T do you think of my pre-k choices?

[hands-on-mama]

Okay, so I decided instead of doing pure CM that I really wanted something to use as a guide to make things easier for me. I like to have stuff in writing.

 

HOD LHTH is on its way to me. I really like the layout of the curriculum and I think it will fit my daughter well even though she knows her letters. I thought we would do this with my 4 yo dd and let the 2 yo join in as she wishes.

 

DD1 has serious issues with holding a pencil and writing. I have worked and worked with her. I think I've decided to do the pre-k edition of HWOT. Any experience with this? I'm about to buy the roll a dough kit and the pre-k book from a mama here. I'll buy the other things I want from it as I can. Which pieces would you suggest buying? Flip crayons, chalkboard, wood pieces, etc....

 

I will continue 100 Lessons with DD and I just signed her up for reading eggs. She seems to love that.

 

I have bought the bible that LHTH recommends for 4 yo's. I plan to also buy the ABC Devotional. What do you think about the CD they recommend? I'm excited to get started on this. We work on things already, but this seems right up my alley. :)

 

If anyone has suggestions fr my daughter's motor skills, please let me know. She also has some sensory issues and we have meltdowns thanks to this. This is one of the many reasons I have decided to hs. I think she will thrive better with the people who understand her the most. I have a degree in Elementary education, but I have always been of the opinion that ps is not always a good option.

[Aurelia]

I can't comment on the HOD stuff, but for HWT, I think they have templates for the shapes in the teacher manual and you can put them on posterboard or foam core. I wouldn't get the flip crayons or chalk from them. Just break regular crayons and chalk down into one inch pieces and save yourself the shipping. I bought the chalkboard, but if you're strapped, get one from the dollar store and put a sticker in the upper left hand corner. It works just the same.

[hands-on-mama]

Thanks so much for your reply!

 

What is your experience with HWOT? Did it work for your child? It seems like such a good concept and I'm willing to try anything to help her succeed.

[edeemarie]

We used LHTH when my son was 4 and my daughter was 2 and they really enjoyed it! I didn't use the CD but would have liked to use it. I don't have any experience with HWOT but with a 4 year old I think she still has plenty of time to learn to write. Be careful not to try too much too soon because I have read that can develop into improper pencil grasp, which can cause problems later down the road. You can try one of those pencil grippers that slides on a pencil. My 3.5 year old is starting to work on his letters but we are doing things like finger painting, tracing letters and numbers with his finger, playdough, and if I get brave we may try some sand :) Hope that helps and best of luck on a great experience with HOD!

[hands-on-mama]

Thank you for your reply!

 

I think I will order the CD in a few weeks. I'm trying not to kill my bank account. Lol! I agree that she still has time for the writing. Maybe she's just not ready for it. I guess since I was trai Ed that kids should know to write before K that I tend to freak out. I may go ahead and get the roll a dough set and do all the hands on activities with her for now. We may save the workbook to stay in August. :)

 

I'm so glad you loved HOD! I can't decide if we will do MFW K right after since I already have it or move to LHFHG. I'll prob do MFW for k since I have it though and then do the next HOD guide. :)

[adventumacademy]

Just a thought on the wood pieces for HWOT, I personally don't think you need to spend the money on these. In the TM there are templates for the wood pieces. I used this to make my own. I made two sets - one set out of regular craft foam to be used on the floor/table etc and one set made from felt to use on our felt board. I will be using them with my ds in the Fall when he turns 4.

[hands-on-mama]

Are the templates in the kindergarten tm?

[adventumacademy]

Are the templates in the kindergarten tm?

 

Yes, I have an older version (2001) and it is on p.22. It tells you how many of each shape you need as well.

[hands-on-mama]

Yes, I have an older version (2001) and it is on p.22. It tells you how many of each shape you need as well.

 

Thank you!

