heartofdakota.com

i was debating over handwriting books myself. i finally decided on the Handwriting Help for Kids (K)for my 4yr old daughter. i don't know if it would be too easy for your 5yrold . there is also a 1st grade book. we just do extra handwriting sheets from first-school site and some from tlsbooks.com. i am taking my 5 1/2 thru the same thing but more quickly. he had been writing but nothing formal. he doesn't always start where he should and so when we get to a letter i notice he does backwards, we practice it a little more. when i am sure he is writing the right way, we are going to use Universal Publishing Handwriting: We Write Our Own Words (1st gr). i think the "K" book is We Write Our Letters. is was only $4 something. so maybe if you want a book to practice that would work. just a few suggestions as i highly debated and searched. i can't remember if Rainbow Resource had a preview of Happy Handwriting.

Jenn

The handwriting in Abeka's k4 ABC Writing Tablet (manuscript) is smaller than ARFH K. It is a nice book also. You just have to make sure that you get the manuscript one b/c there is also a cursive one. There is a sample on their site. https://www.abeka.com/ABekaOnline/BookD ... ?sbn=60089 This is the link to the manuscript one with the sample on it.
We tried the Abeka K4 manuscript but it was too small for my son who needed more work on fine motor skills and is doing much better with the ARFH K. It really goes to show you that what works for one child may be totally different for another.
I'm sure moving on to the ARFH A after the ABC Writing Tablet would be easy.
Val

We did A Reason for Handwriting K and liked it. I know it has big lines, but that helps beginning writers so much, and it gave a nice transition into A. HOD also sells Italic as another good option otherwise.

In Christ,
Julie

Yay! I couldn't chime in earlier because I have no experience with ARFH but I am glad you have found what seems to be a perfect fit for her. Isn't it interesting how different each child's needs are? It makes homeschooling such a great method of teaching. Great idea to have her try out the different sample pages.

My daughter did not cotton ARFH-K either. The spacing was way too big so I turned to StartWrite and made my own handwriting sheets, but with smaller lines and more actual words for to write as she likes to write words not just letters. I'll probably use the ARFH-K with my ds, when he is at pre-school age and then use StartWrite for the rest of his handwriting lessons. It is wonderful that we have so many choices so that we can find the right fit our children.

Isn't it funny how different kiddos are! My 5 year old started out not enjoying handwriting, because it was tough for him to do! By the time we finished 'A Reason for Writing K", his penmanship was so dramatically improved that it shocked even him as he looked back through the book.

At the beginning of the year, his coloring on the pictures was less than stellar, yet as the year went on his coloring and decorating of the pictures became his favorite part of the day. At the end of the year, he couldn't bear to part with his 'K' book and kept it in his room over the summer to look through!

Blessings,
Carrie