Friday, December 16, 2011

Seeking Writing

 I discovered this app from YourTherapySource and I was never so happy.  I have tried a number of letter formation apps and found some good ones, but none of them matched our handwriting curriculum, Handwriting Without Tears.  I have been waiting for them to come out with their own app and am still waiting.  LetterSchool fits the bill, however.  It gives your a choice of fonts: D'Nealian, HWT and Zaner Bloser.  How is that for choices?  That in itself makes me happy, but there is more.  This is a great app for sensory seekers.  It comes with high quality sounds, graphics and animations.  The design is motivating and engaging.

It provides three steps to learn each letter.
  1. Tap
  2. Trace
  3. Write
First, you touch the starting points of each stroke in the correct sequence.  It doesn't let you start at the wrong place, so kids don't develop bad habits.  Next, it gives you tracing practice.  Your finger does not leave a simple line, though.  It may be a row of dirt, a stream of suds or a railroad track.  After successfully forming the letter, flowers pop out of the dirt, soap bubbles rise out of the suds and a train chugs down the tracks.  Finally, you form the letter on your own.  If you are unsuccessful after several tries, it provides arrows to follow.

         
 
Definitely a sensory delight!  Uppercase letters, lowercase letters and numbers are included and there are two levels of play.  Check out the lite version to try it out, but I am sure you will go for the full version once your are hooked ($2.99).

4 comments:

Abby said...

Thanks for sharing! I am going to check out this app. I have also been looking for a letter tracing app that follows the Handwriting Without Tears formation. The Dexteria app has a letter tracing component, but it doesn't provide much sensory feedback for the child. This app looks promising!
~Abby
http://pediatricotblog.blogspot.com/

Beth Lloyd said...

I agree with your assessment of the letter tracing component of Dexteria. I use it mostly for the finger sequencing and isolation activity. For some kids who really have difficulty, I have to put colored pipe cleaner "rings" on their fingers to correspond with the colors on the app.

I still am in love with Letter School!

Beth Lloyd said...

Abby, I forgot to tell you I enjoy your blog. I am going to use the weighted glove idea this week!

Abby said...

Thanks, Beth! I enjoy your blog too! I love the Letter School app. I'm so glad you shared it. One of my goals for this year is to become more familiar with a variety of apps and their therapeutic uses. I'm slowly starting to incorporate the use of apps more :)

I would love to hear how the weighted glove works. So far the students I thought might benefit from it have not tolerated wearing the glove, or the glove has been too big!