LHFHG handwriting - is it enough?

[avbprincess]

Handwriting is scheduled only 2 days per unit in LHFHG. I realize that because this is how Carrie has written it, then she believes that 2 days is sufficient practice/exposure for this guide. I want to ask all the moms who have used the curriculum if they think it is enough, based on their experience. Right now we are doing LHTH with daily letter writing practice (though it's very light: just one upper case and one lower case letter each day), so it would feel strange to drop down to only 2 days per unit. Also, we will be using LHFHG for the second half of K (LHTH for the first half) and the 1st half of 1st, and I'm particularly concerned that 2 days per unit is not enough for 1st grade. I could always add in a bit of letter practice on blank handwriting sheets on the other days, I suppose, but I'd love to just stick with Carrie's schedule if most moms find that it is enough practice for their children. What say you, moms?

Also, does LHFHG have any other exposure to letter writing besides the scheduled handwriting pages?

ETA: we will be using ARFH, but whether we use K or A remains to be seen.

[Molly]

My 6 yr old is doing LHFHG now. I am finding it more than enough writing but we are using the first grade option of Getty and Dubay's Italic B book. It is alot for them to do at one time, so you could always split it between two days if you wanted the more regular handwriting experience. However, there are other activities which require them to do handwriting although not so much as on handwriting days.

[Heidi in AK]

Remember, too, that in LHTH the focus is on letter recognition, while in LHFHG it is on developing the fine motor skills needed to produce letters in manuscript in preparation for cursive. My 5yo K-er has found the handwriting mixed with the "Do it Carefully" and "Finding the Answers" books to be ample fine motor preparation.

Most of all, I have had to trust Carrie's judgment. She has done such a great job with putting this together, and the buts and bytes seem to work in the grander scheme of things. HTH!

[MomtoJGJE]

For my child who did the 1st grade handwriting book in LHFHG it was enough to prepare her for Beyond... for my child who did the K level book, it was not, so we did the 1st grade book for the first half of Beyond (skipping the letter review at the beginning)

But it was more the amount/type of writing in each book that made the difference (words/sentences in the 1st, letters in the K)... the schedule was fine.

[avbprincess]

These responses are helping so far, thanks ladies! Molly, or anybody, can you give me an example of activities that require handwriting in LHFHG, other than the scheduled handwriting pages?

[Molly]

Once in each unit, they write a letter or something associated with the storytime. Often it is only their name and another word or two, but I imagine as the guide goes on they will do a little more, however I haven't checked. But I would imagine if you are really concerned you could do another writing activity of some description yourself each unit.

[Carrie]

Deanna,

The ladies are already doing a great job of answering you! I'll just pop-in to explain that there is much more to handwriting than simply practicing writing letters. So, while letter writing is one piece of the fine motor skills puzzle in LHFHG, we are also working on developing fine motor skills in many other ways.

The Do It Carefully/Finding the Answers or Thinking Skills workbooks alternate with the handwriting practice in the area of developing fine motor skills. So, there is daily practice there in either one resource or another. Also, the kiddos are writing in their math workbook daily, which also develops fine motor skills. Once weekly there is a cloze type passage in the Storytime box where the kiddos fill in blanks to practice writing common words (like the child's name). The art projects each week also work hard at developing fine motor skills in a variety of ways. Often the rotating activities each week also focus on developing either fine motor or large motor skills, so there is more practice in those activies. We work to develop a child's fine motor skills in a variety of ways each week, while making sure not to overly fatigue the child in this area on any given day.

We pray you will enjoy LHFHG as much as we have! If your child is writing letters already well, then you would want to select the grade 1 option for handwriting and if you are worried that the handwriting skills need to be more difficutl then choose Thinking Skills as you head into LHFHG.

Blessings,
Carrie

[avbprincess]

Carrie,

Thanks for responding, and I'm sure we will enjoy LHFHG when we get there! So, I'm now feeling good about the amount of handwriting scheduled in the guide, but I do have another question for you. My son will be less than 5.5, and will have written each letter (upper and lower case) only about 10 times when we start LHFHG, but I do think is letter formation is pretty good for his age now (4.5). Would using ARFH A be an option, maybe slowing it down and splitting one day's worth over two days? With ARFH A he'd get more practice, but I wouldn't make him write more in one day than he can handle. Or would sticking with ARFH K, and then using ARFH A in Beyond if needed be a better idea?

Also, my son is a lefty, so what's you opinion about how lefties should be taught to write horizontal letter lines (e.g. crossing a "t"): the usual left to right, or right to left, as some lefties prefer? Right now his left to right horiztontal lines can be quite wobbly. I really appreciate your help, especially as I know how busy you are.

Molly, thanks again for your response.

[MomtoJGJE]

ARFH-A has letter practice at the beginning. If you need to slow it down you can do half the work each day and still not add much time to your day that has the other FMS books because that's not very much work.

As for lefties... take this with a grain of salt because handwriting is NOT something I'm overly concerned with. My two oldest are lefties. I've shown them the proper way to make letters. When they did their handwriting books I made them make the letters properly. They now write letters that look perfect (when they are taking their time) but are not made in the SLIGHTEST like I told them to I don't stress about it though. I figure if that's the way they are writing the letters, and they look like the letters, then it must be a better way for them. I also have started to notice other left handed adults, and they do their letters the same way my kids do, so it must be something that is just natural for them to "correct" on their own. I have not noticed this with my #3 who is right handed. She writes letters the proper way.

Now, my oldest went through Bigger last year and did cheerful cursive. She writes cursive letters/words properly. I'm really interested to see if DD2 does the same thing. I'm guessing it's harder to change the way they learn the letters in cursive because of the connecting.