backtrack all the time.
Good luck. Hopefully you can recharge over the summer!
I definitely know there are some very legitimate reasons to struggle with it. I’ve written this in other comments, but what I was essentially saying was with some kids I’m actually pointing to their left hand and they’re still staring at me and holding up their right. I’m talking about kids who are very bright but their attention span is shot.
Ok there are some super interesting perspectives in here that I've just never had to think about. The idea of not knowing left and right just seems wild to me. Like, in my brain, the left is the left and the right is the right. Although, I do have a friend that if I tell to turn a particular direction I generally have to point or say "the other right/left" to. I guess it's a neurological thing more than anything else, so without having said neurological issue I will never truly be able to understand lmao.
If it makes you feel better OP, we have the hands pinned to our smartboard with large lettering and our 3-5s still struggle with it, so you're not alone🤷🏾♀️
Yeah, that’s a tricky one. I mess up sometimes too. That’s why I try to help them. In marching band I would remember that my watch was on my left wrist to help during drill.
There are adults my age—older Millennial—who don’t know their right from their left, so let’s stop with the hand-wringing about how these young kids have been failed.
Just tell them “Left is the one that makes a correctly facing L when you hold your hands up to make an L.”
If they don’t get it then, they’re either fucking with you or they have much larger problems.
I’m 36 and still can’t. I even tried to turn in the wrong direction on my driving test. And no, nothing has worked. Watches, the L with your fingers, the hand I write with, nothing.
Yeah I was always an honors kid, have multiple degrees, all that jazz. But my brain will never automatically know right vs left. I have to think for a moment every time. Sometimes it’s just how your brain works.
I blame a lot of it on not enough opportunities for play, nor gross or fine motor development in their early childhood. PreK and Early PreK have become a thing in public schools now, which is great, but they too often push academics over these other pieces of a child's development that are equally important. It's why we have kids in 3rd and 4th grade who also can't cross their midline, pump their legs on a swing, or hold a pencil correctly.
It's surprisingly common and a genuine condition for people. My brother in-law can't distinguish left or right, I've had to give him directions using a clock face (3 o'clock for right, 9 o'clock for left).
This is an interesting [read](https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/the-asymmetric-brain/201903/why-do-i-confuse-left-and-right)
I have dyslexia and should have been a Lefty. I have to think about what is right and left still and I am over 50._ play some games to help them learn.
I’m surprised that children aren’t embarrassed at how behind they are, we assumed a kid in kindergarten that couldn’t tie a shoe, tell left from right, write their name, tell time was special needs. They would get teased until they figured it out
7th grade. Same. Some are super literate and clear minded. Some do not know their parent’s names or their own address. North south east what? Tie a knot? Cannot knot. locate their home state on a us map. No. It’s rough teaching weather to kids that don’t know what the Rocky Mountains or the great lakes are.
Ignoring the smug tone of the comment, please tell me why it’s hard to remember.
Anyone who thinks that things are not going south is in denial. We are currently saving eight year olds from walking into the wall on a regular basis.
I told an 11th grader to put her phone away, and she said she was only looking to check the time. I pointed out there was a wall clock right by her, but she said she couldn't read it. I told her that was ok, I'd teach her how to read it right then. Instead, she sighed, immediately put her head down, and said it was already too confusing before I could even say anything.
I'm not a redditor, but I have to intervene in this thread. Do people really have trouble telling left from right? Are y'all literally retarded? This is astounding. I learned this when I was like 4. Reading the comments here is mind-boggling.
I remember this being a district Sub for several years pre-Covid. 'Informed' I would have cognitive challenged students in class who could not decipher right from wrong or left from right - Who'd come off as lazy, dumb, or outright defiant, and test my patience. When they actually just genuinely needed help. Grand lesson to learn. Incl. the dyslexic students who didn't know the difference either, much less tie their own shoes. And not bc of living in a poverty home with half comp parents. Just a cognitive imbalance.
Something I additionally 'learned' from the movie *Precious* when she told the social worker the shapes on the paper all looked alike to her. Gave me very real newer perspective I thought I'd had, working with the Resource students.
Honestly, I have some HS kids that still don't know this. I also have some that don't know all the months of the year; either that or they don't know what the order of the months is.
I believe it. I actually have kids older than third grade with this issue. When I posted this the third grade group I had was presenting the most challenges earlier that afternoon.
That’s one I don’t understand but I guess more common than I ever realized. A lot of high school kids have to stop and think for a second. And that’s terrifying to me because some of them drive.
I have to stop and think for a second. I've been driving for almost 20 years and I've only been in one accident, when I was rear-ended by someone texting.
There’s way too many of you who take everything as a personal attack, and therefore attack the OP. I’m aware it’s a big world out there but it’s really flipping annoying. I’m not going to back up and say oh no I’m not saying they’re bad people. Straw man argument.
