HWOT or A Reason for Handwriting...

[kmom]

Which of these have you used and what did you like and dislike? I can't decide!! I am not sure she would like all the extras with HWOT's. If you have used this did your child like them and which did you use? Does one provide better practice than the other?

[mumkins]

I used ARFHW last year. It was ok. We just bought HWOT. It makes it easier or my 5 y.o., but my 7 y.o. says it's too ugly.

[coffeefreak]

I've used both and I prefer HWOT. A Reason for Handwriting's lessons didn't click with my dd. I also didn't like the Bible verses and the way they did their copy work. I don't remember the specific reason now (it was 3 years ago), but I didn't even get half way through the book and I gave it away. HWOT has been a perfect fit for us because my oldest had some dysgraphia problems (reversing letters when she writes). It's written by occupational therapists and designed so that your child will only make logical, necessary strokes. A lot of people don't like it because it's not "pretty," but I don't care. Nobody's handwriting matches anyway, I just wanted to make writing easier on my dd and it worked!

 

Blessings!

Dorinda

PS Just in case you were wondering, we've used A Beka, Rod and Staff, A Reason for Handwriting and Handwriting Without Tears :tongue_smilie:

[Oak Knoll Mom]

I use both. HWT for print and ARFHW for cursive.

[Leanna Tomlinson]

From the two you mentioned, I have only used HWT. One big consideration for me are my two left-handed children. The models to copy in HWT are to the left and the right of the writing hand so a lefty doesn't have to keep lifting his hand to see the model. Also, the lack of a slant is also better for my "lefties".

 

I did buy a lot of the "extras" with HWT, but would only buy the slate if I had it to do over again. You can imitate the clay letters without buying the cards if your child really needs the practice. The CD is OK, but not necessary. My dc outgrew the wooden sticks and companion cards very quickly and they don't cover lower case letters.

 

HTH,

Leanna

[Storm Bay]

We used HWT (Handwriting Without Tears) for my ds and loved it. I bought all the stuff for the K course and am still happy I did. Sure, you could make up a lot of that stuff yourself, but with my other two in the mix, I was more than happy to have the whole kit and caboodle. I stored them in a lego container (we have lots of legos & put them in larger storage bins.)

 

My ds is a leftie & was delayed with fine motor skills due to being born with low muscle tone. He also found the 4 line system of Zaner-Bloser and the system in ETC very confusing visually. We're still using it now; he's doing HWT cursive gr 3. I am an enthusiastic fan.

 

That said, my dd's did well with Zaner Bloser. However, despite having, for me, impressive cursive there, they have terrible penmanship most of the time. Too bad they don't take after dh with penmanship; they take after me.

[Ali in OR]

We've been happy with RFH for our two. I wanted a traditional look and method and my kids don't have any issues or difficulties with handwriting. It has worked just fine for my leftie too.

[mohsmom23]

I can't speak for HWT, but we really like ARFH at our house. Dd enjoys the worksheets, and I prefer the look of the traditional letters.

 

ETA: One of the reasons I chose ARFH was because there are more resources available extra practice since it's a traditional print. My dd likes variety so I wanted that option to print more worksheets. I know I could make basic worksheets on my own using HWT special paper, but I didn't want to be limited and dd likes pretty pictures, etc. to keep her interested.

Edited June 3, 2009 by laf512

[elfinbaby]

We've been using HWOT for a couple of years. It's a good solid program. My ds is a leftie and he had gotten in some pretty terrible writing habits. The program helped clean his writing up but, since he's older, he needs a different kind of practice than the work book offered. The program is still solid imo.

 

However, all of a sudden this semester I began to dislike HWOT. It's a good program but it really is not attractive script. Since I'm beginning to teach my dd to write this year I decided to switch to a different style. I'm going to teach them italics. My plan is to use Penny Gardner's "A Beautiful Handwriting for Children" and StartWrite. We'll see how that goes.

 

April

[myfatherslily]

We're BARELY started using HWT but I can tell you why I chose it. I've loved the idea of it since I first heard about it a couple years ago. But when it came time to choose, I thoroughly explored the other options. After all, the hands-on approach was what attracted me to it the most and DD is not a kinesthetic learner. I ended up buying just the student book and teacher's book. I'd love the wooden blocks but I haven't been able to justify the purchase yet. DD is a leftie so I liked how it was set up so you could still see the letter/words you were copying. After reading some of the teacher's book, I like their idea that when a child just writes a long string of the same letter, they end up copying their own writing and it gets messier and messier as they go. So HWT is set up so that doesn't happen.

I like their ideas of how to teach letters, even without the extra purchases. We have a chalkboard already, so we've been doing Wet-Dry-Try as described in the book and on the video on their website. DD really liked it and DS3 LOVES it! I've been showing him letters for awhile now and suddenly, after doing Wet-Dry-Try only 3 times with Frog Jump Capitals (D, P, R, M, N, E, F, B), he is learning them! The other day he wrote E, F, and B all by himself!

DD loves to color and liked that she would be able to color the simple pictures in the book.

 

So we'll see how it goes over time. I think we'll be able to implement most of their ideas without the materials. I still wouldn't mind having the blocks though, for DS... but anyway, I like it even more since I bought the books and was able to take my time looking through them.

 

Also, my SIL has been using Reason for Handwriting with his first two children. I know she's liked it. But she decided to get HWT for her third who will be starting K this year.

[Storm Bay]

We're BARELY started using HWT but I can tell you why I chose it. .

 

 

Excellent post. I didn't put all that in there because it's been awhile, but yes to all (but I didn't have a 3 yo as my ds is my baby.) You're not using it, but the song I still remember from the CD is "Where do you start your letters/at the top." Sometimes I still have to quote that for my ds who likes to start o's from the bottom.