Helping a child learn to write is a lot of fun. There are a few things you can do to help your student learn to write. First, make sure you help your child hold their pencil correctly. We have a fun Alligator trick that works well and children love for helping a child hold their...
These handwriting stroke cards will help your little ones learn the handwriting strokes used in the Handwriting Without Tears program. This packet includes all Upper Case letters (A-Z) and numerals (0-9). Use them as a handwriting helping tool. Your little ones can color the letter in the appropria...
Free printable lined handwriting paper to practice writing in kindergarten, first and second grade. Several designs to choose from!
The 2012-2013 school year was our first year homeschooling. I had a 5 1/2 year old and a just turned 4 year old and we were doing My Father's World Kindergarten curriculum. I loved the Biblical integration along with the phonics and science instruction, and the gentle introduction of math concepts through daily activities. There was only one thing I didn't love - the handwriting instruction, or, in my opinion, the lack thereof. While it included practice pages for each letter, along with instructions for how to form each letter, these were grossly inadequate for my child, who rarely picked up a crayon to color, and who's writing and drawing ability included drawing a line and a circle. He had never been to preschool. He was such a busy child who learned plenty through playing. He knew his letters and sounds before he was two years old. But he was never interested in coloring or drawing, and I never pushed it. I knew he'd learn to write in Kindergarten, and I was fine with waiting until then. However, once we started Kindergarten, I knew he needed more instruction. The curriculum, which began with practicing writing the letter S in the first week was NOT the recipe for his writing success. Immediately, I knew he needed an introduction to writing on three lines, and he needed to start by writing horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines on those three lines. As a third grade teacher I had used Zaner-Bloser handwriting curriculum, so I went to their website and ordered samples of their Kindergarten and First Grade books. Upon receiving them, I was happy to see that they began with learning to write horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines. From there it progressed to the letters L, I, T, etc. I could see right away that this was much more developmentally appropriate. However, the directions for teaching were still boring. It used the terms "horizontal, vertical, and diagonal" - new terms for my children who were also learning a new fine motor skill. I was looking for cute, kid-friendly descriptions...maybe even pictures of letter and numbers turned into characters to help children remember their formation. I remembered learning that kind of thing as a child who was learning to write. I searched the internet but didn't find what I was looking for....until I found Handwriting Without Tears. It had hands-on teaching materials that taught the components of writing, with child-friendly vocabulary (Big Line, Little Line, Big curve, little curve). For lower case letters, fun descriptions included phrases like "dive down," "magic c," "Slide down," and "Up like a helicopter." It also gave instructions which would help eliminate reversals, which is something my four year old was doing. However, by the time I was convinced it was what I needed, we were done with Kindergarten, and my child had already learned to write, for the most part. However, I like the HWT approach as it transitions into cursive writing, so I decided it was worthwhile to go back and teach HWT handwriting from here on out. However, I didn't want to purchase all their materials, so I found some ways to do it myself at home, with homemade materials and free printable from the internet. I want to use this blog to share what I have done. Here is a downloadable sample of Handwriting Without Tears alphabet poster. However, this sample can be printed on regular copy paper and laminated - a perfect size for homeschooling or one-on-one tutoring! Using materials I already had, (construction paper, magnet tape, a compass, a ruler, scissors and a laminator) I created magnetic pieces that would fit on our small magnetic white boards. This mimics HWT's Wood Pieces for Capital letters, their magnetic pieces, and magnetic board. These materials, along with their other hands-on products can be seen here. Homemade laminated letter pieces on our white board. Magnet tape on the back of the letter pieces. In place of HWT's chalkboards, I also created small white boards for teaching and practicing capitals and lower case. I used a 3 1/2 x 5 photo frame for the capitals, and a 5x7 photo frame for the lower case. These handwriting without tears products can be found here for capital letter board and here for lower case lettter board. Then, I found free printables to help with the teaching terms here. I put them, along with free printable practice pages I found online such as this one in plastic sleeves and bound them together with rings. I have also found the videos on HWT's website and on you tube to be very helpful in explaining their teaching methods. We enjoyed doing the Mat Man activity with my homemade pieces. (See this video). This also helped my oldest who couldn't seem to get beyond drawing people with arms and legs coming out of their heads! Mat Man pieces store in a plastic sleeve Our "Mat Man" I plan to purchase the workbooks and teacher's books on grade level, but for now I can get started with these items! (Update: I still haven't purchased the books, but am using these homemade materials with success!).
Students who need extra practice with basic skills will benefit from this number writing practic sheet. Download your free printable copy today.
This printable letter F worksheet includes four lines for practicing handwriting the letter F - two lines of uppercase F's and two lines of lowercase f's. There is also a section at the top that includes a picture of a frog your kiddos can color. Letter F worksheets like this one are perfect for kindergartners and first graders to practice letter formation and handwriting skills. They work great in the classroom or at home! To get the most use out of these handwriting worksheets, you might consider either laminating them, or using reusable dry erase pockets.
Did you know that great handwriting skills are crucial to kids’ success throughout their years in school? Writing skills are part of the foundation to
FREE Pre-Handwriting Practice Pages
One of our Alphabet Phonics Worksheet Packets. Here is what you get! 9 Printable Alphabet Worksheets. Children will work on letter recognition with these fun and engaging phonics worksheets. -5 Match the Uppercase Letter to the Lowercase Letter -1 Copy the Uppercase Letter -1 Copy the Lowercase Letter -1 Uppercase Fill in the Missing Letter -1 Lowercase Fill in the Missing Letter Prints 9 pages total. Designed by Teach At Daycare, Handcrafted Curriculum, in Arkansas City KS. Happy Learning!
