Printmaking 101

I think it's a lesson best learned the hard way - when you make a print of something, the image is reversed.

"B," grade 5, discovers writing will appear as a "mirror image" in a Styrofoam relief print - and quickly corrects the error

I used to insist: "NO words or numbers - make an animal - they always come out great!" But I have come to realize that avoiding the inevidible does not provide an optimal learning experience, so now I stay quiet and let the learning happen.
Once students learn this lesson, I assure them that everyone makes that mistake at first. I delight in telling the story of the principal at a school for the gifted and creative, who spent about 20 minutes carving "PEACE" into a printing-block, only to discover the same lesson that "B" did, in the above holiday card attempt (the principal's name started with a "B" too!)