Teachers get tools to teach Handwriting Without Tears
Workshop in Mason hones in on the basics of handwriting.
By Danielle Wilson Staff Writer
A program that teaches handwriting fundamentals uses music and funky phrases to assist young learners. Handwriting Without Tears teaches parents and preschool through fifth-grade teachers to use fun methods for teaching children to write. “We want (children) to develop automatic, quick and fluid handwriting skills,” said Carol Rushing-Carr, an occupational therapist with Handwriting Without Tears. It’s important for beginners to get a firm foundation by learning the way letters look and feel before they can write them, said Rushing-Carr. She ran an Aug. 22 workshop at Kings of Kings Lutheran Church in Mason in which several local preschool and kindergarten teachers were re-introduced to the basics of handwriting. The workshop — organized by the Ohio District Lutheran schools’ Early Childhood Education cabinet — honed in on the basics of handwriting. Teachers learned how to effectively teach properly utensil-holding and they learned terminology to use in their classrooms. “Hit the ball and round the bases” for a lowercase “e,” said Kathy Wolery, a preschool teacher at King of Kings. She said the phrase was one of the tools she has used with students for five years with the HWT program. Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4541 or dwilson@coxohio.com.
Lutheran schools Superintendent Gordon Stuckert and Lutheran preschool teacher Kathy Wolery take part in a coloring exercise during a Handwriting Without Tears workshop. Staff photo by Danielle Wilson
