Helping Your
Child
Overcome Spatial Problems
The term "spatial problems" means not only
difficulties in knowing right from left, but recognizing that "was" is not the
same as "saw" or "b" the same as "d." When teachers or those
who test children use the term "spatial problems," they mean not only the above,
but also those children who crowd all of their arithmetic problems to one side of a page
when they're doing their homework-or get mixed up when trying to follow directions-or get
lost when they are in a new place or who don't know how to write certain words, letters,
or numbers. Spatial problems also can relate to the degree of disorganization in a child's
room.
Most children will get "left" and "right" mixed up
until they are about seven years old. But somewhere around age five or six, most children,
given the proper opportunities, will begin to be able to identify the right and left sides
of their bodies.
Start with your child's room. Clean up the clutter. Put things away.
Encourage orderliness. If there is order to the rest of the house, chances are that your
child will imitate that orderliness. Scolding won't correct the situation unless there are
guidelines and. in this case, it's what die child sees around him. Helping the child to
keep his I space, in his room
organized may mean, at least initially, a fair amount of picking up by parents, but
eventually, like cleanliness, the child will get the message and grow used to orderliness
just as he does to cleanliness and will feel uncomfortable without it.
Have clearly defined places for things. And keep the directions simple.
"Clothes go here. Books go there. Comic books over there, etc. - Provide plenty of drawers and shelves. Convenient
storage boxes can be obtained for things with lots of
movable parts-blocks, puzzles, and games. In this way pieces of
games or puzzles can be kept separate one from another and will be used. There is nothing
more discouraging than a heap of games with all of the pieces jumbled together. The child will simply ignore them
Play "directional" games with your child.
Young children, especially preschoolers, like to play games in which they point to parts
of their body-for example, "Show me your hair, now your knee, now your thumbs."
This should progress to games that name sides, such as "Show me your right elbow. Now
show me your left foot. Now wiggle your right hand. - The importance of this type of
identification cannot be overemphasized. Every possible opportunity should be taken to
teach and reinforce this ability.
Incorporate directional words in your conversations with your child.
For example, on the way to school or to the grocery store, say, "Lees see. 1,11 make
a right turn at this comer. Now I'll make a left turn, etc. See if your child can begin to
anticipate the direction of the turn. Say, "We are going to turn this way (point) at the next corner. Can you tell
me what direction (left or right) that is?" If he gets confused, you ten him the
direction. And treat it lightly.
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