Letters and Numbers for Me Teacher's Guide

I'm glad I got this book! This is my second time using HWT and this time around I got the teacher's manual. It gives good ideas and teaching structure that is really helpful. You definitely don't need it but it's really helpful and you'll get more out of the workbook.

I love this series- my 5 yr old son is wiggly but can sit still for one of these lessons. His handwriting is improving and we actually LIKE the time we spend with this program. The teacher's guide was especially helpful for me in introducing "Mat Man." (We made him out of cardboard to the book's dinensions.) All three of my kids love him and we use his pieces every lesson to form the letters. I am surprised at how much I love this part of my day and how much we all love "Mat Man" and how helpful he is for my little guys. Highly recommend this book.

This past year was my first year to homeschool my 4 5 and 6 year old children I purchased Handwriting Without Tears products at the glowing recommendation of a very seasoned and creative homeschooling mom that I know I have NOT been disappointed to say the least! The writers of this program demonstrate a keen sense about children and the way they learn This curriculum for handwriting excels at being multisensory and my kids considered it quite fun! On any given day you might find me and my children shining a flashlight on the wall to draw letters on the door using wet cloths and chalk bits to introduce writing letters on slates placing lines and curves on the floor to build letters waving our arms in big motions in the air to write the letters literally jumping around the kitchen to the Handwriting Without Tears CD song �Frog Jump Letters� Great fun! Indeed Handwriting Without Tears has been one of my favorite things that we have done this year together at home It can be as simple or enhanced as you make it At the end of our school year I asked the children what was their favorite thing we studied and my daughter answered �Handwriting�The program is very purposefully organized in its presentation (the letters are taught in a specific order that makes a lot of sense to the kids) I tend to be independent and leave the teacher�s manuals behind but this Handwriting Without Tears manual is so chock full of creative fun and useful ideas that I poured over and utilized as much of it as I could I have 5 6 and 7 year old children now Each child is totally and surprisingly different from the next They have differing personalities and learning styles but EACH child has learned to write neatly and confidently with this program! They have written cards to family and I�ve received so many responses: �DID THEY WRITE THAT THEMSELVES??!!!� I have been so pleased that I actually went back and purchased many more products for the future grades!I found several of the products worth buying in addition to the teacher�s manual and student book Though I can be picky about educational songs (I can�t always stand them if they�re corny) I found the �Rock Rap and Tap� CD to be creative and palatable adding a great support to the lessons and a memorable way to remember certain writing skills I used almost every song in conjunction with the lessons and I even enjoyed the songs myself HWT pencils and chalk bits for small hands are reasonably priced and will last us for the next couple of years too! I couldn�t have done without the 4x6 slates- brilliant idea! The slates have a smiley face at the top left hand corner to indicate to the child where to begin most of the capital letters Plus the slates prevent the children from writing their letters backwards so my kids never had any trouble with that I didn�t spend the money on the wooden lines and curves but I LOVED the idea so I just cut my own out of cardboard (the teacher�s manual gives you a pattern to make your own) I also bought the lined slates for teaching the lowercase lettersIt really helped my children to write the letters in several ways before tackling the handwriting book itself For each lesson I saved the workbook for last The workbook presents a very reasonable amount of practice for kids and once my kids finished each page they looked forward to coloring the picture there as a reward I appreciated the opportunities for coloring to strengthen their fine motor skills which of course aids them in neat handwriting!!!Handwriting Without Tears is obviously well-thought out and crafted with an understanding of children and if the teacher desires extra training there are workshops available as well I cannot recommend it highly enough I think it�s worth a try for anyone and I love that it�s AFFORDABLE!!! I�m quite thankful that someone recommended this program to me so early in our homeschooling experience Enjoy!

We love HWT! My son learned to print his letters so quickly He loved the simple sayings that they use to remember how to write each letter This series gave him the confidence to write words and sentencesI love that it can be used for both left and right hand studentsI purchased the teachers edition in addition to the student books I am glad that I did Even though it is written for a classroom teacher it is helpful to read to understand how to begin teaching handwriting