If you liked the original Handwriting Without Tears series, you’ll love the extra instruction and practice that the 2^nd edition offers. The methods employed work well with any student. It is particularly helpful for slow learners, students with poor motor skills or cognitive difficulties, or left-handed children. The methodology is designed to prevent or correct the reversal of letters. This program is unique in several ways: practice pages use a two-horizontal-line format rather than the three-horizontal-line format which is typically found in writing programs, cursive has no slant and letters are formed using a very simple single-stroke, it uses a multi-sensory approach to teach. Students will learn letter formation through visual, tactile, auditory, and kinesthetic activities presented in each lesson. Teaching and practice sessions are short, without a lot of meaningless busy work.

Each level of the program consists of a workbook and teacher guide. This is different from the original version of the program, which had a teacher guide for every two levels combined.

Each teacher guide now includes more background and teaching information with greater detail. A “Getting Started” section includes information on the handwriting process, stages of learning, how to instruct handwriting; an explanation of the lessons, step-by-step instructions for activities; posture, paper and pencil skills, and a summary of the student workbook features. In the back of each teacher guide is a section on how to identify difficulties; strategies for writing skills; how to work with left-handed students; and a chart of teaching guidelines. This chart can serve as a suggested schedule, or you can use it as printed for a completely structured approach. At the kindergarten level there is additional instruction for the use of the Capital Letter Wood Pieces and the Slate Chalkboard. Each lesson tells you what to teach, how to get started, multisensory activities to incorporate, which pages from the workbook you will use, what to say while teaching, and tips to help you teach more successfully. Small format student pages are included in the lessons for reference and convenience.

Student workbooks still have the horizontal pages in Kindergarten through 3. Grade 4 has been changed to vertical pages. More pages have been added to each workbook, thus more practice. You will still have the same great practice pages which were in the original version, but page layout has been changed slightly to allow for more practice per page. Activity pages have been added to reinforce other language arts activities while promoting meaningful practice. Students learn to write sentences, poems, dates, letters, week days, paragraphs, and more at the different grade levels. Workbooks still include large step-by-step illustrated directions, and students copy just one model at a time with left to right directionality. Continuous review is still incorporated throughout the black and white pages with plenty of room for the student to write on. Students are even given opportunity to practice on other styles of lines. You might notice a change in some of the words and sentences used on the practice pages, and some sketches have been redone to look more realistic.

Can-Do Print and Can-Do Cursive are additional workbooks that could be useful for older students, 5^th grade and up. These books facilitate transition to regular notebook paper, promote writing skills with grammar, Greek-Latin, and composition. Books give a quick review through letter formation with extra attention given to harder letters. Can-Do Print is for the student who prefers to print, but needs additional practice. Content is the same in both books, but focus is on print and cursive respectively. These are stand alone workbooks which require no teacher guide. Instruction is included in the workbook, so students can work independently.

The Draw and Write Notebook, Writing Notebook, and handwriting paper were created in response to parents who wanted blank pages with the unique “double lines” used in this writing program. The first has wide double lines, and the latter has regular double lines. The Big Sheet Draw and Write Paper is a pad of 100 sheets of paper, measuring 11”x 17”, which has the wide double lines on the bottom half of the sheets, and blank space on the top. My Journal is for grades 4+ and provides a 48 page journal with the unique narrow double lines from top to bottom on each page. These little extras provide students with paper for stories, journaling, or writing practice.

Customer Reviews

 
Holly S. from Oklahoma wrote the following on 07/10/2006:
Contained in a 7"x11" (1-inch-deep) sturdy cardboard box, this set includes eight 10" long sticks, six 5" short sticks, six large arcs and six small arcs - they are all 1" wide. The plywood pieces are smooth but not varnished, about 3/16" thick. They fit perfectly on the 8.5"x11" HWT Capital Letter Cards. You will want the 8.5"x11" HWT Blue Mat, too. Our daughter uses a Page-Up to hold the card while she constructs the letter on her mat. Younger children could first construct the letter directly on the cards. After we talk about the pieces, construct the letter, we trace them with our fingers in the correct formation movements. ...It is nice to have plenty of pieces!

