Kick Start Kindergarten

Great workbook that I've paired with Explode the Code and Learning to Write in 100 Easy Lessons. We usually do a lesson first in the "Learning to Write..." and then practice tracing/copying a letter in this workbook.

This is a great book for learning the basics of writing letters and numbers - we actually purchased this book twice (for extra practice). The flow is easy to follow and progressive (letters with similar curvature are practiced together). Great practice for pre-k or kindergarten just learning to write their letters/words.

These are my favorite books for kids to work on over the summer. I bought a few & I use them when I tutor kids too. Great tool!

My 3.5 year old was eager to have school work like big sis and this has truly been what we were missing the first time around. So glad I found this for her before the kindergarten level. She loves the extra lines to follow and it's building confidence with the same great principles.

Love this book to get my little one started on his letters. Perfect for homeschooling

Overall this is an excellent program, but it's simply tremendously difficult to understand just what is presented in which level and what add-ons to buy. The Teacher's Guide: Awful and redundant. Like it's wild to contemplate how they managed to make this over 200 pages. Slightly useful components that are basically 10 pages in this bloated monstrosity: 1. A chart showing each level of the program involves (conspicuously absent from promotional materials) 2. A discussion of proper pencil grip and positioning the child. 3. "Stories" to explain how the numbers 1-10 are drawn. 4. Explanation of the "wood pieces", how to introduce them, how to describe the process of building out a letter to a child 5. Description of the "Wet-Dry-Try" method using the chalkboard. 6. Mention of the link idtt dot LWTears dot com /ext/TGKSK/2022 where you can put in any email address and immediately get free access to the digital versions of student and teachers editions for ALL levels of the program. Wherein you can then understand what actually happens in each level of the program and the fact that if you've seen one teacher's guide for a level you've basically seen them all. Levels of the program: Pre-K: "My First School Book"- Lines, shapes, uppercase letters. Intended to be done with crayon. Uppercase letters are only done large and while tracing, there's not a real expectation students will free-hand it. Lowercase letters are not taught here, but there's some odd add-on lowercase book for that level but it can only be purchased as part of a set with My First School Book, as far as I can tell. "Transitional-K":"Kick Start Kindergarten"- Gentle introduction to uppercase letters, lowercase letters in pencil, with the feeling this is a first introduction to making letters with some free-hand exercises. There is "word" formation only to writing single letters to complete already printed words "C--W" Kindergarten: "Letters and Numbers for Me"- Faster introduction of uppercase letters, rapidly moving to writing them in smaller print than Transitional-K with practice there, lowercase letters. Copying of a few words and some short sentences. First Grade- "My Printing Book"- Basically assumes familiarity with uppercase and lower case letters, spends a few pages briefly reviewing them, then moves into writing words and sentences and substantial practice for students to hone what they basically already know Second Grade-"Printing Power"-Refresh of letters and numbers, emphasis on really refining issues that might be outstanding, then moving onto copying relatively lengthy sentences. So if your kid is only semi-proficient with a crayon, maybe do "My First School Book" (or look elsewhere to build motor skills). If your kid can sort of hold a pencil and make lines but not really letters, then "Kickstart Kindergarten". If your kid has some pencil grip and maybe a semblance of some letters already then "Letters and Numbers for Me". If your kid can make most of the letters pretty well but it looks like child scratch then "My Printing Book". If your kid has the letters basically down and needs to refine it further then "Printing Power". But, MOST IMPORTANTLY, you REALLY ought to buy the "Handwriting Without Tears Student Manipulative Pack" which is NOT sold on Amazon at the time of this review and goes for around $20. That's the mat, wooden pieces, chalkboard, chalk and sponge. That's what makes the whole program really work and superior to any other traditional handwriting workbook. It's making letter formation as independent as possible and the wooden pieces encourages students to learn how to make the letters without a guide. By using the borders of the correctly-sized chalkboard children with limited spatial skills can start to get the appropriate scale and positioning of lines to make a letter. The tiny chalk pieces naturally encourages a correct grip. The tiny sponges allow children to erase your example while precisely following the letter. The workbook itself then uses grey boxes with the same ratio and cues as the chalkboard and mat, making uppercase letter formation without directly tracing much easier. The tiny pencils included are fine, but I already had decent child sized pencils my daughter preferred. In summary: 1. Probably skip the Teacher's Guide, and if you don't, only buy one at the Transitional Kindergarten level and higher and look at the others online at the link I put above. 2. Definitely buy the manipulatives if your kid has little or no experience making letters. 3. Probably skip "My First School Book" and start at "Kick Start Kindergarten" to get your kid writing letters with a pencil. "Letters and Numbers for Me" is probably for students with fairly decent pencil grasp and some ability to make letter-like things, but if in doubt I'd lean towards Kick Start Kindergarten for a more gentle progression and added practice. "My Printing Book" is for kids with some general competency with letters getting them into words. "Printing Power" is getting super fluent with printing.

Good value for the price. Helpful for learning and feels worth it for what you get.

My 7 year old son has used this for a few years now. It is great; he takes it to his therapy class & then help him with hand strength & writing with this book.

Highly recommend for kindergarten kids showing an interest in letters and printing! Very simple and easy to use.

quality as expected

Awesome resource to help young learners find patience while writing. Super helpful and easy to follow. Really awesome resource

My son will soon be 4 and I have been struggling, up until this point, to get him to be interested in writing. This learning system has helped to break down writing into easy steps with helpful learning tools and activities. The worksheet is not overwhelming for him. He actually was able to write his name in capitals by the end of the first week using this system. The only negative is that you need additional materials/supplies to get the fullness of this curriculum. I have managed to find my own supplies I already have that work with the lesson rather than buy additional supplies.

Love these books