Handwriting Without Tears helps teachers get a grip on handwriting

Learning to write is an essential skill for a child to learn.

Teaching it in a fun and age appropriate way can be a challenge.

About 30 years ago, Jan Olsen set out to change that when she developed the Handwriting Without Tears program. In 2004, Olsen expanded the program, aiming it at pre-kindergartners.

On Sunday, one of the Handwriting Without Tears trainers, Paula Heinricher, spoke about the method before a group of teachers and occupational therapists in Lisle.

Heinricher, who was an occupational therapist before joining the program six years ago, said, "Our focus is making handwriting instruction fun for the teachers to teach and fun for the kiddos to learn."

Heinricher said the method is multi-sensory, teaching skills through singing and movement.

"We try to get away from a lot of the very repetitive, sit down, open your workbook and write, write, write, write," she said. "It makes handwriting very boring."

Heinricher demonstrated the method before the group of professionals, singing along with specially produced CDs and accompanying them with hand movements that train the child to recognize the left hand from the right hand and foster other skills, such as gripping the writing instrument.

She also had the audience break out a set of wood pieces that acquaint the child with the differences between large and small lines, which is important when drawing letters with combinations of both, such as the letter "e."

Teachers are encouraged to have the children polish the wood pieces to increase their powers of discrimination.

Heinricher said Handwriting Without Tears has proved successful at increasing legibility and speed. She said legible handwriting is important for all subjects, including science, social studies and math.

Although fun is an important component of the program, Heinricher emphasizes the importance of teaching handwriting in a developmentally appropriate way.

"It is not developmentally appropriate for 2-year-olds to be picking up pencils and writing their name."

Among those in attendance was Lena Peterson, an occupational therapist from Libertyville. She said the program is well known to occupational therapists.

"I think their way of teaching is easy for people to understand (and) easy for kids to understand, because it's just fun."

"I think (learning handwriting) is really important," said another attendee, Lisa Teschner, who teaches at St. Teresa School in Palatine. "At our school, writing is emphasized to make sure kids are well prepared when they get to kindergarten."

Another teacher at St. Teresa, Patti Trojan, said, "People look for that when they look for preschools."

For more information about Handwriting Without Tears, go to hwtears.com.