Handwriting without Tears

[Bumblelion]

I am not affiliated to this web site or anything but if ever I come across anything that I think is wonderful I will not hesitate in promoting it. I received a letter from the Occupational Therapist who did an assessment on Sasha on 12 July. Basically it was a very good report - how she interacts in a school setting, follows instructions, can dress and undress herself, can fulfill her toileting needs independently, etc. etc. The one thing they picked up on was her handwriting skills - her biggest areas for "problems" (apart from having sotos syndrome) is gross and fine motor skills. Knows the letters in her name (luckly there are only 3!) but when she writes her name she just does circles - ooooo. They recommended a web site called Handwriting without Tears . After looking at the web site I think it will be fantastic for Sasha even while she is at mainstream reception starting September. The starter kit is quite expensive (?93) but if it will help her in her skills, it will be money worth spent.

If you have any friends who live in the states or friends who have friends; I would recommend ordering the stuff from hwtears.com and getting delivered to a USA address and then get your friends to ship it to you. It is much cheaper this way even accounting for postage. Harcourt who retail it here in the U.K have a 50 to 75% mark up. I have got the pre-starter kit for £32.00 plus postage. or try and see if the school can buy it with their senco budget as they can use it for many children.

There is also something called Sensible Pencil. I think its less advanced than HWT, not absolutely sure. Both are available from Different Roads to Learning which is also US-based but I think quite reasonable with P&P etc as set up by a parent.