Handwriting without Tears for DS 5.5 - what do I get?

[hypechick]

I'm a true blue homeschooling newbie.  I'm interested in HWOT but I'm not sure what to buy.  DS is writing capitol letters with all words he writes.  He's never had to write on lined paper but understands the concept of writing from left to right in similar size letters.  While he can read and recognize lowercase letters, he's isn't comfortable writing them.  Fine motor skills isn't is strongest strength. 

So, what should I buy for him?  K or 1st grade workbooks, teacher manuals, cap wood pieces, chalkboard?  Are there wood pieces for lowercase letters?

I appreciate all the wisdom that you experienced homeschoolers share.

Felicia

[sleet76]

I'd say to start with just the K workbook and go from there.  It covers upper and lower case, and if it is easy for him, he will move through it quickly, but it covers the formation of all the letters in both cases.  The first grade book also covers the formation of letters, but in a quick review way, and has short sentences and lots of words on a page for the writing.  I have the wooden letters and have never used them.  I have really not found any use for any of the products other than the workbooks and the short pencils.  

Oh--I have one daughter who has worked through the K-2 books and the first cursive book, and one son who has completed the K book.  I have a 4-yo who has been puttering in the preschool book for a few years when he wants to "do school" with the bigs.  

[sleet76]

Oh, I've also not used the teaching manuals.  They may be great--I've never even seen one, though.  I think the workbooks are sufficient to show both me and the kids how to form the letters in the WHOT style.  I can't imagine what the teaching manuals would be useful for, but I'm sure there is much there that I don't know of.  

[PGTlatte]

Honestly I looked through the HWOT materials twice and tried to convince myself to use them but I truly hated them and they did not make sense to me at all.  I ended up using a program that is not well known to homeschoolers.  It is called First Strokes Handwriting.  It is marketed for teachers and therapists to help with dysgraphia.  It turned out to be a wonderful program for our son.

http://www.thehandwritingclinic.com/Shop/

Right now it looks like they don't have single copies of the lower case workbook I used for him on their website.  If they will still offer the single copies of the multisensory workbook upper and lower case, it was perfect for him. 

Edited by PGTlatte - 7/18/11 at 11:59am

[Mere]

I like HWOT.  I found it to be inexpensive, quick, simple and effective.  I never bought any of the teacher manuals, but I did buy a few of the other accessories.  The wooden letter pieces are okay, and good for my preschooler.  What was really great for ds1, however, was the little blackboard with chalk.  I'd write the letter with chalk first and he'd trace it with his finger.  Then I'd use a little dampened sponge to erase the chalk letter, and using his own piece of chalk, he'd trace the erased line I made with the sponge to re-form the letter.  Of course you could use any chalkboard with that, but I think theirs was pretty cheap at the time ($3 or so?) so it's not a big investment.   

[Savoir Faire]

I'd say go with K...we don't really use any of the teachers workbooks. (Sigh. Maybe I should.) I have one with slow fine motor skills, too. You're really going to make sure you sit with him while he does this so that he doesn't get any bad habits (which mine had)...

Good luck!