Handwriting Without Tears.

 

Handwriting Without Tears has been in our homeschool from the very beginning. I had done research on how important handwriting actually is, and I like the Handwriting Without Tears way of teaching.

It increases brain activity, aids memory, and more. Studies have shown that the same paper written in two different handwritings, the neater one usually gets the better grade.

Handwriting Without Tears sent me their brand new editions of the 2nd grade workbooks and teachers manual. 

The Teacher’s Guide is $9.95

The 2nd Grade Printing Power workbook is $8.25

The combo of Printing Power and Kick Start Cursive is $10.25

For those of you who have never heard of Handwriting Without Tears, let me share a little bit of their teaching strategies with you.  They teach using multisensory techniques, along with a developmental approach. 

What all that means is that handwriting is taught by doing more than just repetitive writing.   Which is one of the fun factors of Handwriting Without Tears.

They teach using chalk boards, foam or wood letters, air drawing and the regular workbook practice.  As well as many other hands on activities.    None of these things are necessary to teach using the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.

 

They have an array of online tools, from letter forming videos to handwriting worksheet generators.

Handwriting Without Tears is fun for my daughter because of the language they use throughout the books. 

You teach what to next in a letter by saying things like “Frog Jump” or “Bump” and many more.  One of my daughters favorite things to do is the Silly Spelling Test.  That is where I give her a spelling word and I spell it for her.  (That way she just has to focus on writing it.)

 

 

The teacher’s manual can prove to be overwhelming at first because it is so chalk full of information. It is about 200 pages.  With the workbook lesson plans starting about page 42.  Keeping bulk of the information in the teacher’s manual, leaves the student workbook simple and fun for the child.

Here she is learning how to write the many different letters that begin with “Magic C”.

Each day we do one page, some days she needs me for the whole lesson (like on Silly Spelling days). Other days I just get her started and she can do the workbook portion on her own.  Something else Katey enjoys is that she corrects her own work.  When she is finished each day she chooses the best writing for that day and circles it.  That really motivates her to do her best work.

I appreciate the videos and other online teaching tools that are available with the passcode printed on the back of the teachers manual.  Katey loved watching and dancing along to the videos that showed her how to create the different letters. 

A cursive starter book is now available for the 2nd grade level.  We didn’t make it clear to that book yet, but I know once she is ready we will be using it. 

To see what others think of this check out this post. To see a wide variety of reviews check out our crew blog.

  

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.