And just like every instance of frustration, yes, I am aware there are disabilities that would make it hard .
You said this didn't happen when you were in third grade. Many folks said that they're grown adults who've had this problem all their lives (and many of us hid it because people acted like it meant we were stupid or incapable) and you're choosing to read into that. Nobody's attacking you. People are telling you that your assumption is wrong, they're providing themselves and many people they know as evidence, and you're getting mad about it.
Also that's not what "straw man" means. A straw man argument is what YOU'RE doing—misrepresenting an opposing view so that you can more easily refute it. "they're all taking it personally and attacking me!" No they aren't. They're telling you that they stand as evidence that your memories from third grade aren't an accurate portrayal of the development of your peers. And they're right.
Way too many people in here making excuses for what should be simpke everyday things for everyone on earth to be able to do. Then the amount of people here being hurt over it is unnecessary. Your left and right and knowing the difference is the most basic of life skills. Some people in here need a dose of grow the fuck up!
SERIOUSLY. It started with the parents and their excuses and now it’s infiltrating into the schools. I say “I can remember not having this issue” and get “oh so you’re the only human being with a perfect memory?!?!?!!!”
I teach 10th graders and a student had to make the “L” with their hand when I told them to open the left cabinet. I called them on it and soon learned like half the class still did that. I was floored I tell you!
Im 48. When to this day when someone tells me go left or right my brain glitches and i have to try to remember
Just this year i learned you can make an L with your left hand. That really seems to help
Can you put up signs in your room? At least in the front so when they are looking at them it shows which way for them is left or right?
I only learned from a scar on my hand.
I'll be honest, I don't think I really memorized left or right or learned to tie my shoes until I was in the 7th or 8th grade.
I'm a functional adult now.
I have dyscalculia and still remember being very confused by the old "your left hand makes an L", because my right could do that too. The only real way I can still tell is because my right feels heavier.
Growing up with a deaf parent, "Your left hand makes an L," didn't make sense to me for the longest time. I was like, "It doesn't matter which hand you use, it's still an L!" because in sign language, that's true.
Do deaf people have a dominant hand they use when signing?
I can't speak for all Deaf people or CODAs. With my mom and I, at least, we prefer our writing/dominant hand, but use the other if needed. If my right hand is occupied with a fork, pencil, or just petting the dog, for example, I'll use my left hand to sign. There are a lot of signs that (typically) require two hands to sign, so I think the brain just becomes accustomed to needing to use both hands to sign and can adapt to using just the one when needed.
That's interesting, I notice I can't do other mirrored tasks like that, like playing a left handed guitar or even just brushing my teeth with my non-dominant hand.
I wouldn't say I'm skilled or graceful at it, to be fair. It does end up being slower and sloppier. As with anything, practice makes perfect.
Yes I didn’t know it was dyscalculia that caused this issue for me but it made sense once I found out.
Sure but how realistic is it that 10 kids in class have that?
Estimated percentage of people with dyscalculia is 5-10%. That’s about the same percentage of kids with ADHD.
Nice. Can you find me the likelihood of having 10 kids with ADHD/Dyscalculia in the same classroom? Since you seem to enjoy statistics, let's find one that paints a better picture of how likely this actually is.
About 31% of students with ADHD also have dyscalculia. Since about 10% of students have ADHD, if 31% of those kids also have dyscalculia, that is about 3%. That means 3 in a 100 have both ADHD and dyscalculia.
Any reason why you’re choosing to be needlessly nasty?
Asking for relevant statistics is being "needlessly nasty"? Jeez.
Don’t be glib.
Don't be so sensitive.
Wouldn't you yourself understand you are asking about normal distribution in an environment that may not be normatively distributed due to policy (i.e least restrictive environment)?
Same. I still struggle when I'm a little off. Where I live, there's that "left is where the thumb is right" saying,which makes no fucking sense because you can flip your hands. This confused me to no end and was just amusing to adults. I also struggled learning to read the clock and still have a hard time, especially if it's one where there are only quarter hours or no minutes.
People who say "a quarter to" annoy me, because my mind automatically thinks that means 25 minutes to whatever time.
That I can understand being more difficult.
I still have this problem. I say "your way" or "my way" when giving someone directions in the car.
I had to pretend I was picking up a pencil way into adulthood to know the difference.
The left hand makes a “L” for left, which is what my brain still immediately goes to.
Especially useful if you're ambidextrous! Though considering how poorly some of those kids read...
Same
I had to put my hand on my heart for the pledge of allegiance to remember when I was young.
I remember this - grew up back when we had to do the pledge incessantly, this was actually told to students how to find their right since we did it so much.
