SWB's Writing With Ease program - do you still need separate Handwriting curriculum?

[Christie_P]

My 5yo DD is working through her first year of K and I'm already dreaming / drooling over next year of 1st Grade. (Or, I'm hoping it may be 1st grade - her birthday is in October so she's JUST turned 5 and if she was in public school, she'd be in K-4 this year and K-5 next year....)

 

ANYWAY - I'm going to shoot for a full 1st grade curriculum for next year (ala WTM) and then reduce a bit if it's too much...

 

SO - here's my question: I'm looking at getting

* First Language Lessons and

* Writing with Ease

Do I still need either Handwriting Without Tears or Zaner-Bloser in addition to Writing with Ease?

 

My copy of TWTM is from 2004 and I don't think Writing with Ease was out at that time because she doesn't mention it. (She only mentions Writing Strands and Institute for Excellence in Writing.)

 

Thanks!

Christie P

[Tiberia]

I would recommend going through a handwriting book like HWOT "Letters and Numbers for Me" before using WWE. We did HWOT in K last year, and I'm using WWE1 without any other handwriting program this year.

 

Dd learned how to form her letters last year, so this year we're working on spacing of words and letters, neat writing, punctuation, using WWE. I think this would be difficult for her if she had not already learned to form the letters. If your kiddo is already writing letters correctly, for the most part, then I'd say go straight for WWE.

[Christie_P]

We are currently working through Bonnie Dettmer's Phonics for Reading and Spelling which introduces the letters using a "circle space" with four stations: the star station, butterfly station, flower station and heart station. The idea is that you dictate to them how to form each letter orally: Start at the star station, go around to the heart station and stop. That would make a C.

 

She does ok but there are no workbooks or pages for practice. We are just dictating the multi-letter phonograms now (ey, ei, etc) and she is very frustrated at her own handwriting. She is like her momma, a perfectionist, and gets down on herself that they don't look perfect - but I'm at a loss as how to help her. Phonics for Reading and Spelling (PRS) says to go over each letter with a red pencil and correct it, but she hates the look of the red on top of the mistake and what do I do if she "corrects" it and it's still not right?

 

With Christmas coming, I think we'll get through Phonogram 52 before then but I won't emphasize the handwriting, and then in January we'll start from the VERY beginning and go over letter formation again. BUT how do I make it different and get her happy with her letters?

[scrappyhappymama]

I am all about letting the same work do double duty. :D

 

We use WWE, but I don't buy the workbooks. Instead I create the copywork pages using my StartWrite software. So my son gets his writing lesson, and practices his handwriting at the same time. We start with cursive up front, so it was particularly important to keep on practicing penmanship. He does all his WWE lessons in cursive and then I let him choose how he wants to do any other writing.

[imhim]

We did HWOT in K and first grade, and even now in second, just for fun. We started WWE1 in the second half of first grade, and just finished it. My dd can write very nice - if she tries to - but I still wanted the HWOT because she liked it so much and it is good.

[Christie_P]

Thank you, imhim and scrappyhappymama, for your replies! Imhim, that is very helpful to know that you started WWE1 in the 2nd half of first grade. Because she will be 3 months away from being 6 when we start first grade, and because I tend to go overboard... I'm looking for ways to gradually introduce the increase in material and not overwhelm her.

 

She's currently at Lesson 64 in OPGTR, but we've been using it already for about a year and a half. She gets overwhelmed and shuts down if I push her too fast. We've stopped new progress right now, rewound to Lesson 41 and are only going to do review through Christmas, saving the introducing of long vowels until January. (I call this "building speed and confidence" - which it is doing and she's really brightened up at reading since we went back a bit. :)

 

SO - I was concerned that we might not have made enough progress in OPGTR by the time we start First Grade to really bring on the FLL and WWE1 full force. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for giving me the idea that WWE1 could wait until the 2nd half of 1st Grade and we can still finish it by the end of the year. :)

 

Christie P

5 yo DD in K

Dettmer's Phonics for Reading & Spelling, Saxon K, OPGTR, Bob Books & McGuffy Readers, R&S Preschool ABCDEF workbooks

[3peasinapod]

We use HWT with WWE, but we don't do HWT every day, just on days when their phonics books don't have any writing. So we end up doing it about 2 or 3 days a week. I will continue with HWT at least through 3rd grade to introduce cursive; not sure after that.

[Mom0012]

I have continued to use a handwriting book with my daughter, but you could always skip handwriting on the days she has copywork in WWE. It's not like you have to finish a handwriting book each year. My daughter won't be done with the handwriting book she started last year for another couple of weeks.