[craftyerin]

No experience on the rest, but we use HWT pre-K and love it. I have the wooden letter pieces, capital letter cards, the chalkboard, roll-a-dough, and stamp-n-see, along with the workbook. My kids aren't into the stamp-n-see, but we use the rest regularly. Ditto the others on cutting up your own sponges and breaking your own chalk for the wet-dry-try on the chalkboard. I'm glad I bought the wood letter pieces instead of making my own. At $33, they're worth it to not have to make them, IMO, although there is a template in the PK manual. There is also a template for eyes, nose, and hands for Mat Man. I cut them out of craft foam and my kids LOVE making him. Oh, I have the CD, too, but we almost never listen to it.

[hands-on-mama]

Thank you so much for your input! I think that I do want the wood pieces. I think she would work better with those. I may buy those with our next paycheck.

[craftyerin]

I read through the other replies (should have done that before I posted the first time!) and I agree with the mama who said not to push too hard on the pencil-to-paper writing. The beautiful thing about HWT at the PK level is that it is mostly manipulative. We do the letter as many ways as we can think of without writing--wood letter pieces, paint bags, roll-a-dough, in a tray of rice, etc. before we get out the chalk or pencil. They love writing, and I think it's mostly because I let them play with letters so much that it's in no way a chore. One of mine has a nice pencil grip (the near 5yo). My near 4yos have issues. My daughter wraps her thumb (we're working on it) and my son still likes to hold his pencil in a fist. He really resists a tripod grip. Again, we're working on it, but slowly. We've actually decided not to do the workbook at all until we've been through and "learned" all the letters just with the tools above. We'll do the workbook pages on the next pass through.

[Ecclecticmum]

It may repeat some things from what has been mentioned here, but this is a blog post I wrote last year

 

Handwriting Without Tears - Cheap DIY Alternatives

 

Has ideas, links to templates etc

[hands-on-mama]

Awesome blog post!

[longnightmoon]

I'm also using HWOT with my oldest dd and it's going well. I really like the sequencing of the pre-K books. My dd also has sensory and fine motor issues and still uses her fist to hold her pencil. Have you used a pencil grip? We were using The Pencil Grip for awhile without success but started using The Writing Claw and it has helped quite a bit. It's $2 at our local teaching supply store. You might give it a try.

 

HTH and good luck!

[kesmom]

We found that we used the stamp + see screen more than the other items we own (slate and wooden pieces). We have barely touched the wooden pieces but I am going to hang onto them. My younger kids might get more use out of them and then I will probably still sell them easily.

[ALB]

We LOVE the cd! I do think its a bit pricey, but its been worth it for us. I would add HWOT to LHTH if they are ready. We didn't add it when we did it, because my ds wasn't ready yet. We did it at 3, but if we had started it at 4 I would definitely have added HWOT. I might even add ETC primers if they are ready for that.

 

We had a lot of fun with LHTH. We didn't follow it exactly as written because some days didn't have quite enough to keep us busy. So, we doubled up the days pretty often. My dc really liked the ABC Bible Verses book, and the Family Time Bible.

[hands-on-mama]

We have already started the ETC primers. I forgot to mention that. I will wait until August to fully start HWOT. That will give me time to buy everything I want. Also, I work full time during the summer only, so it will keep us from losing what we learn. Once we complete LHTH, I will move her into MFW K. I haven't decided which series we will stick with for 1st though. I'll decide once we make it through both.

 

I think we're going to do Math u see when we do MFW K.

[PeterPan]

Haven't read your whole thread, but have you gotten an OT eval yet for her sensory and fine motor? There's definitely some stuff you can do there. I suggest you head on over to the SN and post about it. Long story short, she might need some foundational stuff before she's ready to write. I wouldn't push the writing, because you'll only get bad handwriting as a result. Instead work on the root issues (core strength, not weight-shifting onto the support arm, low tone, no proprioception in her hands, etc.). There are specific things the OT can give you for those. The ladies on the SN board can point you in the right direction.