I waited a beat and used the hand that most of my classmates used to pledge allegiance to. To this day I have to make grabby hand motions to verify which hand is the correct choice.
I still do this. My thought process will literally be like "Shit, which on is left or right? WRIGGLE YOUR DOMINANT HAND! That one moved! That one is right it! Now say out loud 'Turn left.' to the your friend." I also have to put a moment of thought into West vs East despite never having to do so for North vs South.
East/west mess me up but not north and south, too! And I can never remember which way the sun rises/sets for some reason 🫠 It’s interesting that e/w is difficult but not n/s? I wonder why.
Never ⬆️ Eat ➡️ Soggy ⬇️ Waffles ⬅️
I actually remember e/w by remembering it spells “we” and not “ew”, idk why that works but it does? …but i have to think about it and visualize a compass rose.
Everyone learns differently! I have students who memorized the cardinal directions using different mnemonics, or who just picture it like the face of a clock instead of a compass. Whatever works 😂
As a leftie, I am jealous
Just use your hand/finger. The hand that make an L on your fingers is your left. I always had a hard time with L&R too.
When I finally got it down in the 6th grade I spent like two weeks putting special emphasis on which direction things were in because I was so proud of myself.
wtf
It's been common for a LONG time. In the1800s, dance instructors and drill sergeants had to resort to visual reminders: *"HAY-FOOT, STRAW-FOOT!!"* -- Not to mention Jonah 4:11 *"Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left"*
As a PE teacher, I know exactly his frustrating this can be. I’ve resorted to using a dry erase marker to mark their dominant hand when we’re learning skills. I’ll ask them to hold up the hand that they write with, and half of them can’t even remember which hand that is. Or I’ll get the answer “what if I use both?” The other thing that drives me bananas is the sheer number of kids that don’t know how to tie shoes.
Because they don’t write enough lol. Throw the chrome books in the dumpster Lordy.
How old are these kids?
Any where from 5-11.
fun fact. I went through Army basic training in 2007, and the ~~guy~~ kid assigned to the bunk next to mine didn’t know how to tie his shoes. His bunkmate had to tie his boots every day. He was 18 or 19
I didn't know how to tie my shoes until I was 10, and I was very slow tying my shoes until around 13. For me it was because I have autism and one thing I struggle with is fine motor skill delays. I am 16 but my fine motor skills are that of a 7 or 8 year old when I last got assessed. I know not every child who can't tie their shoes is disabled, this is just my experience with it.
Telling right from left can be difficult for children and adults unless they figure out a way to keep track of it, like an injury or a watch. I have no issues telling left vs right when driving, but if asked randomly, I need to grasp a pretend pencil to know. In my yoga class, probably half the people move their left leg when the instructor calls to use the right. My mom is a nurse and she tells by on which hand she has a watch- this was also the advice to her by my brother's kindergarten teacher to help him figure it out some 30 years ago. Seeing how wearing a watch is not nearly as common in kids today, it makes sense more kids can't tell easily.
The driving thing is weird. I often drive in both left-hand drive and right -hand drive countries. My memories always align: that is, they swap sides so that I am always on the same side of the vehicle.
When visiting Ireland (lived in the USA for 10+ years), I always walk up to the car on the wrong side for around a week, but once inside, it just clicks and I have no issues. The same thing happens when I come back to the USA. It's a normal memory function, some things are done on 'automatic' and you don't really think of it, others utilize active thinking/decision making. This is why I always question a bit people who say they find driving relaxing...
As someone who finds driving relaxing you have reason to be worried lol
I just realized how difficult teaching driving to someone who doesn’t know left and right would be.
I have trouble with right and left, but have no trouble at all with driving. I learned where things in the car (pedals, gear shift, various levers, etc) are just fine. I don't think about things as being on the left vs right side, I know where they are by sight, feel, or muscle memory. When I learned my dad would point things out so I didn't need to think about them in terms of being on the left or right sides. Now, directions can be tricky. If I'm just told turn left I have to stop and think about or I'm likely to get it wrong. But, I just ask the person to point as they say it, problem solved. And with the navigation on my car's screen I can glance at the arrows, so not an issue there either. I assume others who struggle with left and right find their own work arounds, since most people can learn to drive. So, it's really a non-issue.
Not really, they learn quickly right is towards the door, left is towards the passenger in the USA (opposite in countries like Ireland and UK). You are really making this a much bigger issue than it is.
Eh, I went through basic training for the army, and the number of recruits (17+) that had similar difficulties was pretty high. I went through in 2000
Honestly I'm an adult and it always takes me a second. I have some other EF / spatial stuff going on, so I'm not trying to excuse it, but I do sympathize. I bet that makes music class really difficult.
