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According to its developer, a registered occupational therapist, Handwriting Without Tears is the only developmentally-based handwriting program on the market today. That means it pays attention, in a way that no other program we know does, to the developmental needs of people-of whatever age-who are trying to learn how to write.
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Designed to eliminate problems with reversals, spacing, placement, and letter and numeral formation. This program is included in the Newcomer 1 package.…
Recommended for ages: 6-8
6 7 8Learn more about the complete 1 Handwriting Package package and recommended resources
$26.45You could save $2.63
This program is a complete review of numbers, capitals, and lowercase letters. It is included in the Newcomer 2 package.…
Recommended for ages: 7-9
7 8 9Learn more about the complete Handwriting 2 Package package and recommended resources
$24.25You could save $2.41
Included in Newcomer 3 curriculum packages.…
Recommended for ages: 8-11
8 9 10 11Learn more about the complete 3 Handwriting Package package and recommended resources
$26.45You could save $2.63
Recommended for ages: 9-12
9 10 11 12Learn more about the complete 4 Handwriting Package package and recommended resources
$24.25You could save $2.41
Can-Do Cursive is for students still mastering cursive. Includes teaching tips, fun ways for students to practice cursive, cursive review and ideas for extra practice. Promotes writing skills with grammar, Greek-Latin, and composition.…
Recommended for ages: 10-13
10 11 12 13Learn more about the complete 5 Handwriting Without Tears package and recommended resources
$9.75You could save $0.97
We recommend this program for students ready to begin handwriting and include this in the Newcomer K package.…
Recommended for ages: 5-7
5 6 7Learn more about the complete K Handwriting Package package and recommended resources
$72.15You could save $7.19
2008 edition
Use this guide with the 2nd grade student workbook
Printing Power
2008 edition (approx. 2nd grade)
Consumable workbook. A complete review of numbers, capitals and lowercase letters.
2008 edition
Required Resource for using the Cursive Handwriting student workbook. Young writers learn the basic connections used in cursive writing.
2008 edition (approx. 3rd grade)
Consumable workbook.
2008 edition
Use this guide with the 4th grade student workbook
Cursive Success
2008 edition (approx. 4th grade)
Consumable.
(approx. 5th grade)
Can-Do Cursive is for students still mastering cursive. With cursive review and ideas for extra practice.
2008 edition (approx. 1st grade)
Consumable workbook. Designed to eliminate problems with reversals, spacing, placement, and letter and numeral formation.
2008 edition
Required Resource for successful completion of the Handwriting Without Tears Printing program. Includes specific, multi-sensory instructions for the My Printing Book student workbook.
2008 edition
Required Resource for successful completion of the Handwriting Without Tears Pre-Printing program. Provides an overview of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum, explains the philosophy and gives the developmental rationale for
2008 edition
Consumable. Uses multisensory approach to teach correct capital and lowercase letter placement and formation, correct number formation, consistent printing habits.
5" x 7" slate for printing letters and numbers.
Three-dimensional shapes are integral to the Handwriting Without Tears Readiness Program.
Foam mat, similar to a mousepad, for laying out the capital letter wood pieces.
Most of us don't think of these skills, but consider: good handwriting requires the ability regularly to distinguish certain shapes and to translate those distinct mental images into consistent physical motions in one's hand. It requires the ability to hold a writing instrument in a comfortable manner. It requires the writer to consistently follow certain well-defined, pre-prescribed motions....(There are more skills, but I just want to give you a taste.)
In keeping with its developmental concerns, Handwriting Without Tears offers extremely basic exercises in figure-ground discrimination and top-to-bottom, left-to-right sequencing. When it comes to forming letters, it begins with all the capitals.
(Why? Because, unlike, say, the lower-case p, q, b, and d, the capital letters are all very easy to distinguish. Kids don't mix them up. P, Q, B and D all look very different. Moreover, the capital letters are all constructed of only four distinct shapes, all four of which are relatively easy to write.)
Handwriting Without Tears uses a unique (in the United States) two- rather than three-line writing paper. (The author says that beginning writers who are taught using three-line paper often lose track of which lines they are supposed to be aiming for-and so their writing will often move (up and down) between, over and across the various lines. The two lines, by contrast, are easily distinguished, and each two-line pair is strongly separated from the next.)
Handwriting Without Tears has been wonderful! Both of my kids love it. The methods are engaging, easy to remember, and they help kids form neater letters. The very first day, with just the 2-line paper, my son's writing improved (I was surprised!). And, my children's writing doesn't look like Handwriting Without Tears, it looks like their own version. I got My Printing Book for both of them so I haven't used any of the other books yet. You can always change to a "prettier" style if you have a child who wants to put the time and artistry into making beautiful letters. But for methods — hands down, Handwriting Without Tears is the best.
— Merry, 17 May 2005
Note: If you choose the Handwriting Without Tears program, you will notice that they introduce letters in a different order than we do in the Instructor's Guide. This is on purpose since the handwriting program starts with the letters that are the easiest to write and progresses to those that are formed similarly.
When teaching letter sounds, we are preparing your child for reading. What is important to learn first for reading is not necessarily the easiest to learn to write.
Some of the potential advantages of Handwriting Without Tears:
Primary potential disadvantage:
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