handwriting w/o tears

[gardenmommy]

My DD's OT recommended that I try using this curriculum to help with DD's writing/phonics issues. She thinks it will help DD process/retain the information more efficiently, because of how it is structured, I think. I am not really familiar with it, but am certainly open to trying it. If you have any experience with it, I would love to hear what you think about it. Thanks.

[yllek]

My son (5 yo) has SPD, has weekly OT, a home program, and uses HWOT. We started with the kindy level, and he loved the music, the letter "blocks," and the slates. He still has trouble with formation, however. HWOT is obviously not a magic pill for kids with dysgraphia or dyspraxia, but many of the elements make the process of learning to write far easier than other programs, imo.

I am also following the format of the "handwriting club" described here:
http://www.readingrockets.org/article/6206

Typical Club Session Format and Sample Activities
Gross Motor Warm-up Activities (5 minutes)
Do jumping jacks
Do crab walk
Perform push ups on floor
Chair push-ups
Seated student places hands on either side of chair next to thighs.
Straightens arms and lifts bottom off the chair
Balance on one leg with eyes closed
Walk toe-to-heel on a masking tape line on the floor
Fine Motor Warm-up Activities (5-10 minutes)
Rub hands together
Squeeze tennis balls
Rub hands in circles on the carpet
Play with Wikki Stix
Build with small Lego blocks
String small beads
Roll clay between fingers
"Walk" fingers up and down the pencil
Letter Introduction (2-3 minutes)
The teacher models writing the letter on the board and describes the steps.
The students imitate by writing in the air using large arm movements and repeating steps aloud.
The students then continue to say the steps while writing on the table with pointer finger.
Guided Practice Activities (10 minutes)
Write on board (white or chalk) while wearing wrist weights.
Write on another student's back and have him or her guess the letter.
Write with:
Color change markers
Scented markers
Magna Doodle™
Battery-operated pens
Paint Chalk on sidewalk
Finger paint
Pudding
Shaving cream
Write in:
Clay tray
Salt, rice, or sand tray
Semi-independent Practice (5-10 minutes)
Students write in their handwriting books with teachers monitoring
Independent Practice Homework
Additional Activities
Writing for a purpose (i.e., make holiday cards or write thank-you notes)

This format, along with Therapeutic Listening and our other OT therapies, seriously makes a huge difference for us. It makes the HWOT far more accessible, and he can better organize his systems to make handwriting happen. Otherwise, his letters can be a serious jumble.

I'm also starting to incorporate some BrainGym activities to the mix.

So, I guess, my long-winded answer is, while HWOT is a good handwriting program, a child who has enough issues to require OT may need more than just that program.

[TanyaS]

We use HWOT for our children. It's been especially successful for my PreK dd. Looking forward to another year with it. I'm sorry I don't have extra input on the OT side of it.

[dakotablue]

for visual hands on learners I think HWOT is great. It is a great program, but a little more intense/ repetitive than some children would like. I wouldn't personally chose it as my first choice for a child who was doing well otherwise. That being said I have used it with many children on the spectrum and some other learning disabilities and it was fantastic, as the kids seeing and feeling the letters were better able to understand.

Not and OT, but worked with many as a behavioral/educational consultant.

[onyxravnos]

not to thread highjack but how is it with older kids? my 6th graders handwritting so beyond horrible...

[dotnetdiva]

We've used HWT and love it!

I didn't catch my daughter's improper grip at first, so we're still trying to work on that. My fault. Despite that, her handwriting is very neat, has gotten very small and she loves to write on narrow paper "like an adult". We're just starting cursive and trying to slow our HWT lessons down a bit, after racing through Pre-K through Grade 2 printing in a year and a half.

[gardenmommy]

DD is not severe, but is seeing the OT for SPD issues. She is a hands-on learner, and is having trouble with retaining what we've studied. Her OT was thinking that HWOT could be helpful, since it is very hands-on.