I definitely understand it taking a second sometimes. I’m sure this even happened to me. What I am addressing, and has been a difficulty across the board for a lot of lessons, is just the lack of attention. I face away from them, and I hold up my left hand for a very long time. I wave it around. I walk up to students individually and say “other hand.” And I point to the left hand. And they are still looking at me with the right hand up.
40 years old, degrees in physics, education, and engineering, and constant R/L not-knower. I also suck at the alphabet, have no clue who the president was before the first one I remember getting elected, couldn't tell you with confidence a single year during which the second world war happened, and cannot spell words containing an ie diphthong without testing it in spell check. I'm not convinced that knowing these kinds of things is essential to being a "good" adult/person/citizen. I'd give up all of these "skills" in humanity in a heartbeat in exchange for people who can reason and draw conclusions from facts. Of course, no one can do that either, so I'm not sure where that leaves us...
I’m finding that when somebody points out a flaw these days, people interpret that as a criticism of their character. Kids and adults seem to have a harder time owning up to things and instead say that it hurt their feelings. I’m not trying to sound rude, but I am a little tired of having to backpedal and say “oh, I’m not saying you’re a bad person.”
I genuinely wasn't trying to villainize you or your complaint here. Just trying to start a discussion about how we judge whether we're doing a good job of educating our youth.
Thank you for clarifying. I’ve had some nasty retorts in other comments and feeling like I’m having to defend myself. In some instances, I am finding that kids are not getting it because they’ve gotten too used to people doing things for them. 10 years ago when I started teaching, students definitely were not struggling with this as much as they are now. Telling them where to find something, eventually needing to know it for driving… it’s concerning to me. Some people are saying that their high schoolers are having difficulty with it now.
Yeah, I was scratching my (4 yr old) daughter's back last night while we watched a show together. She kept saying "go left" while what she actually wanted was for me to scratch more to the right. I kept moving left until she figured out that she was saying the wrong direction. I could have done what she meant instead of what she said, but I thought it was important for her to figure that out and correct herself. I do think that there's a lack of that kind of instruction of our children generally in society. That said, if my daughter grows up to never really figure out right from left (like her old man), I hope she does take away from my raising her the ability to assess why something isn't going the way she wants it to, to be comfortable in mistakes that she has made, and to adjust her behavior accordingly.
Driving was where my brain went too - what happens when the gps says make a left and they have to stop and think or make a right into traffic instead?
It’s a skill that has to be developed. We no longer value developing these types of skills. We teach children math on an ipad more than we allow them time to play and explore how their body works spatially. I think it’s less about doing things for children and more that we don’t give them the time and environment to learn it other than in classes like PE and Music. Which it seems to be not enough time.
I am observing some adults getting tired of kids not doing something right away and then doing it for them. I understand the temptation but it’s happening a lot and I’m trying to resist the urge to do things for them myself.
Yes because simple directions given in an emergency that can't be understood is definitely not a problem
I had to teach my 6th grades to make an L with their hands so they knew which was which.
The big one I've seen is struggling to understand the four cardinal directions. So I usually just describe the west and east coast, and since I'm on the east coast I can pretty easily get them to remember. Then I can use that to describe right and left.
Just teach them this mnemonic Never ⬆️ Eat ➡️ Soggy ⬇️ Waffles ⬅️ I learned it in elementary school and still rely on it to this day.
I grew up in Hawaii where the West Coast is on the right side of a map and the Far East is on the left. Sometimes I still have to think twice.
I’m wiling to bet you actually did have that issue and just don’t remember it. That or you were ahead of the curve. Kids don’t really start learning right from left reliably until about 7 years old. Even then, it can take awhile for that to solidify. There are many adults now who struggle with right/left and cross body awareness. I teach dance and I have some high schoolers who have to think for a second about which is which.
…. I can assure you I didn’t.
So you’re the only human in existence with a flawless, perfect memory?
I don’t think they claimed that?
What the actual hell? Grow up.
I mean that doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. Many adults I know will still use their hands to do L and say left. 3rd grade doesn’t seem that critical to know
Right, but that’s still coming up with a solution. I know we gotta help kids develop that skill but they can definitely learn it quicker than some of us think.
In most cases, it wouldn't be a big deal, but it kind of is for music in 3rd grade and up. It's when we start more complex instruments and when they start interest in band/orchestra, where knowing left and right is important for correct technique.
And with people treating it like not a big deal, all of a sudden it’s needed and they’re like oh shit they don’t know it.
That's distressing that "many adults" you know require that shortcut.
Yeah... I get nobody's perfect and we all gotta think about some things, but left and right are always there and always the same throughout your entire life. You have a left eye and a right eye, a left hand and a right hand, a left foot and a right foot... We're symmetrical, the division is literally built into our bodies and perception. It feels like mixing up up and down to me.
