More Before & After

The above handwriting sample is from a 9 year old boy diagnosed with Autism.  With the use of Mary Below's Loops and Other Groups and Handwriting Without Tears curricula. He was able to quickly master both lower and upper case cursive letters within 8 individual sessions and 5 group sessions.

 

The above sample is from a 6 year old boy. During his initial evaluation, recurring magic "c" errors were noted, in letter such as "d","g","a","o","Q", and "G". Errors with start point during letter formation were also noted. Both these errors were addressed during his first session, as a result significant improvement was noted, as seen below at the end of his first session.

Before and After

The above handwriting sample is from a 5 year old girl. Upon her initial evaluation, she was not able to identify her letters or write them. After 7 sessions, she is now able to identify all of her letters and able to print them as well, as noted in the above sample.

 

 

The above sample is from a 10 year old boy.  Both print and cursive handwriting were addressed in individual sessions. After 16 sessions, significant improvement noted in letter formations, spacing, placement, and mostly confidence.  

 

The above handwriting sample is from a 5 year old boy's initial handwriting evaluation. After 12 individual sessions, he has demonstrated more control and better letter formation of his capital letters, as noted in the below sample.  We are currently addressing lower case letters in order to have him ready to begin kindergarten in the fall.

 

Summer Camp

As spring comes in, I have begun my plans for the 2010 WriteNow's Handwriting Summer camp.  I plan on offering two camps, a one week camp geared to solidifying correct letter formation, while working on speed and accuracy.  To help with motivation the wii will be utilized to improve eye-hand coordination while providing a reward system.  I also plan on offering a camp to teach new skills to kids who want to get a jumpstart on the handwriting for the next school. If these camps or individual sessions are in your plans for the summer please contact me, as I currently am in the process of picking dates and times for the camps. Currently camps are scheduled for mid July and early August with a free review day the week before school starts.  Looking forward to talking with both old and new clients regarding summer sessions.    

Winter session is in full swing

Greetings, everyone!  I hope everyone is staying warm and inspired during this winter season. We made many strides over the past months with our handwriting students.  The focus of the fall was on individual sessions, regarding print and cursive skills.  Our youngsters ranged from 3 to 12 years of age; there was something for every age group!  My youngest student worked on forming letters from wood pieces and playdoh.  With repetition, she was able to independently form a letter using a crayon for the first time.  Other children benefited from Handwriting Without Tears Mat Man activity, and were able to draw a person with greater details.  My cursive clients have all mastered lower case letter formation, and are moving on to improve speed and accuracy.  We are honing in on capital cursive letter forms!  Overall, all kids are writing their letters accurately on the line with the appropriate size according to age.  I look forward to continuing individual services for these and more children in the future.  Have a blessed 2010!

Fall 2009 Class Schedule

We will be offering After-school Printing Club, After-school Cursive Club, and Preschool Handwriting Class beginning September 2009.  There will be two 5-week consecutive sessions.

Session A:  September 28 to October 30

Session B: November 2 to December 11*

*There will be no class the week of Thanksgiving.

After-school Printing Club will begin on October 1, 2009.  This class will emphasize pencil grasp development, letter formation using the award winning Handwriting Without Tears ® curriculum and multi-sensory strategies. This class is for beginner printers and for students who have difficulty with sequencing letters, writing within handwriting spaces, and/or with letter formation.  This is a 90 minute a day class. 

Time of class: TBA; depending upon students schedule. 

Date of week: Thursday

Cost: $125 per session;  includes the camp cost, initial assessment, and workbook/material  fees.

After-school Cursive Club will begin on September 29, 2009: This class teaches cursive letters formation using Mary Benbow, MS, OTR/L’s Loops and Other Groups: A Kinesthetic Writing System. Letters are taught in groups that share common movement patterns. Easy-to-remember motor and memory cues help the children visualize and verbalize while they experience the "feel" of the letter.  This is a 90 minute class.

Time of class: TBA; depending upon students schedule. 

Date of week: Tuesday

Cost: $125 per session;  includes the camp cost, initial assessment, and workbook/material fees.

Preschool Handwriting Class will begin on September 30, 2009.  Based on the Handwriting Without Tears ® Get Set for School ™ Program,  this class will focus on developing fundamental skills necessary for kindergarten: language proficiency, social skills, fine and gross motor control, color and shape awareness, letter and number recognition and counting.  Multisensory products and music will be integrated into the curriculum to facilitate learning.   For more information about the award-winning Get Set for School Program, click here: www.hwtears.com

Time of class: 10 AM to 12 PM 

Date of week: Wednesday

Cost: $100 per session;  includes the camp cost and workbook/material fees

A Success Story

The above photos are handwriting samples from one of my private clients seen this summer. He is a 13-year old boy who is entering the 8th grade this fall. He learned cursive in the third grade but has not used it since. I saw him for six 45 to 60-minute sessions in his home. We re-learned the lower case cursive letters and a few upper case letters within 6 sessions. On the fifth session, he remarked how much he appreciated my help and how his pain when he writes has improved. He also noted improved strength and "endurance" while writing.

We will be offering After-school Printing Club, After-school Cursive Club, and Handwriting Without Tears Preschool Program Classes beginning September 2009. Please keep posted for more details. 

Follow-up from Summer Handwriting Camp

The inaugural WriteNow Summer Handwriting Camp is now over!  We had  very successful cursive camp full of fine motor, gross motor, and sensorimotor activities.   A kinesthetic approach (Mary Benbow's Loops and Groups) was used to teach the campers the formation of lower case letters in cursive.  No matter what their learning style was, all participants benefitted from this approach.  By grouping the letters into 4 fundamental forms, this approach truly engaged the children.  As one of my 8-year old campers said, "Cursive camp is fun!"  Here are some scenes from the week:

All three campers came in with no experience with cursive skills.  We began the week with various gross motor obstacle course activities, such as crab-walking, clothespin exercises, frog jumps, and jumping jacks.  Gross motor activities were used prior to handwriting to enhance the camper's attention.  The Handwriting Without Tears "Wet-Dry-Try" Method was used to build the child's automatic learning of each letter.  They also enjoyed forming the letters in a variety of media, such as shaving cream, sand, and sidewalk chalk.   

Here are some testimonies from the campers and their parents:

"That was the most greatest fun camp I ever had!  So creative." (7-year old boy)

"It was great and I loved the feedback.  This was a great, unique opportunity. Thanks." (Parent of camper)

"I am so impressed with WriteNow.  [My son] had never wrote in cursive before coming here. He thoroughly enjoyed it and we are so thrilled with his progress.  He wrote his own name [in cursive]!" (Parent of camper)