Handwriting Without Tears provides a tactile, hands-on approach to handwriting. The methods employed work well with any student. It is particularly helpful for slow learners, students with poor motor skills or cognitive difficulties, or left-handed children. The methodology is designed to prevent or correct the reversal of letters.
This program is unique in several ways: practice pages use a two-horizontal-line format rather than the three-horizontal-line format which is typically found in writing programs, cursive has no slant and letters are formed using a very simple single-stroke, and it uses a multi-sensory approach to teach. Students will learn letter formation through visual, tactile, auditory, and kinesthetic activities presented in each lesson. Teaching and practice sessions are short, without a lot of meaningless busy work.
Each level of the program consists of a workbook and teacher guide. In the teacher’s guides, the “Introduction” and “Foundation Skills” chapters include information on the handwriting process, stages of learning, how to instruct handwriting, an explanation of the lessons, step-by-step instructions for activities, posture, paper and pencil skills, and a summary of the student workbook features. The back of each teacher guide includes a “Resources” section, which includes a handwriting record, remediation tips, instructions for making a “Magic C Bunny”, information on grade level and Common Core Standards, an index, and a chart of teaching guidelines. This chart can serve as a suggested schedule, or you can use it as printed for a completely structured approach. At the kindergarten level there is additional instruction for the use of the Capital Letter Wood Pieces and the Slate Chalkboard. Each lesson tells you what to teach, how to get started, multisensory activities to incorporate, which pages from the workbook you will use, what to say while teaching, and tips to help you teach more successfully. Small format student pages are included in the lessons for reference and convenience.
