BLHFHG - handwriting practice?

[19kimmy79]

I'm planning on using Beyond with our two children in the fall. Our daughter (entering 3rd) will be having her daily helping of learning from Beyond beefed up a bit, while our son (entering "1st") will be having his daily helping toned down here and there. This will be our son's first "official" year of school here at home and, really, period. We've done some relaxed learning up until now but not much (read: NONE!) handwriting practice. So my two questions are specifically:

1. Does Beyond provide some sort of daily handwriting practice? I don't notice a specific program that comes included in the packages but since I don't yet have our books, I'm not sure if there is a daily practice lesson included. Did all of the initial handwriting learning happen in Little Hearts?

2. Any suggestions on a program that a new writer would enjoy? We used A Reason for Handwriting for a bit this year but it was a bit too confusing for him (Read: for MOM!) to constantly refer to the specific ways that program teaches to write (I.E.: draw a line from the rooftop to the basement.)

If it helps, our son does know how to form his letters, albeit mostly in caps but isn't up to snuff on lowercase.

Thanks a ton, ladies!!!

[Melanie]

Hi Kimmy!

The handwriting in Beyond is practiced through the copywork of the poetry and spelling. I'm thinking that by the time they reach this level, it is assumed they have had a formal program already, so that's why there's not a book specifically for handwriting.....but, there's no reason you can't throw one in!

We had great success with Handwriting without Tears.
HTH, Mel

[19kimmy79]

I am still quite new to the wonderfully-wide-world of homeschooling so I had forgotten about Handwriting w/o Tears. Thanks for your suggestion! There are so many choices out there that I don't think I could ever make a decision w/o first hearing from someone else (or many someone elses) about their experience. Thank goodness for boards like these to connect on!

Thanks, again.

[Jen in Va]

We had great success with Handwriting without Tears.
HTH, Mel

We did too! I just used the first book in order for my son to get the letter formations down--I would think you could use My Print Book or whatever that title is can't think of it right off and then go into the copywork. I started off after the HWT book by just dictating a word to him--'cat' for example and he would decode and write it out. I did this because he loves spelling out words. Way better than slogging through a handwriting book once he had the letter formations down. Now I will dictate words or write out a sentence from his reader and he copies it. I try to stay right with him to head off any problems I see in letter formation or pencil grip. Better to get them before they become habit. I bet if you got the HWT book, he could work his way through it this summer and be ready for the copywork when you start Beyond in the fall.

[Melanie]

Jen - that's exactly how I did it, too! Great minds......

That would be my recommendation as well. Just do one of the books, My Print Book (the 1st grade one, I think it's orange??) would probably be best, and I would also recommend getting a teacher guide for at least one level. The guide really helps to understand the method and gives some handy tips for better writing/grip/paper positioning....etc.

We finished the book in just a few months, and went straight into copywork very smoothly. My kids did not have a problem at all with the different style of lines. I've only heard that from a few moms (very few) that they had trouble going from the HWT lines to regular lines.

I agree with Jen.....work on it this summer and you'll be ready for copywork by fall. (fingers crossed for ya! )
Mel

[MamaMary]

Hi Kimberly....., I am so glad to meet you! We are using Beyond and I have to tell you what I am doing. W2W gave me this idea. I am using a program called "Start Write".

You can try a trial and if you like it, you only pay 39.95.

http://www.startwrite.com

You download the program to your computer and you can type ANYTHING you want your child to practice writing. You can choose, ball and stick, italic, cursive. You get to pick the SIZE of the letters.

You can start by simply having them practice their "ABC's", but I use StartWrite to type out the boys spelling words in a very large font. They trace them, cut them and glue them to 3x5 index cards.

I also have them practice their copy work. I just type out the poem we are working on and they trace it. As they get better you make the font lighter and lighter. Sometimes I have them trace one sentence and then leave the line below blank and have them write it all by themselves.

I wish I had used this all those years ago when I first heard about! THANK YOU w2w for encouraging me to try it

HTH,
Mary

[Carrie]

Hi, Kimmy!

I just wanted to welcome you to the boards. The ladies are giving you such helpful advice! We're glad you're here.

Blessings,
Carrie