At-Home Learning Packets
ENGLISH | MAY
Grade
PRE-K
Includes:
Learning Without Tears Materials
Have questions? We’re here to help. Contact us at customeroutreach@[Link] or 888.983.8409.
Introduction Letter
Dear Friends,
All of us at Learning Without Tears™ are committed to helping you continue student learning,
even when schools are closed. We are providing you and your students free resources to help
parents and caregivers support learning while children are out of school. You can find access
to all our free online products and resources at [Link].
In addition, we are providing easy to print and copy At-Home Learning Packets. The packets
use the Handwriting Without Tears, developmentally based curriculum designed to engage
children of all learning styles. They are easy to use whether or not your students are currently
using the Learning Without Tears Curriculum.
These pages were created for extra handwriting practice. The lessons focus on good habits
for numbers, letters, words, and sentences. In the older grades, they help with punctuation,
poem, and paragraph skills, and review number formations. The At-Home Learning Packets are
organized by grade and available in English and Spanish. They include lowercase formation
and cursive where appropriate.
The first few pages include grade-level letter and number formation charts, so you’ll know
what to say when you help your child form their letters and numbers.
We are committed to helping you and your students mitigate any learning loss as you respond
to this unprecedented health issue. We are here to support you throughout, so please reach
out with any questions or concerns.
Thank you!
If you would like more information about free resources to support distance learning,
please go to [Link]/programs/distance-learning.
Capital Letter Formation Chart
Big Line Big Line Big Curve Big Line Big Line Big Line Big Curve Big Line Big Line
A B C D E F G H I
Big Line Little Curve Big Curve Little Line Little Line Little Line Big Line Little Line
Little Line Little Curve Little Line Little Line Little Line Little Line Little Line
Little Line
Big Line Big Line Big Line Big Line Big Line Big Curve Big Line Big Curve Big Line
J K L M N O P Q R
Turn Little Line Little Line Big Line Big Line Big Curve
Keep going Little Curve Big Curve
Keep going Little Curve
Little Line Little Line Big Line Big Line Little Line Little Line
Big Line
Little Curve Big Line Big Line Big Line Big Line Big Line Little Line Little Line
S T U V W X Y Z
Little
Turn Curve Little Line Turn Big Line Big Line Big Line Big Line Big Line
Little Curve Big Line Big Line Little Line
Big Line
[Link]
© 2020 Learning Without Tears
Number Formation Chart
1 starts at the 6 starts at the
Big Line down Big Line down, turn and curl up
2 starts at the 7 starts at the
Big Curve to the bottom Little Line across the top
Little Line across Big Line slides down
3 starts at the 8 starts at the
Little Curve to the middle Begin with S, up to the top
Little Curve to the bottom
4 starts at the 9 starts at the
Little Line down Little Curve, up
Little Line across the middle Big Line down
Big Line down the center
5 starts at the First, write 1
Little Line down to the middle 1 starts at the
Little Curve to the bottom Big Line down
Little Line across the top Next, write 0
0 starts at the
Big Curve, keep going
Stop
© 2020 Learning Without Tears
Lowercase Formation Chart
bump
agic c up like a back down dive down swim up down
bump and over
Dots for you! dot
dive down swim up around down
and over bump bump
Dots for you! dot
agic c down
turn
agic c up like a up higher back down down kick! slide away
bump bump the line
Start at the top!
2 2
3
down
start little line up and around stop
bump the line
At first, curve up.
Then, go straight down. up
down cross start with n swim up down
bump the line and over (m has two humps)
bump
agic c up like a back dive down swim up down
down and over (n has one hump)
turn
© 2020 Learning Without Tears
Lowercase Formation Chart
bump
agic c keep on going stop down, travel, up back down
bump
swim up around slide down slide up
and over bump
dive down
bump
agic c up like a back slide down and up slide down and up
down
U turn
2
dive down swim up slide down slide down
and over
2
little
agic c little agic c turn down curve around slide down slide down
Directions for crossing t:
Left-handed Right-handed
Start at the top!
down cross go across slide down go across
bump the line
© 2020 Learning Without Tears
Fine Motor and Letter Practice for Home
Hand skills are crucial to successful handwriting. Small movements of the hand are referred to as fine motor
skills. If you believe that your child needs extra activities to strengthen his/her hands or fine motor skills, here
are a few suggestions of activities to do with your child.