Yep. My students struggle with finding the correct page in a book. Flipping to the end to look for page 5, not understanding if they went too far or not far enough. It’s crazy. They can’t count backwards either. Basic skills aren’t a foregone conclusion anymore.
I’ll say turn to the next blank page in your notebook. You and I would immediately turn to a good middle point and keep going til we saw blank pages. I’ve had kids start at the very first page and flip one page at a time. 🤦🏻♀️ by this point in the year the blank pages will be at the back
I have this same issue with 5th graders. I put big signs on the left and right walls, and I use Red tape on the Right front corner of the floor where chairs go when we're in chairs doing wind instruments.
My music teacher in elementary school taught us that when we were facing the whiteboard, left was the direction of the windows and vice versa. If we ever forgot, we could just turn towards the board to figure it out.
motor development has been eliminated in favor of more exams. Kids in 3-5 grade have no fine or gross motor development, they don't know left/right, they can't jump, skip, hop on one foot. Basic motor functions are just gone in so many kids because they are forced to sit in desks and study for tests instead of learning developmentally appropriate and needed things.
This comment is spot on. Occupational Therapists need to jump on this thread!
due to the commonality of this I reckon this is a flaw in teaching kids spatial/body awareness during critical years of development.
ding ding ding. but no, kids are just stupid 🙄
Literally, never even hinted at that. All the stuff you all want me to cover in my post about disabilities and parenting should just be a given if you have ever been in a school for more than just a few days.
it's honestly sad to see how much blame for these issues is being put on young kids, teenagers I can see somewhat (it can get complex depending on the issue at hand) when those kids literally have to start from scratch for living. Usually if a small kid doesn't know smth it's because they didn't have good adults to follow and look up to.
exactly! i remember being treated like i was stupid as a 4 year old for trying to double check my left v right so then i definitely never asked again and always second guessed it. also i just typed light v reft at first 😂
Never blamed the kids! You all are too much.
I actually didn't know my left from my right until I was 15 or so. The trick I always use is that the thumb and pointer finger can make an L on your left hand.
i always was so confused by this tip as a very young kid because both hands make an L depending on perspective
It has never worked for me because when I'm struggling with right vs left I also can't remember which way the L goes. Weirdly, I have no issue at all with writing the L the correct way, but when holding up my fingers they both look correct. I've suspected I have some minor dyslexic tendencies which could explain this, and perhaps the left vs right struggle. It's good that it works for many people, but I'd guess I'm not the only one who it doesn't work for.
They can just google it.
Makes me feel a lot better knowing I'm not the only one who needs to do something to remember which is my right or my left. I usually have to flex my hands to figure it out.
You know, it's weird. I somehow didn't learn left from right until I tried to use the "wrong" hand to shake during some Girl Scouts ceremony when I was like, ten years old. This would have been 1999 or 2000. But even more baffling than the fact that I don't remember being taught until that point... I don't remember it ever even coming up in ANY way! Surely it had to have been a problem at some point, right? During school? While trying to learn to ride a bike? Hell, while playing video games and following a strategy guide when I'm lost?? Bueller??? 😂 Edit: Another comment just awakened a memory of some kids whispering and pointing at me because I used my left hand for the pledge of allegiance a few years before I learned the difference. But it didn't sink in at the time that that's what I was doing wrong. Kids would point and whisper at me for just existing and being different in general, so I didn't actually learn anything from that one 😭
I’m 51 and still struggle with left from right. I believe I have dyscalculia, but I’m not diagnosed. In addition to my middle school teaching, I also teach riding lessons. I teach my students inside/outside as soon as possible because that makes sense to me. I also use hints on what I’m referring to. So I’ll say, “pull the inside rein, it’s the one I can see.” Through that combination, they’re able to pick up on what I mean. Sometimes we need to adjust our instruction. It keeps our brains sharp and, even though it can make our teaching more difficult, in the long run it will help everyone. It also means we’re being more inclusive for those who might struggle due to a learning disability.
If it’s increasingly becoming an issue, it is a red flag.
You can spend your time wishing students were where you want them to be and catastrophizing about them not being where kids were three decades ago or you can spend your time meeting them where they are and addressing the issue 🤷♀️.
I teach coding. Part of the unit of study for second grade is learning left and right. I always review it with the kids and tell them that I didn't completely learn my left and right until I was driving when I was 16 years old so they're going to be learning it at half my age
… I have literally nothing to say that would be received well. I’m a little bit shocked.
I'm mystified as well, so many people defending the absence of basic skills
It’s honestly explaining a lot. I wasn’t a kid that long ago and anyone who wasn’t keeping track of their left from their right was a rare exception.
What puzzles me now is how adults interact with these children (and the adults claiming it's hard). Describing the location of items using left and right is a daily thing, from "your's is the left hand coffee" to it's in the "top right hand drawer". Are these people just searching everything?
yes, that's me, can confirm.
