HAPPY NEW YEAR: A Year of Progress

As the year comes to an end, I enjoy reviewing my students' progress. This year I would love to highlight samples from one of my 7-year old students.  When I started working with him, he refused to write no more than a few words during our sessions. He's now able to write complete paragraphs. His parents and teachers are pleased with his progress.  Looking back at the below samples, even he was shocked about the progress he had made.

October 2018 (sample on wide line yellow highlighter paper)...

April 2019 (sample on wide line yellow highlighter paper)...

December 2019 (sample on narrow line yellow highlighter paper)...

Summer Success Stories

Our students' summer proved to be full of growth. As always, it's a delight to share my clients' success. The before and after samples below belong to a 1st-grade boy from this year's week-long summer camp.

The below sample is from a 7-year-old boy with ADHD who was unable to copy a sentence with legible handwriting just 6 months ago.

The sample below is from a 7-year-old girl who struggled with letter formation, letter size, and word spacing. 

Meet Ms. Arianna

My name is Arianna and I am a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. I earned my degree from Wilbur Wright College with high honors in January 2019. I am a recent graduate who is eager and passionate about occupational therapy in pediatric settings. 

I joined Write Now OT Services in February 2019. I received training in the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum and have worked as a handwriting tutor alongside Ms. Tiffany.  I have tutored school-age children in various settings enjoying every session. While working as a handwriting tutor, I completed requirements to become certified and licensed in the state of Illinois to practice as an occupational therapy assistant (COTA). I am excited and ready to start my career as a pediatric COTA and form a collaborative team with Ms. Tiffany to provide the best quality services.

Get Ready...Set...Write!!! Summer Boot Camp

Comprehensive Learning Services and  Write Now Handwriting Services Presents: Get Ready...Set...Write! "A Project Based Handwriting and Written Expression Boot Camp." Writing involves so many complex cognitive processes including language, attention, memory and fine motor skills, that it is not surprising that so many children struggle with writing assignments!  To support children who are challenged with expressing their ideas on paper, Dr. Chrisna, a Learning Specialist and Educational Psychologist and Ms. Tiffany, a Pediatric Occupational Therapist, have partnered to offer an exciting 2 week project based writing boot camp to prepare students for the upcoming school year: Get Ready, Set, Write! This camp is intended for elementary school students who have difficulty with: * sentence formulation and paragraph structure *writing mechanics (capitalization, punctuation, spelling)  *letter formation, size and alignment * word spacing * pencil grip Get Ready, Set, Write will offer a combination of instruction that will focus on supporting students' written expression and handwriting skills. This project based program will support the underlying executive functioning skills needed when initiating and organizing thoughts to begin a writing task. Additionally, this class emphasizes pencil grasp development and letter formation using the award-winning Handwriting Without Tears® curriculum and multi-sensory strategies. Class is open to students in 1st-4th Grades and will be grouped  according to need. Class meets twice a week: Tuesdays and Thursdays August 20th August 22nd August 27th August 29th 9:00am-11:00pm $350 *Class limited to 10 children. Click Here to Register About the Instructors: Dr. Chrisna Perry is a Learning Specialist and Educational Psychologist with over 20 years of experience working with children who require academic, social, and emotional support. In her private practice, Dr. Chrisna works to understand children’s various developmental needs and learning styles, as well as to support each child in building strengths, addressing difficulties and pursuing interests. Tiffany Powers-Reid is a registered licensed pediatric occupational therapist and handwriting specialist. She obtained her bachelor of science in occupational therapy from Boston University. She has 25 years of experience as a pediatric therapist and is Handwriting Without Tears®and Loop and Other Groups trained. Her passion is to equip children with tools to write with confidence and ease.  ‌  ‌ ‌

DATE CHANGE ... Write Now Summer Camp

Write Now with Games Summer Camp

Back by request...

I'm pleased to inform you that I'm hosting a handwriting summer camp this year in the Hyde Park Area. This camp will be packed with fun, games, and handwriting in both PRINT and CURSIVE.  The camp size will be small. To ensure a spot, please reply to this email and I will forward you information regarding the deposit. Looking forward to working with your child and helping them achieve confidence and ease when writing.

Happy New Year

Kids are back in action after a long winter break, so that means we are back to practicing our handwriting! Pencil pressure is a common concern with children who struggle with handwriting. I have created a list of some ways that you can help your child either increase or decrease their pencil pressure when they are working on their handwriting at home! 

If your child’s handwriting is too light it may cause difficulty with letter size and placement. 

• Practice shading coloring pictures with deep pressure, just right, and light pressure 
• Use a golf tee and write letters or words in clay
• Put writing paper over rough sandpaper for the tactile response 
• Using graph paper to make designs (squares, X,/,\)

If your child’s pencil pressure is too hard it may cause fatigue which could lead to careless handwriting:

• Writing on carbon paper- child has to write lightly so the pencil hardly goes through
• Warm up with squeezing a stress ball or wheelbarrow walks to give input to the child’s hands before starting
• Wrap clay around the pencil and if the kid makes a dent in the clay they are applying too much pressure
• Use mechanical pencil- try not to break the tip
• Provide an example of Pencil Pressure, too light, just right, too hard

Alexis Howell, OTA/S

Tiffany Powers-Reid, OTR/L