Mirror Writing

[P4 Maths and up - Symmetry]

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YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT THE BEST WAY TO PRACTICE

AND TRAIN SPATIAL KNOWLEDGE IS THROUGH WRITING IN REVERSE

Did you know that the famous Italian polymath Leonardo Da Vinci (neither the puppet nor the presenter in the video) was notorious for not only writing shorthand (a style of writing that can be written as fast as a conversation) but also mirror writing? As a left-hander, Da Vinci used his left hand to write in reverse very quickly, allowing him to put his thoughts on paper twice as fast as the average person. This not only allowed him to hide his work from other prying eyes during the Renaissance, but also avoid the horrible mess of rubbing the palm of one's hand against the wet ink of his quill. To decipher his work, people had to place mirrors against his handwriting AND translate his messy, messy shorthand language.

Not many people can read or process different orientations of letters. When holding an unfamiliar book upside down, or when looking through a transparent sheet of plastic / acrylic from the back, you may sometimes feel utterly confused and lose the ability to grasp the text expressed.

In Primary school, the subject "Symmetry" and "Nets, Solids and Figures" within Mathematics often tries to rationalise the phenomenon and make it easier for children to grasp what proper and improper forms of writing should look like. One very good way of training the self's ability to solve these Mathematics problems is, of course, increasing the self's exposure to writing in backwards.

An unwanted, unused file can have its transparent plastic cut out and used as a very powerful tool for all future Maths questions. Not only is it a way to understand how words look like in reverse, it can also have a sleek XY-axis taped onto it pristinely for use in secondary school, especially when it comes to graphs and graphing.

The next time you think you have too much stuff around the house & want to clear out the clutter, repurposing scraps for your own benefit is a great way to start.