• Do finger plays. Find books with finger plays at your library.
• Cut pictures from newspapers or magazines. Take a large black marker and draw a line around the picture to give a guideline.
• Put together small beads, Legos, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, etc.
• Knead dough or clay and build an object.
• Find small objects hidden in the dough.
• Play pegboard games.
• Gather small objects from around the house (small buttons, beads, etc.) and place them in a container. Pick them up off
the table with a pair of tweezers and place them back in the container.
• Play with any toys that require moving or placing little pieces.
• Squirt a water bottle outdoors on the sidewalk.
• Squeeze a kitchen baster to move cotton balls with air. Have a race on the table.
• Finger paint with Jell-O or cocoa on a paper plate.
• Use small marshmallows and toothpicks to form letters.
• String popcorn, buttons, or beads to make necklaces.
• Create a design on a piece of paper with a hole punch.
• Clip clothespins to a container.
• Lace cards.
You can do several fun activities at home to encourage letter practice. Make sure to always model the letter for
your child. A few activities are listed below:
• While your child is in the bathtub, draw letters on the wall of the tub in shaving cream or soap paint.
• Take turns tracing letters on each other’s backs and guess the letter. (Write the letter on a piece of paper.)
• Finger paint letters.
• Write letters on the sidewalk with chalk.
• Trace letters in the snow or in the sand.
• Forms letters out of dough or clay.
• Make cookie letters. Form the letters by rolling the dough and putting the pieces together.
• Form letters out of French fries.
• Make letters with pipe cleaners.
• Draw letters on the carpet with your fingers.
• Decorate a letter collage using glitter, paint, and markers.
• Use different types of pencils for writing practice (gel pens, colored pencils, scented markers, crayons, etc.).
• Write your shopping lists together.
• Use a flashlight and make letters on the wall. Guess the letter that was made. Cut out letter templates to place in front
of the flashlight.
• Put letters on a die. Roll the die and write a word that starts with the letter.
• Fish for words. Place cut-out fish in a shoebox. Write words or letters on the fish. Attach paper clips to the fish and
adapt a small pole with a magnet. Come up with a word or sentence using the letter or word on the fish that is caught.
• Write with icing tubes.
© 2020 Learning Without Tears
More Aim & Scribble
© 2008 Jan Z. Olsen Handwriting Without Tears® A Click Away
© 2020 Learning Without Tears
Help e Hold Crayons & Pencils
Help Me Choose My Writing Hand
Some children switch hands when they color or draw. That’s fine until it’s time to learn to write. Children need
to settle on one hand as their writing hand. If a child is truly undecided, choose the right hand. But if a child
prefers the left and holds a crayon or pencil better with the left, choose the left hand. The curriculum we’re
using works equally well for right- and left-handed children.
Help Me Hold a Crayon
Fat crayons are big and heavy for little hands. Trying to hold them can lead to awkward, fisted grips.
We recommend giving children little broken pieces of crayons at first. They’ll hold the little pieces with their
fingertips. Little pieces will naturally develop finger strength and the correct grip. Show children how to hold
regular crayons and pencils, too.
There are two correct grips:
Tripod – 3 fingers Quadropod – 4 fingers
Thumb and pointer pinch. Thumb and pointer/tall finger pinch.
Crayon or pencil rests on tall finger. Crayon or pencil rests on ring finger.
Left Tripod Right Tripod Left Quadropod Right Quadropod
Help Me Hold a Pencil
1. Pick up a pencil and drop it! No writing! Help children pick up the pencil and place their fingers.
Then, drop it again! Do 3–5 pencil pick-ups a day. When a child automatically holds the pencil correctly,
go to step 2.
2. Aim and scribble. No writing—just scribbling to learn how to move the fingers/pencil with ease.
ake 3 dots on paper for children. Have children pick up the pencil and get in good writing posture.
