dixiebuckeye Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 I'll just admit this, I didn't pay enough attention to my DD's formation of her letters while she was learning them. As a result, I'm having to go back and reteach her. It totally stinks because it's frustrating to her and I know it's something I could have avoided. My son is young, but I want to start getting ideas of what on earth I'm going to use for him, because "winging it" with my DD didn't work. Are there other options out there just for handwriting? Any recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 We love the Getty Dubay courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WIS0320 Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 We are using Zaner-Bloser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 We love the Getty Dubay courses. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I tried to like HWOT but I just hated it on every count, so I went looking for something else. There is a therapeutic program called First Strokes that is not marketed to homeschoolers. It worked so well for our DS1 (vision therapy patient with issues appearing to be related to dyslexia and dysgraphia) that I can't believe it's not more popular. https://www.thehandwritingclinic.com/Shop/ Really all you need is a single copy of the upper case and lower case workbook for the version you choose - the workbooks are only $10 each. I ended up buying both the preschool and multisensory versions and combining them. The preschool version has pictures that make it more appealing to younger kids. The multisensory version has them practice a wider range of sizes and is probably more useful as an OT tool for an older child who needs remedial help. I needed him to practice each page many times so I put them into sheet protectors and had him use first paintbrush pens and then dry erase markers. He really liked that his mistakes could just be wiped away - it helped him get over his anxiety. I took their concept of starting big and getting a relaxed circle stroke going to extremes. For around a month I just had our son practice relaxing his arm and making huge, smooth counter-clockwise circles with paint brush pens. This plus learning the letters according to the first stroke for each letter made a huge difference for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristenR Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I've had this e-book recommended to me by many folks here but haven't tried it yet. Penny Gardener' Beautiful Handwriting for children Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplain Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 We use Getty-Dubay workbooks and Penny Gardner's ebook. We hop back and forth between them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaddon Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 We didn't do well with HWOT, we now use the IEW PAL writing program and he is priting wonderfuly. I really love this program as a whole. No reversals as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I really like HWT for print (and no, the child's letters don't look exactly like their font). I used it to remediate DS1 when he came home halfway through first grade with wonky letter formation. What I like about it is the SCRIPT. It didn't matter if we were working in the workbook (which we really only used for a few weeks to a month maybe?) or doing copywork in WWE, I could say "Magic c!" so he wouldn't make his 'd' a 'b', or I could say "Dive down!" so he'd do a 'p' instead of a 'q'. ;) So whatever you get, I highly recommend something that has some sort of script that says how to form the letters. Then you can use that script in whatever writing you're doing. I only use a handwriting workbook for learning letter formation briefly. The practice is done via copywork, where the handwriting program really doesn't matter. Pick a font you like the formation of (again, don't worry about exactly what it looks like - your child's handwriting will look different), and watch your child every time he writes - until he is fairly proficient in letter formation. You might also consider cursive first, to prevent some letter formation issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dixiebuckeye Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 Ok, here's my daughter's issue. She starts her a, o and generally just the letters with the ball at the bottom left. Which I could have avoided by watching her and being a stickler, but my little guy was younger, so I was chasing after him and I really just didn't think about that aspect since I've been writing for so many years myself. ;) Then, she reverses: b, d, p, q, z What would you do with her? And if I were to go the HWOT route, how much does it cost? What would I need to get to make it work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I just used the workbook for HWT. I didn't need anything else. Reversing those letters is normal at her age. My 7.5 year old still reverses them sometimes. The magic c helps a lot, and it would help with the strange starting place on her circle letters. I'd recommend just getting the first grade book for her. It teaches upper and lowercase from the beginning. My son was starting letters at the bottom, starting 'e' at the end, etc. It took maybe 6 weeks to turn around his letter formation. I watched him like a hawk when writing. My 5 year old has started on the K book. I have the K TM, but it really hasn't had anything I needed in it, since we already know all the letters and he has a rough idea of how to form most of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 The reversals will probably stop around age 7 or 8. My dd (turned 7 this month) still sometimes reverses b and d, but quickly corrects herself now. I agree with boscopup - you have to watch your child like a hawk while they are doing copywork/handwriting practice and correct mistakes as soon as they happen. We use the Getty-Dubay Italic style and I also have Penny Gardner's ebook. I have posted many times on this forum about the Italic handwriting method. It is good for correcting reversals, because in this style, b and d are not mirror images of each other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Ok, here's my daughter's issue. She starts her a, o and generally just the letters with the ball at the bottom left. Which I could have avoided by watching her and being a stickler, but my little guy was younger, so I was chasing after him and I really just didn't think about that aspect since I've been writing for so many years myself. ;) Then, she reverses: b, d, p, q, z What would you do with her? And if I were to go the HWOT route, how much does it cost? What would I need to get to make it work? The First Strokes program would take care of