Peterson-Directed Handwriting

For my very first official review as part of the TOS Crew, I was blessed to be a part of the Peterson-Directed Handwriting review team. www.peterson-handwriting.com

You can also click here for additional contact information: http://www.peterson-handwriting.com/reply.html

After a meeting with our contact, Rand Nelson, we were given 4 cursive handwriting PDF files to review. First of all, I want to say that Mr. Nelson’s customer service and his help were amazing and invaluable. He took as much time as we needed to explain the program, step by step, and he patiently answered our questions. And, as we progressed through our review time, he was willing and open to scheduling meeting times online to continue to train us in his products. That kind of customer service is not as common as it used to be, and is a wonderful asset to his company.

We received 4 levels of cursive instruction, which take you from about 1st grade through 4th. There are books for preschool through 8th grade as well. Each level is a downloadable, reusable PDF file of roughly 50-70 pages each. The instructions and sample pages are included in each as well.

The basic premise to Peterson is, and I quote: “The difference is rhythm!” A child starts out working on their gross motor skills and trains their muscles to move fluently and almost without thinking about it. The goal is to get your hand/arm to move on “automatic pilot,” if you will so that it flows easily and effortlessly across the page. The importance of paper positioning and pencil grip are paramount. I love the slogan to remind the student how to grip the pencil:

Hold Your Pencil Softly

• One finger on top
• Stay back on the paint
• Don’t pinch,
• Don’t squeeze
• Don’t press down hard.
• Pointer on the paint
• Thumb on the side
• Keep the other fingers,
• hanging down beside.

There is a page with a picture of a pencil in the center and this little poem/checklist written on it that we printed out as a reminder. After learning how to hold the pencil and how to slant the paper, then the student moves on to these next steps:

1. Illustrate and Describe
2. Air Writing
3. Finger tracing

4. Write and say

There are several basic strokes a child learns that are involved in almost all of the letters, so in step 1, you see the stroke and describe it. Peterson uses specific words, like “sharp top,” “slant top,” and more, but it is the stroke that is important, not the verbiage, so you can modify the words to suit your particular child. Step 2-air writing helps the gross, or large motor muscles get the hang of the rhythm first, so the child traces the stroke, and eventually, the letter in the air over and over until they have mastered the flow of it. There is no rush to the process; the goal again is fluency, so it’s important to take as much time as needed at each specific step. After air writing, the student moves on to finger tracing and finally on to write and say. The first levels have large spaces in which to write the letters, and then the space gets smaller in level and by level 4 the student is writing in conventional/notebook size spaces.

Each level, which costs $19.95, is available as a  downloadable PDF file. You can then customize a workbook for each student-very handy! There are also “kits” and additional supplies available on the website. I haven’t gotten them yet, but I am considering ordering the paper positioner and the pencil grips. They are not necessary in order to use the PDF file, but can be helpful.

You can view samples of the different levels here:

http://www.peterson-handwriting.com/Eworkbooks.html

As a side note, the website has a great wealth of information on it, but it is a bit difficult to navigate. Since I prefer a “real person” to clarify things for me, I’d suggest contacting Rand Nelson through the meeting room or by email and asking him any questions you may have. Again, he is extremely friendly and very enthusiastic about his product, and I know he would be happy to help in any way.

I also recommend that if you are wanting the first level, that you be sure to get the second level as well. The second level has more detailed instructions and the pencil grip poem, and we found those very helpful.

You can also buy instructional time on the website, and you will receive one on one training with Rand and his associates, which can help you feel more comfortable with the program.

This approach was completely different to anything I have ever used before, and I will say that it was a bit overwhelming at first, and did take quite a bit of getting used to. I tried it with “Scientist,” my 4th grade son, who is still struggling to learn cursive, and we did not do well. Part of our problem was that he did NOT want to do any school during the summer, understandable, and then when we did start school, I didn’t have that much time to spend on just one child and just one subject. So, at the moment, it is not a great fit for our family, but I am going to give it another try. I have a 2nd grade daughter who is ready to try as well, and a very precocious 5-year-old who probably would like to “copy” his older siblings. :o) I do so wish I had used it with my oldest when he was learning cursive, years ago. His movement is very choppy and he is not fluent, and now that I have been studying PDH, I can see that their method is much better. It is very hard to get a 12-year-old pre-teen to work on something he perceives as “babyish,” so I will have to try to get creative with him. :o)

Overall, I really like the method and think it will work well, once I put the consistent time and effort into it.  I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is about to begin teaching formal handwriting. Start at the beginning and stick with it all the way through.

You can click here to read more reviews on this great product from other crewmates: http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/782951/

Disclaimer:

*The author’s honest review and opinions are entirely her own. This product was provided to the author for free as a member of the 2010-2011 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. No further compensation was received.*