The Internet is full of all kinds of wonderful resources. Kennedy is struggling the most with her handwriting. I know a bunch of you are going to suggest Handwriting Without Tears, but I'm just not a big fan of that program. I've tried it and it just doesn't seem to work for us. I'm not sure what is going to work for us yet, so right now, it's just trial and error. I found this great worksheet maker online where you can plug in any word(s) you want and you can make your own worksheets for kids to trace. Best of all, it's FREE! I made some with Kennedy's first name, her first and last name, and then pages with her spelling words for each week all for writing practice... and then of course it will help when it comes to spelling test time as well! I'm hoping this will help her in a bunch of different areas. We'll see! :)
Here's another great site for making your own flashcards and they also have handwriting practice from printing all the way to cursive! This site is free as well, be sure to check it out! There's a lot on here for older kids too!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
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9 comments:
I don't like the handwriting without tears either. As a matter of fact as part of Kaitlyn's IEP this year she can't get points off for her penmanship anyways because she's terrible at handwriting. It's possible she'll get to type out her writing responses. I'm a little iffy on that because part of me is like she needs to know how to write, but then again in the upper grades and even in work papers will need to be typed. So typing might be the way to go. I have heard that cursive is easier to pick up though. Not sure how true that is. Might have tried it if I homeschooled. I have come to the conclusion that I simply cannot teach my children handwriting. I think even if I do it exactly how it's done by their teachers or the worksheets show it that it's just going to look different because I'm left handed and they are all right handed. Do you have that problem with any of your kids? Do any of them write with a different hand than you do?
Neat! Thanks! We have Dom use a keyboard in class for taking spelling tests and writing assignments- because that's one of his biggest struggle areas too.
Hello there!
Have you looked at the Magic Caterpillar handwriting process? This is the one they use here in NZ and is apparently quite good. http://www.bmbeducation.com.au/html/s02_article/article_view.asp?id=102&nav_cat_id=136&nav_top_id=56 here is another site for handwriting - http://www.meddybemps.com/letterary/guide_and_archives.html
Also Starfall is a great resource that shows different levels of reading and is almost like playing games. Bianca absolutely absolutely loved it. www.starfall.com, this page for instance deals with sight words - http://www.starfall.com/n/matching/sight-words/load.htm, and there are heaps more starting from the very beginning to higher levels.
Not sure what worksheets you use, but Bianca started school with writing books that had a dotted line in between 2 solid lines to help her know the size of letters in comparison to each other and so on. So maybe you could get a few of those?
For maths - Bianca absolutely loves doing mathletics - www.mathletics.co.nz and this is also very much like playing games.
Anyway, it sounds as if you are doing a great job. And certainly it is so great that Kennedy now gets schooling in a very supportive and understanding situation! No doubt she will have the best chance of reaching her full potential!
Lea White
New Zealand
THANK YOU!!
Jay and I were just talking about needing handwriting practice sheets for Miah, she is STILL getting her B's and D's mixed up, and she has the handwriting of a DR.!
You totally read my mind, and I love you for it!
Renée I have also heard that cursive can be easier for some kids to pick up - Montessori schools start kids on cursive for that reason. I know Tristan prefers cursive and does much better than with print. I will send you links in the next day or so for some French educational websites (you don't have to know French!) that teach "graphism", a series of progressive steps leading to writing. They're very good for ensuring kids have good mastery of curves and the flow of writing and builds them up to letters.
I'm already using the alpha keyboard function in Clara-Bear's Dynavox with her vocab words at school. She's 5, still in pre-k, and has her lines down but is struggling with closing circles and controlling size. We type in the words & she can hit he word strip and the Dynavox speaks the word. Right now, I see this as her future but of course plan to work on the writing.
One thing that helps us is a technique adapted from a "Manual of Pre-Skill something or other for Autistic Children" bu Flowers I found in the Family Resource Center at Vandy. Liberal use of white glue, glitter glue or puffy paint. You can outline letters or shapes for K to trace with a finger or create the borders of an open letter shape that she has to draw the letter inside with nice, concrete borders. I plan to make rectangles with the glue to give Clara boundaries to help with size of letters. We have the ruled writing paper with raised lines but she's not ready for that. When I create exercises with this technique the floor is covered with pieces of paper with glue drying!
A slant board has done wonders for her focus and posture. We also a laser pointer. We use the laser pointer for everything! Where to glue for arts & crafts, connecting the dots, coloring in specific areas, to make sure she actually sees the word I am reading in our books. She does great with this strong visual cue and can do a lot more precise work without hand over hand than it appears if we guide her with the pointer. So nice not to have to get up in space everytime I try to teach her something.
Do you mind if I use some of your links on my blog? I am planning a Directory of Supplemental & Homeschool Education Websites next month. Don't know what I'm going to name it, but Starfall will be there, Dream English, DSFOC, and I would love to include these sites - with credit to you and Kennedy, of course!
Proud of you for trying the homeschool route!
Just made Goldie some flashcards for sight reading! So easy, thanks!
I'm so happy you are doing a homeschooling blog. I'm excited to hear how everything goes.
Thanks so much for the link to handwriting and flashcard generators. Hadn't seen these and they're easy to use! :)
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