A Reason for Handwriting vs. Handwriting Without Tears

[laurabelle1317]

Can someone tell me about the K workbook for A Reason for Handwriting? I saw a few sample pages, but it wasn't many online. It says it is a Creation theme. I like the idea of writing out verses, but that doesn't come until the A book. Ultimately, I am deciding between A Reason for Handwriting and Handwriting Without Tears. I can not decide because HWOT sounds great from others and I think my son would love the CD songs that comes with it. But I like the Scripture basis of ARFH and it also gets pretty good reviews. Though if the K book is just Creation theme and revolves more around animals, I could go with HWOT first and then possibly do ARFH when he is ready for the sentence handwriting with the Scripture.

Thoughts??

Laura

[MamaPajama]

I have used both. I wasn't really impressed with HWOT, though I know a lot of people who love it! The wooden manipulatives are fun, and the CD is nice, but I don't know...it just didn't grab our attention. I really like A Reason for Handwriting. You're right, K doesn't do any type of verses. It's just letter practice. But my son really responded to the treehouse method. (For example, a lowercase "t" starts at the roof, goes down to the floor, and then crosses at the ceiling.) I think another reason we prefered A Reason is because stick and ball method makes more sense to both of us, and the two lines in HWOT drove me crazy!

[laurabelle1317]

Yeah, I don't like the idea of the 2 line method.

What is the stick and ball method? I haven't heard that term. Is it the same as 3 lines? (2 regular lines and a dotted line in the middle?)

[laurabelle1317]

Okay, I looked it up. I know what stick and ball is.

Does A reason for Handwriting use 2 lines? I hope so.

I like the sound of the treehouse method...better than magic C or whatever HWOTs has. But I also think he would respond really well to the CD as he is a very auditory learner. But like I said, I too don't like the 2 line method.

Hm...

Still would love to hear what others have to say too!

[MamaPajama]

A Reason uses the traditional paper, with the two solid lines and a dotted line in the middle. Maybe it's just because that's the way I was trained, but I definitely prefer it!

Also thought I'd mention, you can totally use the CD with any handwriting program. One of my kids' favorite songs is ♫ "Where do you start your letters? At the top!" ♫ Some of the songs might not fit, but for the most part they do. You can also use their idea of playdough letters without needing to buy their roll-a-dough set (plus somebody told me the dough was stinky ) And since we already bought the wooden pieces, my kids use them to build roads for their Hot Wheels. Ha! But I might donate them to our church whose preschool also uses HWOT.

[laurabelle1317]

Thanks for the info! I did wonder if the Cd could be used with another program. Though one example of a song made it sound like it wouldn't be able to. Something to think about then.

Still deciding, although I think I may go ahead and try A Reason For Handwriting, knowing that then, after the K book, we can enjoy the verse writing! I found them online inexpensively. If it doesn't work for us, then we can always switch over to HWOT. I didn't even know about ARFH until I looked to see what Carrie recommended. My son is going to start LHTH but is enjoying handwriting practice so I'd like to get him going with that too.

[Heather]

I will be the voice of support behind HWOT. We love it here! My boys (age 7 and 9) came home from ps two years ago with horrible handwriting habits. They made many letters incorrectly and lacked consistent spacing. I researched all the handwriting programs and chose HWOT because it is multi-faceted in its approach. Also, because it was developed by occupational and physical therapists. It hits the visual, auditory and kinesetic learner. To me much like HOD does!

I started my 4 year old on HWOT right from the beginning to learn correct habits. He has loved the hands-on approach to learning letter formation. Personally I love that it is so much more than a workbook. The fact that is doesn't have the kids copying scripture is not a deterrent to me at all. I can always have them copy verses using HWOT writing anytime.

Someone had mentioned the "magic c". I think that idea is genius. It has helped my kids learn the correct way to make c, g, d, q and o. It may seem a little silly, but the verbal queues in the program are really helpful to learn correct formation.

Heather

All this to say, I've never used A Reason for Handwriting. It probably is a great program, too! I just liked how full and rich HWOT is in their approach.

[birchbark]

We have used HWOT and love it. I also recently bought Startwrite software which includes the HWOT font (among several others) and use it to make our own handwriting sheets with Scripture or quotes or whatever we want. I only wish I would've gotten it sooner!

[laurabelle1317]

What is the difference between HWOT and ARFH fonts??

[MamaPajama]

What is the difference between HWOT and ARFH fonts??

Like I mentioned earlier, ARFH uses stick and ball. I'm not sure if the font in HWOT has a name, but it's not the same. It's less structured. Gosh, I know that doesn't help.

I don't think it really matters which program you go with. I guess if it were me and I had to do it all over again, I would start with ARFH and see how it goes first, only because the book is so cheap. Then I would move on to HWOT if my child didn't take to it because it can get pretty pricey with all the manipulatives. HTH!