 
Jennifer P. from Chicago wrote the following on 01/03/2009:
These pieces are a great investment for those children who are ready to form letters, but struggle with writing the letters. My son used these for Kindergarten; he is a kinesthetic learner, and really enjoyed making the letter we were focusing on that day. He even started making words from the pieces -- something he would not have done with paper and pencil as it was too difficult. He is now (age 7, first grade) writing just fine. I am so glad we had another option for practicing letters that was fun for him.

 
Holly S. from Oklahoma wrote the following on 07/10/2006:
Two of these cards - O and Q - are 11" square, to accommodate the actual size of these letters constructed with two large arcs (Wooden Pieces). They have a crease-fold along one side, to store with the other cards (11"x8.5"). I recommend the laminated cards, because these get a lot of handling. We use a Page-Up to hold each card as our daughter constructs it on her HWT Blue Mat. The backside of the H card looks like a very simple phonics worksheet. It is the exact same on every card, except for the featured letter and object pictures. The student is to look at the first thing in each row, and point to the matching thing from that row. (HWT Letter Card) H / F G H... (picture&word) Horse / Horse Hat Heart... (letter on HWT slate) H / G H I... (traditional print) H / h h H. I appreciate the small numbers at the beginning of each "stroke," on these cards. We finger-trace the card's letter to familiarize with the correct formation order.

 
Holly S. from Oklahoma wrote the following on 07/10/2006:
While this piece is not absolutely necessary, it adds another element of fun and satisfaction (perfect letters) to HWT. It comes in a nice clear zipper case with blue trim/handles. It measures about 6"x8", with the actual screen being 4"x6". The small size is actually nice, because it helps form letters within the correct boundaries. You could graduate to using the magnetic stamps on a larger Magnadoodle. The smiley face in the top left corner is a nice consistency with the other HWT materials. It comes with the 6" rod and large arc (pictured), as well as a 3" rod and small arc. After stamping the letter with the magnet-backed wood pieces, students use the (cord-attached) chubby yellow stencil to freehand the letter; the magnet on its end makes a track as wide as the stamps - half-inch wide. This is cleaner than the slate/chalk - much easier to erase! During our HWT sessions, our daughter uses the larger HWT Wood Pieces Set to create the letter on the HWT Blue Mat first. Then she creates it with this magnetic screen, determining which stamps to use on the smaller scale. Then she uses the slate/chalk, and finally pencil on the special HWT paper with boxes. Using the different mediums/sizes prevents boredom with much practice!

 
Victoria J. from Nebraska wrote the following on 02/08/2007:
I love this program! It is easy to use, straight forward and uncomplicated. The teacher's manual is a MUST! It doesn't take long to read and fully explains the program - including the use of a small chalk board, wooden letters, clay and a cute little song. HWT was developed by a physical therapist and is great for children struggling with handwriting. Teacher prep is minimal. The author recommends 5-10 minutes of quality practice a day - as opposed to pages produced by a tired little hand. It's also a great value. If you have a child who's about to give up or a kinestic learner - this is well worth trying. Their cursive program is also great.

 
Stacy W. from Arizona wrote the following on 01/21/2008:
I've used the Pre-K, K, and 1st grade materials published by Handwriting Without Tears both with my son and daughter. I love this system! It works with all kinds of learners-- visual, kinesthetic, auditory. The vocabulary used is consistent and child-friendly: "big lines, little lines, starting corner, bump the line," etc. I also like that the workbook pages provide a reasonable amount of practice, but aren't overwhelming. For pre-K and K students, a slate is essential. I also recommend using the wood pieces for this age group, though they are not necessary. The accompanying CDs add an element of fun, but aren't vital to the program. The teacher's manual is very useful. However, once I'd taught the K level and learned the vocabulary and techniques, I found I didn't need the manual to teach the Grade 1 book. I will, however, buy the manual when I start teaching cursive. Hand Writing Without Tears is an economical, child-centered, well-conceived, and FUN way to get your children started with handwriting. Highly recommended!

 
Jen N. from IL wrote the following on 02/02/2010:
My four year old is working through this workbook. I do not have the teachers manual, because the teaching schedule can be downloaded for free on the HWT website. We are using the cd, wood letters, blue mat, chalkboard, and crayons. You could get away with less, but my son is a reluctant writer. He doesn't normally even like to color, but he will when we listen to the cd. I would recommend this program.