Handwriting Without Tears

Unit: Handwriting Without Tears

Main Focus:  fine motor skills, basic understanding of fundamentals of handwriting

Have you heard of HWWT?  (Learn more about it here:  www.hwtears.com)  I love it and we use it at our center.  It really takes off in my classroom, as preschoolers begin "real writing" around that age.  I've done this unit a few times and now that we've had so many recent transitions in and out of the Tank, it's time to start from square one again.

I often wonder how my teachers taught handwriting when I was in preschool (20+ years ago).  I only went for a year and I know my teachers believed in play based learning, but I have no memories of learning to write.  My first writing memory is in kindergarten we had to write and memorize our phone numbers and I wrote the 4 backwards.  I remember writing 4's and R's backwards.

I don't get the opportunity to teach writing numbers, and I'm alright with that.  Teaching uppercase can be challenging enough.  Once the art order comes in, fingers crossed it's sometime this week as we finish up our fire safety unit, I'll feel more prepared.  We already have most of the HWWT materials like the wood pieces, Mat Man, and most of the Roll-A-Dough flash cards.  We usually don't get to the chalk board stuff.  I managed to order some play dough since the play dough we make in class is non-bake and usually ends up too dry or too oily and has to be thrown away by the end of the week.  I also ordered some plastic capital letters that I'm planning on throwing in a sensory table with various sized pieces of pipe cleaners so they can bend them into letters.  The plastic letters will also be used in a water table letter-fishing game.

More fine motor/alphabet activities:

Math:

• alphabet matching game
• letter pattern boards
• small groups to evaluate individual skills
• tweezer games

Dramatic play:

• label materials and where things go: STOVE, REFRIGERATOR, TABLE, CHAIR...

Science:

• make alphabet cookies (practice making either letters or curves and lines with dough)
• puzzles (including one of an alphabet train!)
• magnets

Questions:  Do you implement HWWT practices in your class?  What do you think of it?  If not, how do you teach handwriting?  Please share thoughts, ideas, additional activities/variations.  

Learning is the beginning of wealth.  Learning is the beginning of health.  Learning is the beginning of spirituality.  Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins. -Jim Roth