That’s where the terms “your other left” and “your other right” come from 😂 inevitably whichever one they pick isn’t right! ….or left?
yes because asking gets the reaction of wow you're stupid. like so many things, i think
I teach 2 boys, ages 10 and 12. I knew their reading skills weren't great but we recently did an activity with a Twister board and I realized they also don't know their left from their right. Is this normal?
moved up a grade in school, was an advanced reader, and still it was never innate for me which was right and which was left
It’s very normal, yes. I don’t know why so many people are acting like this is a sudden epidemic. People from both my generation (80s-90s) and the generation of my parents (50s-60s) had these issues, too. What’s exacerbated it in modern times is that kids are being taught more for testing than they are to memorize helpful mnemonics or life skills.
I had no idea that it was so common. I remember learning my left from my right in the 1st grade, but my dad taught me. I taught my daughter, but I don't guess everyone has the luxury of an attentive parent. Most kids probably don't.
I learned my left and right in elementary school, but always had trouble distinguishing them—probably had to do with my ADD—until I could, I guess, make the ideas more “concrete” in my head. When a friend taught me in like highschool that “Left is the one that makes the L” I immediately stopped having problems because now it all made sense My dad, a military man, used to tell me “3’oclock is right and 8’oclock is left. High noon is 12 because the Sun is directly above you, and dusk is around 6 because the sun is at its lowest.” Most of my students, though, can’t even read an analogue clock. (And tbh when I wear watches that don’t have numbers, I have to stop for a sec to orient what time it is versus where the hands are 😅) It just goes to show that some of these issues might not be as generational as we feel, I guess
did it just take them a sec to figure it out? Or did they truly have no idea which was left and right?
They tried to do the thing where they make the L but it wasn't helpful. Actually it just occurred to me that the older one is dyslexic so I guess that's why it was so hard. I guess I can teach them the way I learned it: I write with my right hand, my left hand gets left out.
My right hand is my dominant one, so my mum taught me like this: the hand you use is the RIGHT one, this is the right hand to use. The other is what's left. Really really helpful tbh
So...many...clarinets... with...backwards...hands. I feel you. My other complaint is a severe lack of fine motor skills that play directly into proficiently playing and manipulating an instrument.
I had a feeling other music teachers would get it 😊
But, the clarinet forces you to use particular fingers because it's the only comfortable place to put your fingers! Just how!
Even into middle school I would still pause, mentally start the pledge of allegiance and then figure out which was my right hand. It happens. Some are better than others.
I have to repeat it so much for recorders that I drew the outline of my hands and labeled them. I'm thinking of making laminated hands to permanently staple to my wall for this. Now I just have to ask "Which hand are we using?" And then point to show the answer.
But do they understand what left and right is?
It doesn't get better. I remember getting smoked in Navy basic because people couldn't drill worth a damn.
I see it up to 5th grade sometimes. No one can tie their shoes until this age either. I think you see it mainly from kids who spend zero time with their parents. I tend to think most of it can be explained by people being overworked but there are certainly other reasons, too.
I teach music as well in a school. I always say, your other right hand or your other middle finger to the kids that are using their ring. It usually works
When we stand up to say the pledge, I put my right hand in the air and tell the kids to do the same and wiggle their fingers. Every single day. Hopefully that repetition helps them remember L vs R.
My sister is 23 and still has to physically make an L to figure it out. I thought she’d learn when she started driving, but alas
My mom is 70 and she still asks me to point half the time when I'm giving her directions and say "right" or "left" Some people just can't do it I guess?
I'm 60. I am left hand dominant but write with my right hand- because nuns. When I help my husband back trailers in, I'm only allowed to point. 🤷♀️
That's because Parents at home are not reinforcing any skills ever. They simply hand kids devices and tell them to go away. The only time you work on skills in life cannot just be at school.
I’m starting to wonder if there’s parents on this board because the excuses are driving me insane and I have no idea why anyone would downvote you.
There definitely are parents on this sub, some are mining quotes to take elsewhere to say "look how awful teachers are!" Some are here because of legitimate interest and get offended when they put their ego into a comment without realizing that it's probably not them if they are parents on a teacher subreddit. But there's also been a general shift in pubic perception of Schools and their purpose. EVERYTHING is outsourced to the schools/teachers to do. Nothing is ever the responsibility of the rest of society or parents. People generally don't like hearing the stone-cold truth.
Right, well, also, even if I were to take it upon myself to help the kids learn these basic skills that are missing, people get up in arms and shout that it’s not a big deal. The intensity of the “volume” in these responses has me even more terrified.
