Handwriting Practice

There are alot of handwriting curriculum's available to help you teach your child how to write. One of my favorites is "A reason for Handwriting". Not only does it give daily practice for each letter but it also has your child writing words that are part of a bible verse (1st grade). It is also full of cute little cartoon children and other colorful images.

For the kindergarten book, there are pages to practice the letter and then a corresponding letter picture to color. Really nice!

All of that to say that I don't use it any more. I love it but gave it away. Why? I simply wasn't using it. This happens to me-I buy it, love it, but then find that I can piece something together that is just as effective.

Each week Little Cheese has to learn a bible verse for our church's AWANA program and for her Sunday School class. Monday - Wednesday we practice writing the AWANA verse and then Thursday - Friday we practice the Sunday School verse. This is highly effective not only in the practice that she gets but in the repitition of reading the verse to learn it.

Here is what I do:

















Then I prop it up or tape it up for her to copy on another sheet of paper. We are still using the large lined paper- I'm not actually sure when you move on to other paper.

Here is something to think about. I was writing the verse on this paper, skipping a line, so that Little Cheese could write directly under what I had written. Does that make sense? Anyway, at a recent Daisy's meeting, my eyes were opened to a difference in my homeschool daughter and all the other little ones who go to public school.

The goal was to copy something off of a chalk board onto another sheet of paper. All of the other girls quickly and effeciently copied the words and waited patiently but excitedly for the fun to begin. I look over at my daughter who is working dilegently but slowly. She had never had to copy something from a chalkboard. Or anything for that matter. She was struggling in looking up from her paper, locating the next thing to write, then looking back down again.

I want to do the best that I can for Little Cheese. I don't want her to struggle with something so simple. So, now she practices everyday-looking up and down to do her handwriting.

Whew.