"Children increasingly have fewer opportunities to develop their motor skills (fine and gross). Circumstances such as housing, safety, technology, and the pursuit of speed and convenience mean that teaching work must become more efficient and focused on activities that strengthen motor skills," notes Nancy Canó, Assistant Principal of New Horizons Bilingual School. The human brain has two hemispheres, right and left. In most people, the left hemisphere is dominant and determines that the person is right-handed. The purpose of lateral dominance is for one of the hemispheres to lead or control mental processes. At what age can we determine a child's dominance? We can start to see signs of dominance from the moment a child begins to roll over, based on the side they turn to first, or when grasping objects, based on which hand they use first. However, before age three, it's normal for dominance not to be clearly defined and for the child to experiment with both sides of their body. Crossed laterality occurs when the dominance of the hand, eye, ear, or foot is not located on the same side of the body as the others. In crossed laterality, the two hemispheres compete or cooperate across different functions, either with a defined dominance or without one (ambidextrous). According to Nancy Canó, Assistant Principal of New Horizons Bilingual School, all of this can lead to a lack of motor coordination, causing imprecise movements and confused spatial orientation. Not all children with crossed laterality experience learning difficulties, but they are quite likely to show a greater probability of exhibiting some of these conditions: In school processes and practice: Reads very slowly and with pauses. Frequently loses their place and lacks rhythm while reading. Difficulty organizing space and time. Confusion distinguishing left from right (which makes math and reading/writing processes more difficult). Reversal when writing numbers and letters. At a psychological level: Difficulty paying attention. Lack of motivation. Irritability, inhibition, hopelessness. In mixed laterality, a person shows inconsistency across one or more of the four areas; that is, they perform some activities with one side and others with the opposite side. This is usually most noticeable with the hands. For example, a person may write with their left hand but use their right hand to pick up objects, and/or switch hands while performing an activity. Quick exercises to identify a child's laterality: Hand Laterality: Opening a bottle/jar: ask the child to unscrew the cap. Using a spoon: ask the child to pick up a spoon and mimic eating. Cutting a drawing: give the child scissors to cut out a drawing. Doing exercises: sewing, threading, hammering, screwing, unscrewing, brushing teeth. Eye Laterality: Looking through a spyglass: have the child look through a spyglass or tube at a specific point; if, when you wink or cover their other eye, the point they were looking at doesn't disappear, that eye can be considered the dominant one. Foot Laterality: Hopping on one foot: have the child hop several times on the same foot. The foot they hop on is the dominant one. Kicking a ball: ask the child to kick a ball. The foot they use to kick is the dominant one. Standing up from kneeling: ask the child to stand up from a kneeling position. The foot they use to push up with is the dominant one. Ear Laterality: Listening to a clock: give the child a clock to listen to the ticking. The ear they bring the clock to is the dominant one. Talking on the phone: ask the child to pick up a string-and-cup "phone" and pretend to talk on it; the ear they hold the cup to is the dominant one. To achieve greater effectiveness in everything we do, it's essential to have well-established laterality. Parents' support at home is vital for continuing the work done by teachers in the classroom.
