Press Release

December 2005

New teaching aid launched for left-handed children

"The Left Hand Writing Skills series is a unique, much needed resource
which will help left-handed children avoid and overcome many common
handwriting difficulties. Highly recommended." The Left-Handers Club.

The first ever range of handwriting teaching and practice workbooks specifically for left-handed children is now available from specialist retailer anythingleft-handed.co.uk. The 'Left Hand Writing Skills' series by Mark & Heather Stewart, marks a significant development in the teaching of handwriting to left-handed children and is an ideal resource for parents and teachers.

Full details and sample pages from the series are shown at
www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk/lh-writing-books.html

Developing a comfortable, clear and efficient writing style is one of the fundamental skills that left-handers find most difficult, as pen control, posture and letter formation are all harder when pushing the pen from left to right across the page - an unnatural direction for a left-hander to write in. Common problems encountered by left-handed children are:-

- Smudging of work;
- Over-tight grip;
- Poor pencil control, leading to poor letter formation;
- Bad posture;
- Mirror writing (writing in reverse from right to left across the page);
- Poor ink flow from pens;
- Slow writing speed;
- Frustration;
- Low self-esteem;

Adults are becoming increasingly aware that left-handed children require specific teaching to ensure they learn to write efficiently, but have been hampered by limited training and resources in left-handers' needs.

The Left Hand Writing Skills series addresses this issue, by guiding the child with friendly, entertaining and beautifully illustrated instructions and exercises that reinforce the best writing habits for left-hand writing. These include :

- Icons on every worksheet reminding students how to hold the pen correctly;
- Paper position guide on each sheet to ensure the paper is placed at the correct angle;
- Words and pictures positioned so they are not obscured by the left hand;
- Top-page binding (rather than left side bound) so that the spine does not inhibit the free movement of the left hand;
- Letter formation arrows specifically for left-hand cursive writing where direction differs e.g. forming 't' and 'o';
- A 'Top Tip' on each worksheet for teachers & parents, with sound advice on all aspects of handwriting;

The books in this new range are aimed at different stages of writing development rather than age, with a combined publication and CD-Rom version for schools.

Book 1 - Fabulous fine motor practice helps the student to develop basics such as fine motor control and hand-eye co-ordination, and to develop the correct pencil grip for letter formation. GBP 6.95
Book 2 - Funky formation and flow takes the student from letter formation through letter joins and on to complete word formation. GBP 6.95
Book 3 - Successful smudge-free writing introduces the use of pen and ink. Concentrates on developing a confident and clear handwriting style for complete sentence writing in a variety of interesting handwriting contexts. GBP 6.95

Combined edition for schools: Book (mono, photocopiable) GBP 29.95 CD-ROM (full colour, multiple-user, printable) GBP 35.19

Left-Handed Writing Skills is available from Anything Left-Handed Ltd online at www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk by mail order on tel: 020 8770 3722 or from their shop at 57 Brewer Street, London W1.

***** Ends ****

For further information, samples of these books or to arrange interviews with Left-Handers Club founders Keith & Lauren Milsom, or the authors of Writing Skills Mark & Heather Stewart, please contact: Lauren Milsom at the ALH Press Office
Email: mailto:lauren@anythingleft-handed.co.uk - Telephone: 020 8770 3722

Picture Editors : High-res images of the Left-Handed Writing Skills series are available to download directly from : www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk/media.html

Notes to Editors :
Anything Left-Handed is committed to improved handwriting skills for children. Through its association with the Left-Handers Club, the Company provides equipment and free advice to 48,000 Club members, teachers, parents and teaching organisations worldwide.

Anything Left-Handed provides left-handed products through its website www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk and famous shop at 57 Brewer Street, London W1. It is the leading supplier of left-handed products in the U.K. and Europe. This award-winning website is also a huge source of advice and information on all topics relating to left-handedness.

The products range from the traditional left-handed scissors and kitchen implements, through a host of knives, stationery and computer peripherals to some funky and innovative left-handed pens - there is even a left-handed boomerang!

The Left-Handers Club is free to join from the www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk website. Formed in 1990, the Club aims to:
- increase awareness of left-handers' needs
- keep members in touch with research and developments
- improve education, facilities and equipment design.

The Left-Handers Club is now the largest organisation of its kind, with 48,000 members worldwide. Since its formation, the Club has been responsible for a number of product design improvements, the provision of left-handed cheque books by all major banks in the U.K., and has produced a unique training video for teachers and parents of left-handed children. This video is currently used by all teacher-training colleges and a large number of schools in England.

The Club is responsible for International Left-Handers Day, an annual event when left-handers everywhere can celebrate their sinistrality and increase public awareness of the difficulties and advantages of being left-handed. Visit www.lefthandersday.com for more info.