these reversal issues. d and q are circle stroke letters. It teaches to start all circles for circle stroke letters at 2 o'clock and go counter clockwise, and after the circle is complete, the line is added to the right of the circle. b and p are tall line down letters. They always begin with a tall line down and end with the circle going to the right. When our son starts to reverse when he is writing, all I have to do is remind him what type of letter it is according to the first stroke. When you begin with the proper stroke and follow the right-side rule about adding a circle to a line that was drawn first, reversals are cleared up. The cost would be $20 for a set of workbooks, or just $10 if you only need the lower case, plus a package of sheet protectors from an office supply store, and some dry erase markers. For a while I had to put a sticker on his right hand to help him but still, it made it so easy. There is also an unrelated book you can buy from Rainbow Resource called Correcting Reversals. It is not expensive and is pretty good. It helped him with his reversals in reading but for the handwriting reversals I needed to use a handwriting OT program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I tried to like HWOT but I just hated it on every count, so I went looking for something else. There is a therapeutic program called First Strokes that is not marketed to homeschoolers. It worked so well for our DS1 (vision therapy patient with issues appearing to be related to dyslexia and dysgraphia) that I can't believe it's not more popular. https://www.thehandwritingclinic.com/Shop/ Really all you need is a single copy of the upper case and lower case workbook for the version you choose - the workbooks are only $10 each. I ended up buying both the preschool and multisensory versions and combining them. The preschool version has pictures that make it more appealing to younger kids. The multisensory version has them practice a wider range of sizes and is probably more useful as an OT tool for an older child who needs remedial help. I needed him to practice each page many times so I put them into sheet protectors and had him use first paintbrush pens and then dry erase markers. He really liked that his mistakes could just be wiped away - it helped him get over his anxiety. I took their concept of starting big and getting a relaxed circle stroke going to extremes. For around a month I just had our son practice relaxing his arm and making huge, smooth counter-clockwise circles with paint brush pens. This plus learning the letters according to the first stroke for each letter made a huge difference for him. So you didn't need the instructor's manual? We are going through the HWOT preschool workbook for the THIRD time with my fine motor-challenged kiddos. They really need one more runthrough with instruction to truly get it, but are bored with it at this point. If all the instructions are in the student workbook, I may get that, but if I would have to buy another teacher's manual, that might be the deal breaker! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justLisa Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I think the problem with using a handwriting book for too long is that it makes kids start DRAWING letters. I noticed this with DS. If he is working in a handwriting copy work book, he literally draws each letter and doesn't even know what he is writing LOL. I wish I had done what I did with DD, and just worked on letter formation, and then watched closely that it transferred instead of using a handwriting copywork book. Now I use startwrite with the font we like and just make our own copy work. I use it to rewrite the sentences from WWE2 because the lines are too big. Boscopup had a good point about SCRIPT. Now that I think about it *I* use that magic c quote. It really helps. We used "down to your feet" or "up to your head" instead of the dive down from HWOT because it just stuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I just used the workbook for HWT. I didn't need anything else. Having gone through it twice now, with 2 very different kids, it really depends on the child. For kids with fine motor issues, they NEED all of the extras and I'm convinced Ds 1 would not have learned how to write without the chalkboard, playdough, and wood pieces. He absolutely could not conceive of how to draw the pieces of a letter. If you have a kid with fine motor challenges, you really should get the TM. It is the meat of the program and contains all the helpful suggestions for getting a challenging kid over the hurdles. Ds 2 needed nothing but the workbook - which I probably would not have believed possible after Ds 1, but it is. It is really child dependent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Having gone through it twice now, with 2 very different kids, it really depends on the child. For kids with fine motor issues, they NEED all of the extras and I'm convinced Ds 1 would not have learned how to write without the chalkboard, playdough, and wood pieces. He absolutely could not conceive of how to draw the pieces of a letter. If you have a kid with fine motor challenges, you really should get the TM. It is the meat of the program and contains all the helpful suggestions for getting a challenging kid over the hurdles. Ds 2 needed nothing but the workbook - which I probably would not have believed possible after Ds 1, but it is. It is really child dependent. Sorry - should have been more clear. We have the teacher's manual, slates, magna boards, wooden pieces, etc. - everything for HWOT. I am wondering if I need the TM to effectively implement the Handwriting Clinic program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommie_Jen Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I really, really looked at HWOT for my upcoming kindergartner. In the end, I'm trying to not spend a ton of money, so I'm going to try ARFH first. It's been used by people I know with great success, and it's more cost effective for me. If it doesn't go well, then I'll try HWOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 My son has difficulty with handwriting. He taught himself to write the letters before I started any formal schooling and after years of handwriting instruction I made the move this year to a vintage cursive program with disposable fountain pens. I'm starting to see my son use the correct grip outside of handwriting time and improve in his printing skills. The fountain pens have really helped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SebastianCat Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 You could also look into A Reason for Handwriting. We've been very pleased with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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