(Rest the pencil hand on the paper. Hold the paper with the helper hand). Now have children aim for
a dot and scribble on the dot. Drop the pencil. Repeat.
3. Now help children write their names with a pencil. Teach NAE with capitals first. Then, teach children to
write Name in title case, with a beginning capital and lowercase letters.
© 2020 Learning Without Tears
Get Set for School® Language & Literacy: 1:1 Assessment
1. Name CAPITALS Preparation (Print to 100% scale) Directions
Capital letters are the first letters children • F old on the dotted lines. •S
ay, Tell me the names of these letters.
recognize and name. Naming these letters •N
ext, unfold and use paper clips on the ends (Point to E, A, etc.)
in random order demonstrates both skills. to make a triangular display. • If the child cannot name letters, look for
• T his printing will be folded inside. The display will an earlier skill, letter recognition. Ask,
show just one line of letters at a time. Which one is R? Which one is A? This shows
letter recognition, but not name recall.
E A R I O T N S
L U C D M P H G K
© 2021 Learning Without Tears
Y F W B Q V X J Z
[Link]/assessments
Get Set for School® Language & Literacy: 1:1 Assessment
2. Name lowercase let ters Preparation (Print to 100% scale) Directions
The first lowercase letters children can • F old on the dotted lines. •S
ay, Tell me the names of these letters.
name are in their names or letters that •N
ext, unfold and use paper clips on the ends (Point to c, w, etc.)
look like capitals. Naming lowercase letters to make a triangular display. • If the child cannot name letters, look for
in random order shows both recognition • T his printing will be folded inside. The display will an earlier skill, letter recognition. Ask, Which
and letter name memory. show just one line of letters at a time. one is w? Which one is x? This shows letter
recognition, but not name recall.
c w x t o s k z
u b a y h g v j r
© 2021 Learning Without Tears
m d e i p n f q l
[Link]/assessments
Fold
Get Set for School® Language & Literacy: 1:1 Assessment
3. Describe
When we tell children how things look, sound, feel, taste, and smell, we’re teaching them to describe.
Describing words (big, bumpy, furry) are adjectives.
Compare
When we describe how two things are alike or different, we’re teaching children how to compare.
Comparisons require noticing the same attribute (like size) that two things share. Opposites are a
wonderful way to introduce comparing.
Look at this elephant. Look at the bird, too. Let’s compare them.
• The elephant is big. The bird is (pause).
• The elephant picks up things with its trunk. The bird picks up things with its (pause).
• The elephant’s trunk is long. The bird’s beak is (pause).
• The elephant has 4 legs. The bird has (pause).
• The elephant is heavy. The bird is (pause).
• The elephant can walk. The bird can (pause).
• The elephant makes a big trumpet sound. The bird makes a (pause).
[Link]/assessments © 2021 Learning Without Tears
Fold
Get Set for School® Language & Literacy: 1:1 Assessment
Nursery rhymes are a delightful way to develop vocabulary, memory, and speech sound awareness. They endure
because of their appealing content, rhythm, and rhyme. Familiarity with nursery rhymes often indicates a language-rich
home and school environment.
4. Nursery Rhyme Repeat (no pictures)
Say what I say. One, two, tie my shoe (pause) . Three, four, shut the door, (pause).________
Jack and Jill, went up the hill, (pause).
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, (pause) Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, (pause).
Rhyming words have the same ending sound. Noticing whether words have the same or different ending sounds is part
of phonological awareness.
Rhyme Or Not (no pictures)
Pig, dig rhyme. They have the same ending sounds: ig.
Pig, hat do not rhyme. They have different ending sounds: ig, at.
• Do bear and dog rhyme? • Do chair and cat rhyme?
• Do bear and chair rhyme? • Do chair and bear rhyme?
Rhyme Find (use pictures)
What is this? (point to bear, dog, chair, cat):
• Which one rhymes with hat? cat • Which one rhymes with hair? bear and/or chair
• Which one rhymes with frog? dog • Which one rhymes with mat? cat
• Which one rhymes with log? dog
[Link]/assessments © 2021 Learning Without Tears
Fold
Get Set for School® Language & Literacy: 1:1 Assessment
5. Words
To develop language, children need to hear people talking from the time they’re babies. They need people
to talk and read to them. The more words the better as spoken words gradually take on meaning.
