HANDWRITING HEROES
The Solution!
Prioritizes Handwriting
Teaching handwriting with Handwriting Heroes early on allows students to focus on content and ideas, not the mechanics of letter writing. It also removes the need to undo bad habits after students have established incorrect writing form.
Leads with Lowercase
Lowercase letters are used about 98% of the time when we write. So, from a practical standpoint, we teach these letters first. Uppercase letters are only introduced once students can write all the lowercase letters legibly and fluently. Learn more.
Bridges Learning Gaps
For students who have gaps in their fine motor or visual motor skills, it may be tempting to wait to fill in those gaps before teaching handwriting. However, this means that they will be trapped in a cycle of below-grade-level work while their peers move ahead. Instead, we teach letter formation separately, when needed, so that once those gaps are bridged, they can immediately apply their new learning.
Time Saving
In challenging the outdated premise of teaching “one- letter-per-week”, it became evident that students can learn five to six letters simultaneously. This not only expedites instruction significantly; it also promotes rhythmic writing by repeating the same movement from one letter to the next. After just five weeks, students are ready to write three-letter words and then soon thereafter graduate to short phrases.
Banishes
the Boring
We got rid of “drill and kill” in exchange for more useful techniques that aide memorization, such as air writing, action words, animated stories, and online writing games.
Fosters School to Home Communication
Our weekly letter to parents provides them with a quick guide on how to support their child at home and helps to keep the cues consistent.
