Power Pencils is a handwriting camp based on the award winning program Handwriting Without Tears™. Designed to develop and/or improve printing and cursive skills, Power Pencils has proven to be an exciting an effective way to master handwriting!
RRLS handwriting courses have been featured multiple times on local media. Take a look on our press page!
Why Power Pencils?
Handwriting skills are often not taught explicitly in today’s classrooms. However, research tells us that the development of good handwriting skills has a strong impact on student learning and academic success. For this reason, Power Pencils is an effective program that helps students gain penmanship proficiency.
Power Pencils is based on Handwriting Without Tears™, a research-based, award-winning instructional program designed to teach strategies for letter formation, spacing, neatness, writing efficiency, and cursive connections. It is particularly helpful for kids who:
need to relearn the proper letter formation to improve legibility.
are beginning to learn how to print or write cursive and need to develop proper foundation skills.
struggle with writing tasks or need practice developing their grapho-motor skills.
have been formally diagnosed with dysgraphia by an occupational therapist.
Printing Course (JK to Grade 2)
Course highlights:
Fine motor warm-up, sensory and gross motor activities
Proper pencil grip, posture, and pencil positioning
Proper formation for all capital letters, lowercase letters, and numbers
Printing automaticity
Auditory instruction using music and sound
Tactile instruction through activities that use chalk, sand, play dough, and shaving cream
Technology tools in the form of iPad apps
Every student will receive a copy of the Handwriting Without Tears™ printing workbook for in-class use and at-home practise.
Cursive Course (Grade 3 to 6)
Course highlights:
Fine motor warm-up, sensory and gross motor activities
Proper pencil grip, posture, and pencil positioning
Proper formation for all capital and lowercase letters, as well as connections between letters
Cursive automaticity
Tactile instruction through activities that use chalk, sand, play dough, and shaving cream
Technology tools in the form of iPad apps
Skills to improve retention when taking notes
Every student will receive a copy of the Handwriting Without Tears™ cursive workbook for in-class use and at-home practise.
The Rumack Advantage
Years of experience using Handwriting Without Tears™ to improve skills, confidence, and written output.
Classes are taught by Ontario certified teachers.
Every student receives an initial assessment to address individual needs.
Lessons are taught through multi-sensory activities that are fun and engaging.
Lessons balance fine and gross motor activities.
Handwriting courses focus on automatization of letter formation.
Our goal is to build good handwriting habits that will help your child succeed in school and beyond!
Get Started!
Handwriting is a foundation skill that can influence student’s reading, writing, language, and critical thinking (Saperstein Associates 2012).
When children practice printing by hand, their neural activity is far more enhanced and “adult like” (Bounds 2010).
Learning how to write by hand is a necessary motor exercise (Saperstein Associates 2012).
Even at higher grades, students who took notes by hand vs. on a computer were shown to have better comprehension of what was said and had more sustained attention during discussion of texts and concepts (Peverly 2012).