Is it normal for kids to write numbers backwards

Extra practice on letter formation in school may help your child improve. Download multisensory reading and writing tools for your child to try.

Also, if you think your child may have dyslexia, find out what to do next. Share FAQs about reversing letters, writing letters backwards, and dyslexia.

Podcast Wunder community app. Main menu Our work Blog Surveys and research. Join our team Privacy policy Terms of use Fundraising disclosure Sitemap. At a Glance Reversing letters is common until around age 7. Writing letters backwards is not necessarily a sign that your child has dyslexia.

There are things you can do at home to help your child stop reversing letters. If my child is reversing letters, should I take a wait-and-see approach? How can I help my child at home with letter reversals?

When helping your child, focus on one letter or number at a time. Related topics Reading and writing. Tell us what interests you. Your child is still developing the hand-eye coordination necessary to copy and write things properly. Also, if your child is very young, she may not understand that numbers always look the same and relate to a concrete concept; she might instead see writing numbers the same way she sees drawing trees, for example: to her, they look similar, but it's not important which way the number 3 faces.

As your child learns to read and do simple math problems, she'll begin to understand that numbers and letters can be put in a certain order and that they mean something. As this concept sinks in, she'll begin to understand that numbers are meant to be formed a certain way and will start to pay attention to how she forms them when she writes. If your child is doing well in other areas such as reading and math, she probably just needs a little more time to get the hang of writing her numbers.

Usually kids can write all of their numbers correctly by the end of second grade. If your child is still writing backward after that, talk to her teacher about it and any other problems she might be having. Writing numbers backward may be a symptom of a learning disability such as dyslexia or dysgraphia, but writing things backwards is rarely the only symptom of these things.

Watch for struggles in school, especially with reading and writing; trouble learning concepts like up and down, left and right, and over and under; difficulty following two- or three-step directions; and trouble staying organized or focused. If you have a family history of learning disabilities, your child may have a higher risk of developing one. Quick tip 2. Make it tactile. Go to slide 2. Quick tip 3. Do it over and over again.

Go to slide 3. Quick tip 4. Praise the effort. Dive deeper When kids write letters backwards, too. Next steps. See more multisensory techniques to help kids with: Reading Handwriting Math. Continue reading. Did you know?

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