Capitals First! by Print Path: Elementary Literacy

Showing posts with label Elementary Literacy. Show all posts

Making Sense of Numbers - Beyond Counting

Many children enter kindergarten being able to rote count. What comes next?

Part 2. Factors Interfering With Pencil Grasp Development: Addressing The Root of the Problem

The four main factors that interfere with pencil grasp development and what parents and teachers can do to address those factors.

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Original illustrations by Kate Hadfield Designs

Part 1: Understanding and Supporting Pencil Grasp Development: 3 - 6 years

Understanding and Supporting

Pencil Grasp Development: 3 - 6 years

First off, this first installment of a 3-part blog post will explore

What grasps look like in the major three categories.

Why some grasps are more advantageous than others.

What ages typically-developing children are using these three types of grasp.

Pros & Cons Spotlight!

Read Spotlight

8 Highly Effective Practices for Teaching Printing

Teaching Printing using Research-Based Best Practices

Are Conventional Handwriting Formations Important?

What letters do you see?

Teaching Young Children to Write Their Names

If you too are passionate about teaching handwriting skills, as I am, don’t miss this post.

Homeschool Kindergarten Curriculum Review

I received a nice note today from Imaginative Homeschool, a homeschool blogging Mom. She wrote a review of Lowercase at Last, both free and paid products, on her blog as part of a Kindergarten Curriculum review.

I am especially interested in her description of her son's struggles with learning to print using a traditional 'ball & stick' or Zaner Bloser -style font. My district has never used a ball & stick font so it is nice to hear a personal story!

Free Halloween Fun! Pre-K, Kindergarten, & First Grade

Newly refurbished leveled math and literacy no-prep worksheets. Read on to get a free sample!

Spanish Handwriting Book

I have just published a CAPITALS FIRST book in Spanish! This is Print Path's first public offering of Spanish products.

We have been using these for a few years in my school district and I know there is a need, so I decided to make them available.

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Handwriting Sheets: A dime a dozen.

Actually, you can get a zillion free all over the internet. So then, why do I spend so many hours researching and creating quality handwriting products?

I have spend a good deal of my life’s work around developing effective handwriting products that adhere to research based best practices. If you are a parent, teacher, or a therapist, your efforts at teaching efficient legible penmanship could be enhanced by using these best practices.

Hole Punch Cards - Initial Consonant Blends

Hand strength and endurance is one factor limiting sustained writing. As an occupational therapist I am always looking for ways to improve kid’s hand strength! Since punching holes is so motivating for kids, these phonic cards are a great way to combine phonics and motor skills into a fun task for independent or partner work.

Hole-Punch for Initial Consonant Blends

Tips For Reluctant Writers and Ways to Make Handwriting FUN!

Is this too difficult for this child right now?

We all know that finding the just right challenge for our students is essential! By following a developmental sequence of writing expectations we can avoid many behavioral problems.

4 years: Research ...
5 years: When ...
6 years: Once...
7 years: By...
8 years: Children...
9 and older: Most reluctant writers...

Fun and Engaging Multisensory Methods to Teach handwriting.

Multisensory does not just mean writing in shaving cream! Multisensory does mean engaging all the senses and teaching to all learning styles. Shaving cream can be a fun activity at home or a special treat in the classroom but is not a practical three times a week handwriting station!

Imitating:
Pairing language with movement:
Constructing:
Motor:
Standing:
Tactile:
Visual Model:

Reversal Repair- Reading & Writing

Do you have children who have problems with persistent reversals?

Do you know a child who consistently confuses the letter

b with d, d with p, p with q,

or other combinations?

Phonics, reading, & handwriting instruction is not enough for some children!

Would you like to teach your children to consistently read & write these confusing letters?

With these simple directions I have found that I can substantially improve reading and writing of children with learning disabilities in as little as two months.

Reversal Repair for Reading and Writing @Teachers Pay Teachers

Introducing Capitals First! Blogging about Handwriting Instruction.

Welcome to any soul who is interested in handwriting instruction! Driven by my passion to help teachers teach handwriting, I decided to offer Print Path to a worldwide teacher audience in August 2013. This same passion sent me to graduate school two years ago so that I could investigate existing research regarding handwriting, to conduct my own action research, and most importantly to use research-based best practices to polish the classroom curriculum that I have been developing these past 12 years.

It all just keeps getting better and better. As my own school district’s Handwriting Instruction Specialist, it is my job to to direct and deploy Print Path to over 270 classrooms, bringing quality handwriting instruction to 4500 children every school year. I am truly blessed to be able to use my experience as a therapist, classroom instructor, and researcher to help so many children obtain legible and automatic handwriting while they are laying down life-long motor pathways.

Capitals First! blog features ideas for implementing research-based best practices to improve instruction, highlight ways to use my products, and discuss recurring issues. If you have any comments, or would like to see me discuss your questions please drop me an email, info@printpath.org.

Thanks for tuning in! Thia