A Review of Handwriting Without Tears: Get Set for School

The Get Set for School series is the first part of the Handwriting Without Tears handwriting program. Get Set for School is designed to be an introduction to handwriting for preschool or kindergardeners not quite ready for a full handwriting program. The Handwriting Without Tears: Get Set for School curricula consists of the following available materials: a instructor's guide, a student workbook, two different music CDs, wood pieces and mat for forming capital letters, shapes for Mat Man, capital letter cards, chalkboard, stamp and see screen, and Roll-a-Dough Letters. All these items are not necessary for the program. Although have a few of the "extras" will certainly enhance it. The crayon only student workbook is designed to cover pre-writing, readiness skills.

The Handwriting Without Tears: Get Set for School workbook covers forming vertical and horizontal lines, basic shapes, and capital letters. Songs and hands on activities using various items, such as wood pieces or a chalk board, are a big part of the Get Set for School program.

Handwriting Without Tears: Get Set for School is designed to be a first exposure to writing for preschool or kindergarden aged children. The readiness skills covered in the Get Set for School handwriting curriculum will leave children prepared with good habits for a full handwriting program the following year. The Get Set for School program does not cover forming both capital and lower case letters or much copy work practice. The Get Set for School program does provide a gentle and age appropriate introduction to handwriting skills.

The Handwriting Without Tears program has been designed to teach children handwriting with based on methods of how they develop. This makes the program unique when compared to other handwriting programs. It allows both traditional and home schools to use the same handwriting method to teach children with a variety of needs. Even children with developmental delays have had great success with Handwriting Without Tears.

There are a couple of points of the Handwriting Without Tears in general that some people find less appealing. Basic shapes, short lines, longs lines, small curves, and big curves, are used to teach children how to form letters. This method gives the letters a less traditional look. The handwriting paper used in Handwriting Without Tears does not use the traditional three lines but two instead. The issues of lined paper does not come in to play at all in the Get Set for School program of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum. Some do not like these non-traditional elements of the Handwriting Without Tears program.

Pieces of the Handwriting Without Tears program can be bough individually rather than as one big set. This allows homeschooler to pick and choose which elements that they want to use. The Handwriting Without Tears: Get Set for School program runs about half the cost of other programs. The teacher and student books are only $6 each.

The Handwriting Without Tears: Get Set for School program can easily be used by homeschoolers. The low cost and the hands on manipulative makes it very appealing. Get Set for School is an excellent program that you and your child will be able to use without tears during your first year of homeschooling.