Petereson Directed Handwriting

Peterson Directed Handwriting is unlike any penmanship curriculum we have ever used in our school. Their method uses movement based strategy instead of just tracing and drawing each letter of the alphabet. I used the We Write to Read Series step 3 and step 4 E-workbooks with my 8 & 9 year old daughters. They both already know how to write in cursive, but it doesn't flow well. After looking at the Peterson website I was excited to give it a try. We really concentrated on the pencil grip to make sure that we had it right. The first couple of days the girls were not very impressed, but once they got the hang of it they started making a big improvement.

The Peterson Directed Handwriting focuses on form, slant, size, spacing, smooth rhythm, and control. For each lesson there are 4 steps to go through and it takes 15-20 minutes. The Four steps are:

1. Illustrate & Describe
2. Air Writing
3. Finger Tracing
4. Write & Say

Each stroke is taught with a phrase to go with it. So the child should say the phrase as they are practicing the stroke. This should be done in a rhythmic manner so that they are finished speaking and writing at the same time. After Illustrating & Describing the stroke or letter then the child is taught to over exaggerate the movement with their arms while saying the phrase. This helps to develop muscle memory so the child knows the stroke and can draw it even with their eyes closed.

The worksheets are wonderful. The letters are colored, so that each stroke is visible at a glance. The first stroke of a letter is green, the second stroke is brown, and the third one is red. This makes it easier for the child to see all the strokes in each letter & it is very helpful to me as the teacher to see which strokes they have mastered or which ones they need to work on. The directions that are included in each level have a lot of information, but there isn't anything about what should be done each day, but this can be found on their website.

The Peterson Directed Penmanship website has so much information on it. You can learn to use the Peterson Method in a twenty minute presentation. There is information on how to help your left-hand children and many more articles & helps on the information directory and resource library.

The online support from Peterson Directed Handwriting is great. Rand Nelson was very informative in our live web meeting, he seems to truly believe in this product and has a passion for teaching penmanship. You may contact Rand or their company with any questions you may have.

Peterson Directed Handwriting is available for use in schools or homeschools at their webstore. You can purchase the curriculum for homeschool use here. They are available in kits or E-workbook form with individual and school licence agreements. The E-workbooks we used can be found here. Step 3 is available for $19.95 and Step 4 is $29.95. If you would like to look through the E-workbooks they have them all available to view here. They also sell special pencils, wall charts, position guides, and computer tools.

My daughters are doing so well with this curriculum that I will use it for my 5 year old daughter as well.

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As part of The Homeschool Crew I received this item free of charge in exchange for my honest review.