 

I also think with a kid with sensory it's important to build sensory/OT activities into your day and your school budget. To me a single line swing is an important investment. I'm getting ready to replace ours, because the first one is dying from being used so much. Trampoline, PopArty beads, bins of lentils/rice/beans, anything for sensory. I'd get her eyes checked by a developmental optometrist, just because it's in the mix of things that get affected in these kids. I had *2* regular optometrists blow off my dd's eyes before the developmental optometrist caught what was going on. By that point she was 10/11 and things had escalated and took a lot of time to fix. I always encourage people with SN to just go ahead and get the dc's eyes checked by the developmental optometrist, just to make sure it's not part of the mix. They can do a regular eval and just screen for the developmental issues. That way it costs the same as a regular optometrist but you're getting more info. You find them through COVD.

 

That OT eval would show you a lot. We did OT for fine motor, low tone, core, bilateral integration, etc. etc. and it definitely helped with her handwriting. The OT had us doing theraputty, things you would pop apart a certain way (the Pop Arty beads or unifix cubes work great), wheelbarrow (walking on hands), etc. She showed us how the low tone was affecting her posture and why it was causing the problems. And sometimes there are issues with proprioception such that they'll put on weights or attach gadgets to the pencil to give the body a sense of where the hand and the instrument are.

 

BTW, at some point you'll teach her to type. My dd was really struggling with QWERTY (the regular keyboard layout). We started working when she was 6, worked on and off with various software, and the more we worked the worse it got. Basically it was never going to be a reality for her. Too much fine motor, too much movement, too much crossing the midline. I switched her over to the Dvorak keyboard layout, which is a simple toggle in the keyboard languages section of your preferences on your computer, and the differences are DRAMATIC. Like she went from 8-14 wpm at Christmas to now 38 wpm three months later. Can you imagine?!?! No one talks about this, but it was HUGE for us. Typing, because of the fine motor, because that's just not a strength for her, was never going to happen. Dvorak rearranges the keys and keeps all the most common keys on the home row, meaning they don't have to move up and down so much, cross the midline, etc. They literally just leave their fingers on that row and most of the typing happens. Just something to think about, because in a year or two I'm sure you'll be looking at typing. And for software, we use Mavis Beacon, which has Dvorak lessons.

[hands-on-mama]

Thanks so much for your help.

She has a ped appointment next month and I plan t discuss my concerns with the doctor then. I just hope OT will be more helpful than ST was. I know my doctor will send her without a doubt. They mentioned it at her last appointment but said to give her a little more time if I wanted. I decided to wait because she just seemed so young last year. She's matured a lot since that time.

 

I love my daughter for who she is. I worry about her so much though. I just want her to feel successful and loved. We strive to praise accomplishments in my house. There are NO small accomplishments here. It's really hard though when my 2 year old can hold a pencil better than my 4 year old.

[Dustybug]

I have used LHTH twice and we have really enjoyed it. My kids STILL listen to the CD, so I would definitely recommend purchasing it as well.

 

My oldest DD actually went through LHTH two times. She went through it once when she was three with the younger option Bible and devotional and then the next year, she went through it again when my DS started it. He used the younger bible/devotional and she used the older option bible/devotional and I added in supplemental workbooks and phonics. We loved it. It's on my shelf waiting for my youngest to be ready for it! :D

[cagirlintexas]

HWT is amazing! I used the PreK version to teach my son his capital letters this year. He is doing really well with it. He has issues with fine motor and it has helped him a bunch. I have also used it in the classroom with special ed kids and it worked amazingly well. I mainly do the chalk board and work book but have used the cd and wooden pieces too. I still sing the song "where do you start your letters" when he tries to start them from the wrong place. Also the mat man activity really helped him learn to draw a person. We are now working on the K program. I really really love this program!

[hands-on-mama]

Thanks so much for all the responses! I just got my LHTH guide in the mail. I plan to start it Monday. I'm going to go ahead and order the CD as well. I'll get the younger options soon for when my youngest turns 3 in the fall. I'm just going to let her listen in with big sister for now.

 

I'm glad to hear such good reviews on HWT. I'm hoping it will be just what she needs. I'm not starting the workbook until the fall though. We're going to play with manipulatives until then.