Yllek, I appreciate your input! I am going to check out that website, because it looks like there are lots of good ideas. I'm not looking for a miracle, but I am needing a new approach for DD. We've been studying letters and their sounds for 18 months (with several breaks, for various reasons), and she is still having trouble. Plus, her handwriting is not very good. She struggles with holding her pencil properly, tires quickly, etc.

I really wish that I could see it "in person", lol.

dakotablue, I think DD probably needs repetitive. At least, as long as it isn't the exact same thing for weeks on end, lol.

[yllek]

for you, gardenmommy (love your handle). I'm totally there with you.

I really do like HWOT, especially for kids with the type of issues that your dd and my ds have. The aspects that are "hands-on" that my son particularly liked were the letter blocks and the playdough tray. He also liked the wet-dry-try activity on the slates. The CD was a winner with both of my kids too. All of those experiences certainly provided a lot of inputs that helped my ds, but it just wasn't enough for him to get it.

I have just recently learned that asking our kiddos to learn to write their letters while they are also learning their letter sounds, learning how to use a pencil, learning the conventions of written language (spacing, line awareness, letter height, etc.) and so on, is just a bit much for them all at once.

If I had to do it over again, I would have my ds learn letter formation with sandpaper letters, a sand tray, paint in a plastic bag, a clay tray, airwriting, playdough snakes, wikki sticks, the HWOT letter blocks, chalkboard, etc. I would not bring a pencil into the picture at all until he was already fairly comfortable with how the letters are made. Then we would tackle writing the letters on blank unlined paper with a pencil. Only after his grip and formation was fairly consistent would I bother with lined paper. I would also teach lowercase letters before capitals. I know that HWOT feels strongly that capitals are easier and should be taught first, but ds has had a very difficult time transitioning from capitals to lowercase.

Were you able to find the sample pages on the HWOT website? If you need more info or pictures, pm me.

[elanorh]

We used it last year and liked it a lot. I wish I'd started earlier (this was for K, I'd already taught letters to my dd so we had to relearn patterns, I'd never taught her how to write the letters, just let her learn them and write them. They do have a PreK workbook too).

One thing I'd add is that the little Lyra pencils are awesome for early writing, for grip and ease of use (smaller for little hands, they're triangular and colored so they're also fun - they can do a page all in orange, or alternate colors for each repetition of letters, or whatever. )

[gardenmommy]

Originally Posted by yllek

for you, gardenmommy (love your handle). I'm totally there with you.

I really do like HWOT, especially for kids with the type of issues that your dd and my ds have. The aspects that are "hands-on" that my son particularly liked were the letter blocks and the playdough tray. He also liked the wet-dry-try activity on the slates. The CD was a winner with both of my kids too. All of those experiences certainly provided a lot of inputs that helped my ds, but it just wasn't enough for him to get it.

I have just recently learned that asking our kiddos to learn to write their letters while they are also learning their letter sounds, learning how to use a pencil, learning the conventions of written language (spacing, line awareness, letter height, etc.) and so on, is just a bit much for them all at once.

If I had to do it over again, I would have my ds learn letter formation with sandpaper letters, a sand tray, paint in a plastic bag, a clay tray, airwriting, playdough snakes, wikki sticks, the HWOT letter blocks, chalkboard, etc. I would not bring a pencil into the picture at all until he was already fairly comfortable with how the letters are made. Then we would tackle writing the letters on blank unlined paper with a pencil. Only after his grip and formation was fairly consistent would I bother with lined paper. I would also teach lowercase letters before capitals. I know that HWOT feels strongly that capitals are easier and should be taught first, but ds has had a very difficult time transitioning from capitals to lowercase.

Were you able to find the sample pages on the HWOT website? If you need more info or pictures, pm me.

Yeah, I would start teaching DD letters differently, too. I had no idea she would have this difficulty, or I would have done it just like you said. I am hoping that she will take off with some of the HWOT techniques. As far as lowercase vs. uppercase letters, DD doesn't have too much trouble with that; she does have trouble with flipping a lot of letters, among other things.

I have not had time to investigate the sample pages on their website, but have looked at some that her OT gave me.

Thanks for all your input, it is so helpful to hear from moms who are using it!