 

Lisa

[Guest TheBugsMom]

I think it would depend on her ability to form letters correctly or not. My dd was 5 when we started WWE and FFL and we are not using a handwriting program, but she writes beautifully. If your dd is not writing to the point of knowing how each letter is formed and legibly then I would begin the year getting her to this point. Then use the copywork from WWE to focus on spacing and neatness (as JoMama). Starting WWE several months into the year is a good idea if need be.

[Beth in SW WA]

I am all about letting the same work do double duty. :D

 

We use WWE, but I don't buy the workbooks. Instead I create the copywork pages using my StartWrite software.

 

I do this also. Here is a sample of dd6's cursive copywork from Startwrite from my blog. I think this lesson is from FLL, but I create copywork pages for WWE lessons also.

[robsiew]

My 1st grader did the handwriting books in K, but now I make copywork for him also. (I use Educational Fontware, it has HWT font on it) We do WWE1 and I give him one sheet of copy work a day. The copywork is usually a sentence I take out of the SOTW AG... my K'er does the same thing. I did handwriting books with him last year and dropped them this year. My boys usually see their copy work before we do history and they LOVE "knowing" something from the lesson that the older two haven't seen yet! :lol:

[imhim]

You're welcome, I am sure I did not come up by myself with the idea... maybe I read it somewhere here, too :-)

 

I also started FLL1 in Jan of first grade. We are in FLL2 and WWE2 now in second grade.

 

In first grade before WWE, and in K I did write on HWT paper a lot of copywork, and dd copied right under my writing (I left a line empty under every line I wrote.) We did tons of verses, poems, etc like this. Then, I started to fill out a whole HWT paper with the verse, and she had to write on a new piece of paper, copying word for word.

Maybe this helped her be ready for WWE1? I don't know but she always liked copywork and handwriting. I started cursives in first grade, too, but not HWT.

 

If it was me, I would be worried if my dd shut down because of too much school - school is supposed to be fun, at this age, and my dd already does not like school - the "idea" of school. But it seems you are flexible and not regimenting her work.

[kalanamak]

I am all about letting the same work do double duty. :D

 

We use WWE, but I don't buy the workbooks. Instead I create the copywork pages using my StartWrite software.

 

You can do this at the Zaner Bloser website, too.

 

I used ZB HW books, because my son could do them independently (something I was encouraging) and he enjoys them. The letters are introduced methodically. The books aren't very spendy. If kiddo hated it, I would probably skip it, unless his handwriting was well below grade standards.

[Christie_P]

Thank you everybody for your replies!

From what I have gathered - yes, I need a separate time to work on letter formation.

I downloaded the sample ZB pages and printed them and had her try one - and she did it quickly, easily without any problem. We'll continue using the sample pages til they're gone, then we'll probably order the entire K book. My husband also likes that idea because that's the way he learned to write (so he's comfortable with it.)

 

We've continued writing the phonograms, but I've been lightly writing the circle spaces on the page for her to use in help writing her letters, so that enables her to write her phonograms without any frustrations. :)

 

Thanks so much, again, for all the replies.

 

P>S> I asked my husband the other day, "Why don't the other homeschooling moms I know want to talk about curriculum like I do?" ;) So I'm very glad to have found this forum! :)

[JadeOrchidSong]

I do this also. Here is a sample of dd6's cursive copywork from Startwrite from my blog. I think this lesson is from FLL, but I create copywork pages for WWE lessons also.

I like this a lot. It looks very nice!!!

By the way, what cursive style is this called? Ds is doing HWT cursive and it is hard to distinguish m and n sometimes. I am thinking of changing to another cursive. Is there a website for generating free cursive copywork of my own?

Jun

[scrappyhappymama]

P>S> I asked my husband the other day, "Why don't the other homeschooling moms I know want to talk about curriculum like I do?" ;) So I'm very glad to have found this forum! :)

 

I have a theory about this. I think it is easier to discuss curriculum options and the benefits and detriments of various curriculum options here on a message board, where most of us do not know each other socially.

 

I love talking about curriculum and various approaches to homeschooling and listening and learning from other's experiences. But with homeschooling families in co-ops or playgroups, the specifics rarely come up. I think it's because these decisions are so personalized from family to family, that it could easily lead to hurt feelings among acquaintances and friends if someone else's pet curriculum if disparaged. It's difficult to discuss the merits of one without comparing it to others. SO I think we all focus on our commonalities and not what might divide us. :)

[Christie_P]

Thanks Scrappyhappymama! That just may be the case! Also, if using the same curriculum, it could lend itself to "my daughter's at lesson ## - where are you in the book?" and that probably wouldn't go over well. Ok - then I'll try to limit my curriculum discussions to pleasant "which do you recommend" questions for those veteran HSers in my social group. :)