All Smiles

by Laurie
(Wisconsin)

Product: Handwriting Without Tears
Subject: handwriting
Levels Used: Kindergarten, First Grade
Dates Used: 2007, 2008

Likes: This program was developed by an Occupational Therapist, and provides many strategies and techniques to help children develop a good pencil grip, learn to write letters without reversals, and enjoy the process.

The main practice is done on a small slate board. In the kindergarten book, capital letters are taught first, followed by numbers and lower case letters. The first grade book begins with a review of uppercase letters and numbers, then demonstrates the capitol and lowercase form of a letter and provides words and/or sentences to copy.

There are additional products which can be purchased, and enhance the multisensory aspect of learning. We found the Wood Pieces set and the Capital Letter Cards to be helpful for preschoolers and kindergarteners. There are music CD's also. Get Set for School sing along has 25 songs adapted from traditional or folk songs, along with a few original tunes.

Do get at least one teachers manual. They include a lot of helpful information about the program, teaching methods, and identifying and remediating handwriting difficulties.

Dislikes: This program was originally developed for classroom instruction, so some of the information in the teachers manual doesn't really apply to a homeschool situation.