HANDWRITING
Handwriting
can be difficult for some children. I, personally, have
trouble with the "act" of handwriting and so
did my son; therefore, I have a lot of compassion for kids
with this problem. If you have a child who has difficulty
with handwriting, your emphasis should be on quality, not
quantity. Take about 5-10 minutes per day to teach basic
handwriting skills until they are mastered.
I
do not recommend doing a lot of written work in other subjects
each day if the child is struggling with handwriting. Instead
do the other subjects orally or with hands-on projects. This
will allow him to concentrate on learning about the subject
being taught rather than being frustrated by more handwriting
lessons. For those children who do not struggle with handwriting,
allow them to write all they want. Encourage them to keep
a journal, handwrite cards for friends, and experiment with
other forms of handwriting such as calligraphy.
I
suggest typing lessons as soon as your child can handle the
keyboard - for most children, this is about age eight. Have
your child who struggles with handwriting do his written work
on the computer as soon as he has mastered the keyboard.
My
favorite prepared curriculum for handwriting instruction is
A Reason for Writing by Concerned Communications.
I personally do not like to use slanted programs during the
learning-to-read years. My reason is that I feel it is confusing
to teach reading using books written in tradition manuscript
text while teaching handwriting using a slanted text. This
may not frustrate all children, but it will some. I recommend
that you use only the books necessary to teach your child
to write. You do not have to do handwriting every year. Once
they have learned, use their compositions for handwriting
practice. You also do not need the teacher's manuals. Here
is the order I would use this series:
Learning
the Alphabet, upper and lower case:
A Reason for Handwriting, Kindergarten
Learning
Manuscript:
A Reason for Handwriting, Manuscript, Student
Book A Grade 1
Transition
between manuscript and cursive:
A Reason for Handwriting, Transition, Student
Book Grades 2-3
Learning
Cursive:
A Reason for Handwriting Student Workbook C, Cursive
Grade 3
A
new product on the market is Handwriting
Without Tears. The main thing I like about HWT
is the idea of writing on two lines instead of three.
Many children have found this helpful. I've created these
free, reproducible, two-line handwriting sheets
for you to try on your child to see if it works for you.
These are Acrobat Reader (pdf) documents. Thin
lines. Med lines.
Wide lines. Handwriting
Without Tears also offers manipulative letters that might
help the Kinesthetic child.
Different
types
of handwriting styles.
Other
Handwriting worksheets1.
Make
your own Worksheets. Another worksheet
maker with
several styles.
More
information about handwriting struggles.
Free
handwriting worksheets at: http://penmanship.donnayoung.org/
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