Free shipping on USA orders over $129!
Peterson directed handwriting
- This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 3 months ago by
.
Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
- Posts
I posted a few questions on another thread before realizing it was a very old thread. For those who have used this program, why did you like it or not like it? I have a 5 year old who really struggles with holding a pencil and hates even coloring. I also have an 8 yr old learning cursive who doesn’t really like it. I’m also thinking of starting my 5 year old out with cursive. Thoughts on that? I have read on their site and I’m not entirely sure what is necessary to order. I also read that they have an app to go with it but haven’t been able to find it.
It seems that I’ve hit a point in our school year that I’m reassessing everything and all of the sudden, I’m wanting to try some different approaches.
Anyway, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks.
We have a few different things from them. What I actually use is limited though.
I use the Animated Letter Cards CD. http://peterson-handwriting.com/products/peterson-animated-letter-cards.html This is what we start out with (print or cursive, both are on here). It illustrates with moving animation each stroke in a letter, with the spoken word cue you say for each stroke. We air write with this bunches while saying the cues.
Umm, technically that’s the only purchased thing I use. I don’t have a color printer, so their handwriting sheets with colored letters (each stroke has a color) don’t translate. SO instead I just print our own letter or copywork pages using my Startwrite program.
Our process basically is:
1. air write and chant
2. use marker on large wall dry erase board to write and chant
3. move to unlined paper and pencil to write/chant
4. move to lined paper and write/chant.
Kids move through the steps at different speeds depending on age. My 8 year old would move quickly through the first 3 while my 5yo spends time in each stage. He learns 3 letters at a time, done my stroke family generally. (So letters with straight lines, then letters with curve to the left, then letters with curve to the right, etc.) My almost 4 yo will not move to paper anytime soon, he’ll stick with air writing and if he wants can use the dry erase board.
When we’re practicing our air writing without the animated cd I use the Rhythm leader pages you can download free on this page: http://peterson-handwriting.com/teacher_support/Downloads-teachersupport.html The rhythm leader printouts are about halfway down the page. It simply has all the lowercase or uppercase letters on a single page with word cues for ME. The kids never see it (and mine is printed in black and white but the file is color).
We DO have pencil grips we like that help make it easy to hold a pencil correctly for L or R handers (I have both). These are used when kids have trouble with grip at my house. Some keep them for a long while, others use them for just a while to correct grip. We bought ours on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Pencil-Grip-Ergonomic-TPG-11106/dp/B001SN8HOY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359412088&sr=8-1&keywords=the+pencil+grip
Hope those ideas get you started!
I was using Peterson Directed during the 2010-2011 school year with my kids – using their Cursive First option. My son was 7 and my daughter 5. My son had done “Cursive First” before, but was struggling with it. I found it helpful, and my son was writing wuite nicely with it in cursive. (however, if he ever had to write anything that wasn’t copywork, it was done in a very pre-schoolish print that he had taught himself….) My daughter, however, no matter how much we worked on it (and yes, we did the big air movements, and did “chant” with it, etc) – she could not do a legible letter. She was stuck on i and t and u and couldn’t do them so that I’d know what letter she had done. her “t” would look more like an “A” . And this was after – a – year of her patiently doing the same strokes and letters.
I’m not sure why it didn’t work for her. When we changed to the Penny Gardner Italics, her handwriting got a LOT better instantly. It is still a child’s writing for sure, but you can READ it. It actually looks pretty good now, except fer her tendency to not have spaces, and the sizes of the letters don’t stay consistant. (ie, an “h” often looks like an “n” because she doesn’t make it tall….) – I also recently switched my kids to useing homemade 2-line paper like Handwriting Without Tears uses because they DO do better at letter sizes etc with i.
So, I’m not sure how helpful that is.
btw – the workbooks are on the Peterson site that you can download to look at (but not print – you need to buy them to print them) – so you can look at the order the letters are done in and everything. I do also like the “fluency” tests they do, as well as the guide to checking legebility. I’m planning on adding those back in.
Also The HWOT website has a FREE handwriting test http://pinterest.com/pin/131800726566422081/
Good point, there will always be those who do better with different things! Just like any curriculum, there is no one right method for everyone.
Viewing 5 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
- The topic ‘Peterson directed handwriting’ is closed to new replies.