Why Handwriting High Five?

Handwriting is the primary method used in the schools to communicate information, feelings, and thoughts. However, with the rigorous curriculum in the schools, parents and teachers may have little time to work on developmental skills and to practice handwriting skills; furthermore, they may have little training in working effectively with students to make handwriting successful.

The purpose of Handwriting High Five is to assist parents and teachers in working more effectively with all students to make handwriting a pleasurable learning process with a functional outcome. It can be used in conjunction with any handwriting program.

Handwriting High Five is an interactive multimedia computer program developed by a school-based occupational therapist in response to frequently asked questions from teachers and parents about how to make early writing experiences successful.

• Getting Ready to Write (posture, pencil grasp, paper position, and more)
• Improving Legibility (spacing, letter formation, erasing, and more)
• Better Quality (consistency, modeling, practice, and more)
• Organization (planning space, visual cues, lines, boundaries, and more)
• Tips for Success (breaking tasks into steps, anticipating, simplifying, and more)
• Using Scissors Correctly (bonus module on handling scissors, managing paper, visual cues, and more)

Who can benefit:
Parents, elementary and preschool teachers, occupational therapists and certified occupational therapy assistants, resource specialists, speech and language therapists, paraprofessionals, principals, psychologists, pediatricians, evaluators, professors of teacher training programs, and more.

When it can be used:
When supporting beginning, struggling, and young writers

Where it can be used:
In pre-schools, elementary schools, parent-ed classes, teacher in-services, homes, professional training classes, professionals’ offices.

Why it can be helpful:
To differentiate instruction, implement good practice strategies for all students, support users with ready-to-use handouts and a resource list, prevent poor habits, provide a first level of intervention for at-risk students, train parents, educators, and professionals working with children.

How it can be used:
For training, prevention, intervention, need identification, classroom instruction, and as a recommendation in a report.

Contents

Getting Ready to Write
How a child sits at the desk, holds the pencil and positions the paper all affect handwriting results. Topics covered in this section include positioning a child in a properly sized desk and chair, placing the paper at the correct angle and holding the pencil with the correct grasp.

Improving Legibility
There are many factors that can cause a child's writing to be difficult to read or to appear messy. Topics covered in this section include instruction for forming letters correctly, spacing between words, using proper letter case, writing with a sharp pencil, staying between the lines and erasing.

Better Quality
When a child struggles with writing neatly, extra support and instruction may be helpful. Topics covered in this section include improving written work by learning to control tools

Organization
When a child has difficulty planning, organizing and writing his thoughts, providing visual cues as support can help. Topics covered in this section include how to plan blank space, where to begin writing, what kind of lines to use for writing and how to structure writing space.

Tips for Success
A student may avoid written assignments because he doesn't know how to get started. Topics covered in this section include breaking tasks into steps, anticipating difficulties, and simplifying tasks.

Using Scissors Correctly
A child may look awkward and feel frustrated when cutting with scissors. Topics covered in this section include how to cut in the proper direction, what type of paper to use, what types of visual cues to provide and strategies for managing scissors and paper.

Resources
Handwriting High Five includes a tip sheet for each chapter covered. Each tip sheet lists the key points for handy reference. Click here for a sample.

Additionally, Handwriting High Five includes information on purchasing items mentioned in the program, links to relevant websites, and recommendations for more in-depth study on specific topics.

Is it possible to load Handwriting High Five onto other computers?
Purchasing a cd allows an individual to load it onto the user's personal computer(s). Due to the copyright, it does not allow the user to load it onto another person's computer.

Can Handwriting High Five be used as a cost-saving measure for my district?
Handwriting High Five is a tool for educating parents and teachers who want the basic information about handwriting and some remediation strategies for common problems children have when attempting to master handwriting. Because Handwriting High Five addresses concerns frequently voiced by teachers and parents and provides strategies that can be used at school and at home to facilitate success, it can reduce the need for a referral for skilled intervention.