Words (Use pictures)
What is this? __________car _________ banana _________ backpack __________jacket
Words in a category
•Which one do people drive? (pause) car
•Which one is used for carrying things? (pause) backpack
•Which one can people eat? (pause)_banana What foods do you eat? (pause)
•Which one do people wear? (pause)_jacket What clothes do you wear? (pause)
6. Word Parts (No pictures)
Spoken words have meaning, but they also have sound parts. The ability to hear and manipulate
sounds is called phonological awareness. This assessment looks at how children blend sounds together.
I will say word parts. You put the parts together.
I have the word fish. I have the word bowl. I put them together, fishbowl.
Compound word parts
hot + dog = (pause) hotdog back + pack = (pause) backpack cup + cake = (pause) cupcake
Syllables
ap + ple = (pause) apple car + toon = (pause) cartoon jack + et = (pause) jacket
Onset- rime
/s/+ it = (pause) sit /r/ + un = (pause) run /k/ + ar = (pause) car
[Link]/assessments © 2021 Learning Without Tears
Get Set for School®_ Language & Literacy: 1:1 Assessment Record
Name________________________________________ DOB_____________________ Date ____________________
1. Name Capitals
E A R I O T N S EA R I O T N S L UC DM P H G K YF W BQ V X J Z
Notes___________________________________________________________
2. Name Lowercase Letters
c w x t o s k z c w xt os kz u b a yh g vj r m d e i p n f ql
Notes___________________________________________________________
3. Describe and Compare
Elephant is big, bird ______________ uses trunk, bird_________________
trunk is long, bird’s beak___________ has 4 legs, bird________________
is heavy, bird_____________________ can walk, bird__________________
trumpet sound, bird_______________
Notes___________________________________________________________
4. Nursery Rhymes & Rhyming
Repeat q One, two, tie my shoe q Jack and Jill q Humpty Dumpty
Rhyme or not q bear/ dog q bear/chair q chair/cat q chair/bear
Rhyme find q hat q frog q log q hair q mat
Notes___________________________________________________________
5. Words
What is this? q car q banana q backpack q jacket
Which one do people drive?
Which one is used for carrying things?_______________________________
Which one can people eat?________________________________________
What foods do you eat?___________________________________________
Which one do people wear?_______________________________________
What clothes do you wear?________________________________________
6. Word Parts
Compound words q hot + dog q back + pack q cup + cake
Syllables q ap + ple q car + toon q jack + et
Onset – Rime q /s/ + it q /r/ + un q /k/ + ar
Notes___________________________________________________________
[Link]/assessments © 2021 Learning Without Tears
Get Set for School®
Language & Literacy: Observation Checklist
e
Directions:
am
N
’s
1. Fill in child’s name.
ldi
2. Fill in observation date.
Ch
3. Mark child’s progress.
1. L istens mark
Listens and responds to directions
and questions date
2. Engages mark
Engages in conversations using
sentences date
3. Uses mark
Uses words to express feelings
and needs date
4. Understands mark
Understands important signs in our
environment date
5. R
ecognizes mark
Recognizes parts of a book
(front cover, back cover, title, pictures, words) date
6.Imitates mark
Imitates reading books
(front to back, turns pages 1 by 1) date
7. R
ecognizes mark
Recognizes own name and/or names
of friends and family in print date
8. Predicts mark
Predicts what will happen next
in a story date
9. R
etells mark
Retells a familiar story
(beginning, middle, end) date
10. T
ells mark
Tells steps for a simple activity
(take a bath, make a sandwich) date
Progress Marks
11. C hooses mark
Chooses books for areas of interest and — early, emerging
uses specific vocabulary to talk about them date
12. Uses mark
3 growing
Uses pictures and play writing to
express words and ideas date 3+ meets expectation
[Link]/assessments © 2021 Learning Without Tears
My Picture
Happy spring!
© 2020 Learning Without Tears