[laurabelle1317]

I wouldn't purchase all the manipulatives. Just the workbook, teacher guide, and CD. A lot of the manipulatives I already have or can make at home or do without it seems. But yes, purchasing all of those WOULD be pricey!

So yeah, before reading some of the responses, I didn't realize the programs used different fonts.

Laura

[blessedwith2]

Just a few thoughts on handwriting...If you decide to use HWT, I highly recommend purchasing the wood pieces. They really help cement the HWT formation of letters for young children, especially for those children that are tactile or kinesthetic learners. If, however, you don't have the budget for the wood pieces, the pattern for the wood pieces is in the teacher's guide. So, you can use the pattern to make your own big line, little line, big curve and little curve out of whatever material you wish (foam sheets, sandpaper, etc.)

In my experience, ball and stick formation of letters can lead to "disconnected letters". For example, lowercase a may look like a lowercase o and i instead of the letter a. In HWT style, they teach writng lowercase a as a "magic c" letter, that starts with c, travels stright up and back down to "bump the line".

With that said, handwriting style is a very personal choice. Regardless of the style you choose, the most important things to remember are that you


demonstrate how to hold the pencil correctly,
demonstrate how to write the letters for your dc,
use consistent langauage when teaching how to write the letter,
try to avoid using "dashed or dotted letters" for tracing (try a gray crayon or highlighter to make letters for your children to trace instead - dashed letters can be confusing), and
watch that your dc write the letters the same way every time as they are learning, or they may develop habits that are hard to break!

A little extra effort when you are teaching can save a lot of time down the road, especially where neatness and reversals are concerned. Teaching capitals before lowercase letters is also a good idea, since it is more developmentally appropriate and also allows time for children to learn good habits without having to worry about size or too many different strokes. (Capital letters all start at the top and are are all the same size; capital letters only require four basic strokes.)

Also keep in mind recent research on the use of italic/D'Nealian letters or cursive taught before print. In some cases, using any of the above instead of standard manuscript first has been shown to interfere with children learning how to read, since they are having to learn two very different appearances of the same letters while trying to learn to read. In addition, there has been no research to support the claim that italic or D'Nealian creates a smoother transition to cursive, as was the orginal intent of creating these handwriting fonts. They are pretty, though!

Some children never have problems with D'Nealian or cursive first, but some may. Some children (especially girls) may add their own style to whatever style you teach them, and that's okay, too, if it doesn't interfere with legibility. But when teaching how to write, sometimes it's better to go with a more basic style to help prevent reversals and then when they are confident in their writing, they may add their own "curliques" and such.

Also, I have never used A Reason For...Handwriting, but I have looked at sample pages. They use some dashed letters. A simple solution would be for you to trace over the letter with a gray crayon, showing your child how to properly write the letter, and then let them trace over your tracing.

Hope this helps!

God bless!

Delia

[laurabelle1317]

Wow, Delia! Thank you!! That was such a detailed response! I didn't even realize that was you until I got to the end!

I still waver back and forth but...I'm thinking my son would respond better to HWOT. I think my son will respond better to HWOT because of the songs really. The music would serve as another authority, other than me, letting him know how to form his letters. And he is such an auditory learner that I know he would love the songs.

Do I need to buy some extra double lined paper? Or is it somewhere in the book where I could just photocopy it?

[laurabelle1317]

Thanks everyone for giving your opinions. I know it isn't specifically a HOD topic, though related since I was asking about their handwiriting recommendation. Thanks for all the help though!

So I'm thinking about this for my HWOT purchase, if that is indeed what I decide on:

- Kindergarten workbook
- Kindergarten teacher guide
- Kindergarten CD
- Writing paper???? (if I need this?? the regular writing paper or draw and write paper???)

I'll make the wooden pieces for us using the templates.

Anything else I should consider purchasing? Budget is an issue.

[3musketeers]

laurabelle1317,

Another small plug for HWWOT's. I have used it with 2 of my boys through cursive. One that struggled with fine motor skills and one that excels in that area. Just wanted to say the extra paper is not necessary. I easily explained how to transfer the same ideas from our workbook to regular three lined paper by demonstrating that the regular paper simply adds a line at the top. My kiddos understood this at a very young age. Since budget is an issue, you would then be able to get your paper with your other school supplies at your local fav place. You'll do fine with regular 3 lined paper for copy work when using HWWOTs. I made my own wooden pieces by cutting them out of sturdy foam sheets I bought at Walmart. Another helpful HWWOT $ saver. Though, I do recommend the little chalk board.

All that to say, Reason for HW is also a solid program. I don't think you could go wrong with either one. We also loved Cheerful Cursive for review!!!

Blessings,
Cindy