Experience with Handwriting W/out Tears K

[andrea14]

I am just beginning to homeschool my daughter, who is an "advanced" 4 year old. I am wondering if I should go ahead and begin HWT K and skip the Pre-K. Also, should I begin this now or wait? I am also going to start OPGTR and I know her advice is to hold off on writing.

 

I would just like any input/advice based on your own experiences. THANK YOU!

[krisandpaula]

My 3.5 dd went through the Pre-K book in about 8 weeks when we started homeschooling ds (6) in March. It took her 8 weeks because I would basically pry it out of her hands after she finished about 6 pages. lol. She loved it! She is 4 now and just started the K book with our new year in July and is very comfortable with it. She is reading in the 3rd box of BOB books and is in the second set of MCP Readers, if that helps. I would say start the K book now. It is a gentle book.

[andrea14]

My 3.5 dd went through the Pre-K book in about 8 weeks when we started homeschooling ds (6) in March. It took her 8 weeks because I would basically pry it out of her hands after she finished about 6 pages. lol. She loved it! She is 4 now and just started the K book with our new year in July and is very comfortable with it. She is reading in the 3rd box of BOB books and is in the second set of MCP Readers, if that helps. I would say start the K book now. It is a gentle book.

 

Thanks! Also, I'm wondering if I should purchase the "kit" that come with the wooden pieces, etc. or just the workbooks. ????

[krisandpaula]

We just use the workbooks and the magnetic stamp & write board thingy. She LOVES that. We used the slate a little at the beginning, but the magnetic board was a much bigger hit.

[Farrar]

We started with the K book. Also, we didn't initially buy the wooden pieces but then someone handed them down to us not long after we started and they were GREAT so I highly recommend them. We made our own chalkboards though. And I didn't have the teacher's materials. I got to look through them, got some ideas and then proceeded from there without them, which worked fine for us.

[Mert]

I didn't purchase the kit but made a set of the mat man pieces out of foam using the pattern in the back of the book. I would recommend using at least one of the non-writing methods to teach. That's kinda the beauty of the curriculum. We "played" letters way before ds was holding a pencil/marker correctly.

[kmacnchs]

I think of the pre-k book as just for fun...if you are going to start teaching her how to write, I would go straight to the K book. In the teacher's manual (if you have one), it gives a template of how to make your own 'wooden' letters (make them out of cardboard boxes and they work just as well - oh, and their FREE!).

[andrea14]

Thanks for all the replies! This really helps! I love this forum.:D

[tkeller]

I am currently working through the Pre-K book with my four year old son and the girl I babysit who is also four. They are LOVING it. It is way more than just handwriting, we love the CD, the book, the wood pieces everything.

 

It will not last anywhere near a whole year, I follow the lesson plans they have available on the website. The K book also uses a lot of the extra things like the wood pieces.

 

I plan on just starting the K book right after we finish the Pre-K book. It will be good practice.

[daffodil]

We started with K when my daughter was 4.5. I just have the slate and the workbook, and I made my own version of the wood pieces out of cardstock. If you look around on the website, I think I remember youtube videos that give instruction on HWT methods like "wet-dry-try."