When visual perceptual skills interfere with handwriting, students can be limited in copying skills, placing letters and words on lines, and in given spaces on worksheets. There are other red flags related to visual processing and handwriting. These challenges really impact legibility, letter reversals, letter size, and overall neatness of handwriting. While parents and teachers ... Read more
The most common mistake I see is #1 ... this is great advice for people teaching handwriting to kids in preschool and kindergarten. The tip about worksheets is so important. #handwriting #preschool #penmanship #kindergarten
Aloha friends!! I hope the new year is progressing well for you and that you are on track with your New Year goals and aspirations!! I can't say I have started all of mine yet, but I have a few that I am working on. I also have some health goals in mind that I plan on sharing soon! Today however, I wanted to share something that I have been meaning to create for a LONG time. I don't know about the students in your class, but by the time mine come to me they seem to have forgotten all of their letter formations. I am shocked by how many of my students struggle with showing me how to write their letters. I have placed tags on their desks and reviewed with them, but many still can't seem to remember where to start certain letters and how to use their dotted lines to help them have a nice even script. So instead of copying practice sheets for each letter I decided to create these little practice booklets to have my students review in a fun and simple way. Each page has two letters on it with proper formation. Students trace the letters and then practice on their own. I followed the same sequence as most beginning handwriting programs. The lower case booklets have letters and words to trace. Once they finish the lowercase booklet then you can give them the upper case. This booklet uses capital letters to reinforce Proper Nouns. I included a name, a place and sentences that begin with the particular letter they are working on. The booklets are really easy to copy and put together. Simply print out the 9 pages per booklet, fold in half and staple them. I have also included posters with each letter formation to display in your class or to use in a center for extra practice. I am really pleased with the way they came out and the kids are so excited to practice their letters along with neater handwriting. Well, my kids are excited because this booklet is actually an incentive to get them moving on to cursive. I have the same format for cursive writing as well. My second graders have always loved learning cursive at the end of the year. I previously used a handwritten booklet that I had created and it was finally time to update that one too! So once my students complete their manuscript practice neatly and correctly, then they get to move on to cursive. I'd say it's a win win! Since I was on a roll I also created a set of these booklets in D'Nealian handwriting. D'Nealian is a great way to prep kids for cursive writing. I am working on a D'Nealian cursive booklet and should have it listed soon. You can grab any or all of these in a bundle in my TpT shop. Click here--->Handwriting Booklets to check them out. Mahalo for stopping by and I look forward to sharing more ideas and aspirations with you soon!
FREE CURSIVE HANDWRITING WORKSHEETS (instant download)
There are some kids out there who absolutely HATE handwriting. Let me re-phase that. There are a ton of kids who completely despise to their core the act of working neat handwriting, pencil grasp, slowing down so people can read their words, and writing on the lines. A ton. I’ve worked with many (many!) kids ... Read more
Handwriting can be tricky to teach. Sometimes it must be done 1:1 with students, and it requires rigorous, thorough practice and follow through. Some teachers and administrators will tell you that handwriting really isn’t important, but I disagree. In kindergarten and first grade, we are
Free Printable Lined Paper {Handwriting Paper Template}. Kindergarten writing paper. Blank lined writing paper for handwriting practice.
Handwriting practice can be fun! Great handwriting activities for kids.
Searching for tips and tricks to help older students fix letter formation? Here is a list of tried and true letter formation practice ideas to help your students get those letters fixed!
A Proverb a Day Handwriting Practice is a downloadable and printable set of handwriting pages that uses meaningful proverbs instead of arbitrary sentences.
Resources for left-handed learners is a constant request from readers. After getting another one earlier this month, I did some online research to find some left-handed handwriting pages to share. What I found {or didn’t find} was very discouraging. So I decided to do something about it and create some left-handed handwriting pages for printed letters. Today, ... Read More about Left-Handed Handwriting Pages {7 free!}
Here we are, at the end of the school year, and my kiddos have gotten lazy! They are writing fast and messy, with letters flying all over the page. It is time to slow down and remember how to form letters correctly and how to get them to use the lines appropriately. How can we do this with only 2 weeks left? Practice, Practice, Practice! You could even bribe them! I will be telling my kiddos that they will get a special prize if they can show me their best handwriting. And to do this I will keep track of it in their end of the year handwriting packet. Check it out: Click here to get your handwriting freebie!
Hands-on, meaningful learning resources and teaching ideas for primary students.
Quickly imporve your child's handwriting with these FREE HANDWRITING SHEETS! There are 48 fun handwriting worksheets included in this set. Download here!
You know when you are searching and searching and you just can't find what you are looking for? Well that is w
9 fun visual motor warmups on one page to perform before Handwriting activities. ...
Hands-on, meaningful learning resources and teaching ideas for primary students.
LEARN TO WRITE YOUR NAME It is so exciting when children become curious about how to write their name. I believe teaching them to write their name should be the first word they learn how to spell . It is personal, concrete and helps them realize that putting letters together in writing has me
Hi everyone! I'm Amy from Cahill's Creations and I'm here to share some tips on how to improve handwriting. I'm a kindergarten teacher and we are the foundation for teaching kids how to hold a penc
This printable letter A worksheet includes four lines for tracing the letter A - two lines of uppercase A's and two lines of lowercase a's. There is also a section at the top that includes a picture of an apple your kiddos can color. Letter A worksheets like this one are perfect for preschoolers and kindergartners to practice tracing and handwriting skills, and they work great for use in the classroom or at home! To get the most use out of letter tracing worksheets, you might consider either laminating them, or using reusable dry erase pockets.
FREE personalized name tracing sheet for preschool and kindergarten. Can be edited to include any child's name. Great for kids learning to write their name, as well as kids who need more handwriting practice.
