Two hands

Which hand does your child prefer?  It all has to do with the brain.  During prenatal development, while the brain and spinal cord are forming, nerves cross from one hemisphere or side of the brain, across the midline of the body, and connect to muscles on the opposite side of the body. The right hemisphere of the brain controls the muscles on the left side of the body, and the left hemisphere controls the right. We show a preference for the side opposite the most developed side of the brain.  Often young children are still experimenting with using both hands.  In fact, here Isaiah shows great skill in painting a relatively small sculpture with two paintbrushes and Daniel draws and writes a story with two markers.  Both boys, in different classrooms, but only moments apart, loved the idea of getting double the work done in the same amount of time.  As they begin to prefer one hand over the other, repeated practice strengthens that hand and reinforces the preference.  But the two handed approach remains fun and creatively addresses a need in a time pinch.