Temple Sholom Teaches Tots to Write Without Tears

The Selma Maisel Nursery School of Temple Sholom, a Jewish nursery school in Greenwich, is implementing the Handwriting Without Tears learn-to-write program for its students this year. The nursery school also features a hands-on, creative curriculum.

After a successful pilot year of the Handwriting Without Tears program, The Selma Maisel Nursery School of Temple Sholom is implementing the progressive pre-writing program as a regular part of its classes for 3- and 4-year-olds. This specially designed writing readiness module help kids develop essential study skills early.

School director Phyllis Lyons says the school’s focus on helping kids prepare for their scholastic futures was the main reason behind adopting the Handwriting Without Tears program. “After seeing the expectations for children going into kindergarten, we wanted to make sure we were giving our kids the best foundation,” Lyons says.

Each week, students work with a visiting occupational therapist. Through a series of games and exercises kids improve fine motor skills, learn to recognize letters and words, and become more familiar with basic phonetics. The whole program is designed to help kids feel secure about their academic abilities.

With its hands-on, creative curriculum, the Jewish nursery school fosters an interactive environment where kids learn through play. Each day, tots are imbued with rich life experiences through a variety of group and individual activities such as storytelling, painting, music and movement, block building, and book publishing.

“Every child should feel good about themselves and have a confidence, because when you have confidence the world is yours,” Lyons says.