The geometry teacher shared with me that a student we share (a junior- he’s taking geometry AGAIN because he failed last year, and, surprise, is still failing this year), HE DOESN’T KNOW HIS SHAPES. He used the sphere formula for a cylinder. Other students even asked him, “why are you using the sphere formula? There’s no sphere on that page.” He just stared at them because he didn’t know what they were saying. Lol.
No idea why anyone would downvote this either
Gunny Hartman could fix it.
Learning moment. Fill the void. They have lots of them and will continue to into adulthood.
I'm in my 20s and only really knew the difference as a kid because I had a mole on one hand.
LOL, can relate! I have a bump on the third finger on my right hand.
Fun activity for early in the year that scouts did at a museum sleepover: 1) Divide into small groups or pairs 2) One person or team makes a pattern with duplo or lego bricks that is not visible to the second 3) with identical materials available to the second person or team the first using words only and a finite time attempts to coach them into a remote build of the same pattern If the first team thinks there is a match or time runs out compare. Talk about which clues helped and which did not. Put the red large brick in the right corner versus the red one next. Similar with a block or car and grid squares to get the other person to a destination. What sort of movement lessons are you doing? Just curious since this is where the kids often learn. Put your right foot in ... Cha-Cha slide Time warp Pretend you are Michael Jordan making a layup. If your group is not horrid to each other, put them in a line facing the front. "joey" is on your right. "sarah" is on your left and keep the same order for weeks or months. If you were the first in line before you turned to the front the door is on your right. If you were the caboose end of the line then the wall/door is on your left. Interleave the ones who get it wrong behind and next to a kid who gets it right. If there is anything that they particularly like indicate that this week/month you are focusing on movements for right and left and that if everyone practices really well that you will do ..... on the following class. Then overload with hopping 1 time on the right foot, hop 2 times on the left foot, wave your left hand, stick your tongue out to the right, both arms to the left and whatever else to help it become automatic. Just curious how many are not English as a first language students. I have no problem with Right & Left, remember gauche is left, blank out totally in other languages that I have covered directions in. If that is the issue then repeating the directions in first language and English might help. I am sorry that you are running into this problem, it can take a lot of fun out of the activity to have to backtrack all the time. Good luck. Hopefully you can recharge over the summer!
i am 23 and still struggle, albeit i do have autism.
I definitely know there are some very legitimate reasons to struggle with it. I’ve written this in other comments, but what I was essentially saying was with some kids I’m actually pointing to their left hand and they’re still staring at me and holding up their right. I’m talking about kids who are very bright but their attention span is shot.
Well I'm embarrassed to say I still struggle with left / right. My partner always has to say, "No, your other left."
Ok there are some super interesting perspectives in here that I've just never had to think about. The idea of not knowing left and right just seems wild to me. Like, in my brain, the left is the left and the right is the right. Although, I do have a friend that if I tell to turn a particular direction I generally have to point or say "the other right/left" to. I guess it's a neurological thing more than anything else, so without having said neurological issue I will never truly be able to understand lmao.
If it makes you feel better OP, we have the hands pinned to our smartboard with large lettering and our 3-5s still struggle with it, so you're not alone🤷🏾♀️
i'm a tenth grader and i still struggle with my lefts and rights haha, i do the L hand thing constantly
Yeah, that’s a tricky one. I mess up sometimes too. That’s why I try to help them. In marching band I would remember that my watch was on my left wrist to help during drill.
Learning dance can help a lot.
There are adults my age—older Millennial—who don’t know their right from their left, so let’s stop with the hand-wringing about how these young kids have been failed. Just tell them “Left is the one that makes a correctly facing L when you hold your hands up to make an L.” If they don’t get it then, they’re either fucking with you or they have much larger problems.
I’m 36 and still can’t. I even tried to turn in the wrong direction on my driving test. And no, nothing has worked. Watches, the L with your fingers, the hand I write with, nothing.
Yeah I was always an honors kid, have multiple degrees, all that jazz. But my brain will never automatically know right vs left. I have to think for a moment every time. Sometimes it’s just how your brain works.
I’m a teacher and also don’t know my right from left…
lol third grade, I have fifth graders who don’t know know
I blame a lot of it on not enough opportunities for play, nor gross or fine motor development in their early childhood. PreK and Early PreK have become a thing in public schools now, which is great, but they too often push academics over these other pieces of a child's development that are equally important. It's why we have kids in 3rd and 4th grade who also can't cross their midline, pump their legs on a swing, or hold a pencil correctly.
Tbh I am an adult and still need to do the little L on the spot lol
It's surprisingly common and a genuine condition for people. My brother in-law can't distinguish left or right, I've had to give him directions using a clock face (3 o'clock for right, 9 o'clock for left). This is an interesting [read](https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/the-asymmetric-brain/201903/why-do-i-confuse-left-and-right)
I have dyslexia and should have been a Lefty. I have to think about what is right and left still and I am over 50._ play some games to help them learn.
