Handwriting Without Tears for PreK

[Anonymous]

Can anyone who is familiar with this program in a preK class let me know please about the pace of teaching letters? Do the children learn 1 letter per week or more? Thanks

[Anonymous]

It's a workbook and my child's class did it at their own pace. Worked on a page for 10 minutes or so. The teacher introduced the concepts to the whole class and then worked with each kid individually.

[Anonymous]

I'm glad my DC's preschools didn't use this. One preschool did a small amount of letter writing and used a more traditional system. I taught my DCs to write using Zaner-Bloser.

[Anonymous]

I think preschools start with teaching children to write the letters in their own names. I have heard of some doing a letter a week.

I wouldn't be surprised if handwriting programs were integrated into other learning - for example pre-reading skills. If so, I'd expect a preschool to separate out the vowels and teach them as a group. In other words, they might not do the workbook from start to finish in order.

[Anonymous]

Preschoolers shouldn't be doing workbooks! They should be playing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Preschoolers shouldn't be doing workbooks! They should be playing.

while I generally agree with this, I wish my play-based preschool would have worked more on holding pencils correctly and at least trying to write ... my first grader's printing is still illegible which impacts his ability to advance his writing skills in general because he gets so frustrated.

[Anonymous]

Handwriting Without Tears, now called Learning Without Tears, is a curriculum. Not a workbook. It uses a variety of materials, like wood pieces, playdough, chalk, etc. It is not a "letter of the week" program. Also, it is the curriculum that is the standard now in school systems in the area, so your child will get familiar with some of the materials and the general approach, which is good. If the pre-K teachers are genuinely familiar with the curriculum, then it is great. The program does have a pre-K workbook included, so if your teacher is leaving everything else included in the curriculum out and just handing the kids their books (which I am sure happens sometimes--teachers are busy) then it is not good.
PPs--note that the OP asked for info from someone who was familiar with Handwriting Without Tears.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Preschoolers shouldn't be doing workbooks! They should be playing.

while I generally agree with this, I wish my play-based preschool would have worked more on holding pencils correctly and at least trying to write ... my first grader's printing is still illegible which impacts his ability to advance his writing skills in general because he gets so frustrated.

This exactly. Getting to kindergarten not knowing how to hold a pencil and not having practiced at least writing most letters will really hurt them in early elementary. It evens out, but nothing wrong with doing it for a few minutes every day.
My preschool and our elementary school does this program -- its age appropriate.

[Anonymous]

I have used it for my 2nd grader because his handwriting was atrocious and he hated writing.

My friend is a preschool Montessori teacher and she told me that at this point just have him do mazes and color things with colored pencils. And also playing! In pre-K all they need to work on pencil grip and large arm movements to prepare them for writing.