Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K Teacher's Guide

by Katiebeth P on 2010-11-30
I wish the HWT package had the cd in it. I want to follow the schedule in the back of the Teacher's book, but can't do some of the stuff because I have to wait for HWT to ship the cd. Slightly frustrating, but when I just went online to the HWT website, the cd looks like it's worth it. I'll re-rate the product after we've worked with it for a while.

by SANDRA P on 2010-02-17
This was both of my children's favorite school activity last year. I DID buy all the extras from HWT because my son (5-6 yrs. in K) had sensory issues and he could barely color a whole page of a coloring book (weak hands/fingers), and my daughter (4-5 yrs. adopted at 30 months) has learning/language delays. We had so much fun! They loved every part of the process - playing with the wood pieces/listening to the songs, making the letter with clay, using the stamp and see screen, the slate board, and we even used the bigger lined slate board with success. And the results were better than expected - everyone who sees my son's handwriting comments about how neatly he writes (including my mother-in-law), and he can now color for a long time. My daughter learned so many new words and is writing very nicely. The beauty of this handwriting curriculum is that you use the same words to form each letter, so children are not confused or overwhelmed. My daughter, who could barely carry on a conversation, was able to understand that an "A" starts at the top, in the middle. So she would put her crayon at the top/middle of the page, then draw a "big line sloping down to the bottom left corner", which by themselves would be A LOT of words to understand! But we used lots of manipulatives to *show* what the words meant as we built the letters with clay, wood pieces, a stamp and see screen, and drew them with chalk and crayons. And she understood it all! By the end of each week (we did a letter a week - I didn't really follow the suggested schedule in the teacher's guide), she could form the letter correctly and, because she had practiced forming the letter with manipulatives (clay, wood pieces, stamp and see screen), she wasn't intimidated to try writing the letter. Honestly, I can't say enough about this wonderful preschool handwriting curriculum. I hope Sonlight offers the other manipulatives (roll-a-dough letters and stamp and see screen) and music CDs. Some children may not need them, but I'm sure there are many who do. I wish this program had been around when I was homeschooling my older 3 children (now in college/done with college). My older daughter literally WAS in tears because of handwriting (and we were doing the bare minimum because she was struggling), even though she excelled in every other subject. When I realized my youngest son (the kindergartner mentioned above) had the same issues she had, I was THRILLED to find this program! It does cost more, but has been worth every penny!

by MARIA R on 2008-10-09
I was also a little frustrated that Sonlight would offer the HWOT and not offer any of the "extras". I did end up doing a google search and ordering the CD's seperately and I'm glad I did. The wooden pieces and chalk slate are offered through Sonlight.

by RACHEL M on 2008-08-21
This is a terrific resource. The problem with it is that Sonlight does not include (or even warn you) that it utilizes the spectrum of HWOT "extras", some of which are not even available from Sonlight. This book has activities that require "Get Set for School" sing along CD, wooden letters, mat, letter cards, Roll-A-Dough Letters, Stamps & Screen, and Slate Chalkboard. While some of this can be "worked around", you will have to do considerable prep and be comfortable singing without accompaniament!

by Stephanie L. on 2007-06-21
This book has been really fun for my 3 1/2 year old. She really enjoys doing "school." It is easy to use. The teachers book, if you actually read it, really gives a lot of ideas. I think it is a great lead in to the next book and its teacher's guide.