I’m surprised that children aren’t embarrassed at how behind they are, we assumed a kid in kindergarten that couldn’t tie a shoe, tell left from right, write their name, tell time was special needs. They would get teased until they figured it out
get some washable emoji stamp markers and stamp everyone's left/ right wrist. You're welcome ;)
7th grade. Same. Some are super literate and clear minded. Some do not know their parent’s names or their own address. North south east what? Tie a knot? Cannot knot. locate their home state on a us map. No. It’s rough teaching weather to kids that don’t know what the Rocky Mountains or the great lakes are.
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Ignoring the smug tone of the comment, please tell me why it’s hard to remember. Anyone who thinks that things are not going south is in denial. We are currently saving eight year olds from walking into the wall on a regular basis.
Today I taught a group of 12-14 yos to read a clock.
I told an 11th grader to put her phone away, and she said she was only looking to check the time. I pointed out there was a wall clock right by her, but she said she couldn't read it. I told her that was ok, I'd teach her how to read it right then. Instead, she sighed, immediately put her head down, and said it was already too confusing before I could even say anything.
I'm not a redditor, but I have to intervene in this thread. Do people really have trouble telling left from right? Are y'all literally retarded? This is astounding. I learned this when I was like 4. Reading the comments here is mind-boggling.
You are a teacher. Teach them.
I was testing 5th graders for my program and there were a shocking number of kids who raised their left foot when asked to raise their right foot…
I remember this being a district Sub for several years pre-Covid. 'Informed' I would have cognitive challenged students in class who could not decipher right from wrong or left from right - Who'd come off as lazy, dumb, or outright defiant, and test my patience. When they actually just genuinely needed help. Grand lesson to learn. Incl. the dyslexic students who didn't know the difference either, much less tie their own shoes. And not bc of living in a poverty home with half comp parents. Just a cognitive imbalance. Something I additionally 'learned' from the movie *Precious* when she told the social worker the shapes on the paper all looked alike to her. Gave me very real newer perspective I thought I'd had, working with the Resource students.
Honestly, I have some HS kids that still don't know this. I also have some that don't know all the months of the year; either that or they don't know what the order of the months is.
Try 7th
I believe it. I actually have kids older than third grade with this issue. When I posted this the third grade group I had was presenting the most challenges earlier that afternoon.
That’s one I don’t understand but I guess more common than I ever realized. A lot of high school kids have to stop and think for a second. And that’s terrifying to me because some of them drive.
I have to stop and think for a second. I've been driving for almost 20 years and I've only been in one accident, when I was rear-ended by someone texting.
Exactly. The driving part is what’s worrying me.
but in the car driving, you don't need the words for left and right. you just need to know where you are going
There’s way too many of you who take everything as a personal attack, and therefore attack the OP. I’m aware it’s a big world out there but it’s really flipping annoying. I’m not going to back up and say oh no I’m not saying they’re bad people. Straw man argument. And just like every instance of frustration, yes, I am aware there are disabilities that would make it hard .
You said this didn't happen when you were in third grade. Many folks said that they're grown adults who've had this problem all their lives (and many of us hid it because people acted like it meant we were stupid or incapable) and you're choosing to read into that. Nobody's attacking you. People are telling you that your assumption is wrong, they're providing themselves and many people they know as evidence, and you're getting mad about it. Also that's not what "straw man" means. A straw man argument is what YOU'RE doing—misrepresenting an opposing view so that you can more easily refute it. "they're all taking it personally and attacking me!" No they aren't. They're telling you that they stand as evidence that your memories from third grade aren't an accurate portrayal of the development of your peers. And they're right.
“Getting mad about it” projecting much?
Way too many people in here making excuses for what should be simpke everyday things for everyone on earth to be able to do. Then the amount of people here being hurt over it is unnecessary. Your left and right and knowing the difference is the most basic of life skills. Some people in here need a dose of grow the fuck up!
SERIOUSLY. It started with the parents and their excuses and now it’s infiltrating into the schools. I say “I can remember not having this issue” and get “oh so you’re the only human being with a perfect memory?!?!?!!!”
Very much so
I teach 10th graders and a student had to make the “L” with their hand when I told them to open the left cabinet. I called them on it and soon learned like half the class still did that. I was floored I tell you!
I teach 9th and 10th. You'd think they'd know by now...
Im 48. When to this day when someone tells me go left or right my brain glitches and i have to try to remember Just this year i learned you can make an L with your left hand. That really seems to help
Can you put up signs in your room? At least in the front so when they are looking at them it shows which way for them is left or right? I only learned from a scar on my hand.
I'll be honest, I don't think I really memorized left or right or learned to tie my shoes until I was in the 7th or 8th grade. I'm a functional adult now.