Monday, March 15, 2010

HANDWRITING WITHOUT TEARS

We have discovered THIS great handwriting program. It's called Handwriting Without Tears - Letters and Numbers for Me. Miss Boo just loves working with the wood pieces set for Capital letters. She had such an interest in reading and writing from such an early age, that I just kind of went with the flow of her interests, which is great. But now I'm finding I need to back track a little bit and teach her how to PROPERLY write her letters now, before she is too far gone in her own (rather unusual) techniques!! Such as starting her letters from the bottom instead of the top. I love how this approah is very Orton-Gillingham in method (a multi-sensory approach), as it comes with these wood pieces, as well as a small slate with chalk and a wet-sponge eraser. Using multiple senses during early childhood learning is a key way to reinforce what is being taught. It is also especially helpful for kids who need a little bit of extra help. These kinds of methods have proved very beneficial for Banana as well!!
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Making an O for O'Steen!!

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Banana enjoyed getting creative with the wood pieces to spell out sisters name.

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6 comments:

Nana said...

I need to get some of these. When we work with letters I am usually the one who ends up in tears.

Wendy said...

My "old" preschool was transitioning to this technique when we moved. It's WONDERFUL. In fact, I have the "copies", but not the actual pieces so I'm hoping to create a set (or 3) over the summer to use in my classroom next year. Yep--LOVE "Hand Writing Without Tears"--enjoy!

MegganB said...

Thanks for this. I've been thinking we should use this method. Faith does the same thing starting from the bottom! :)

Deb said...

We love HWT. Instead of ordering the wood pieces, I make them out of foam sheets in bright colors. I can't seem to find them, so I'll have to make another set for Breanna. She's using HWT's Get Ready (or Set) for School, and loves it.

Heather O'Steen Photography said...

What a great idea Deb! Thanks for sharing!

Mary Prather said...

My nine year old used this last year (right after we took her out of school) to learn beautiful cursive. It worked! Now, my five year old is doing Letters and Numbers for Me, just like your little girl. Writing isn't a chore, and he looks forward to his lessons. Mat Man is the best!