New Horizon Academy Selects ez Write for Their New Handwriting Curriculum
ez Write, a research-based handwriting program for pre-school to 5th grade students, will be piloted in pre-school and Pre-K programs in selected New Horizon Academy centers this summer. A full roll-out to over 50 NHA centers is being planned for the fall.
- Denver, CO (1888PressRelease) June 22, 2011 - ez Write is pleased to announce the selection of their researched and engaging handwriting program by New Horizon Academy (NHA). ez Write will be piloted in pre-school and Pre-K programs in ten NHA centers this summer. If successful, a full roll-out to over 50 NHA centers is being planned for the fall.
Ms. Mary Terras, NHA Vice President, said, "ez Write is a wonderful match with all of the learning components we already have in place in our centers. ez Write fits with our goals of innovation and ensuring children are best prepared for school. We are very impressed with the ez Write system."
ez Write is a research-based, developmentally appropriate handwriting program that engages all learning styles. Easy to use and easy to implement, the program encourages "automaticity" or the ability of students to retrieve and produce letters automatically. It is based on research showing that handwriting competency can have dramatic effects on academic achievement and self-esteem.
"Children in preschool are beginning to express an interest in learning to write and we want to have the right tools in place for them," added Ms. Terras. "ez Write is easy to implement and includes many components that can also be done at home. At NHA we strive to link what children learn in our centers with their home life. ez Write exercises are also lots of fun and very engaging for preschoolers. For example, one exercise has the children make the letter 'C' in sand. Our center directors couldn't wait for the kits to be delivered and put into use!"
Phonics, word families, rhyming, alliteration, sentence structure and high frequency words are all used in the ez Write curriculum to create a strong language arts connection. Multi-sensory and multi-disciplinary activities as well as a strong school/home connection are also key ingredients to ez Write.
"I am so excited to have a quality learning center like New Horizon Academy add ez Write to their curriculum," said Ms. Mary Beckman, an early childhood special education teacher and co-creator of ez Write. "We believe that the writing and literacy skills their students learn through ez Write will translate into more successful students in coming years."
"Research has shown that the more children (and adults) have to focus on the process of handwriting the less capacity they have for higher-level processes such as idea generation, vocabulary and creativity," added Ms. Tami Thoreson, an occupational therapist and co-creator of ez Write. "ez Write seeks to make handwriting as automatic as possible to allow the child to reach their potential in written language as well as higher levels in other areas. I am looking forward to learning about the progress of the children at New Horizons centers."
Pilot program adopters of ez Write have seen dramatic and lasting results. After just 3 months of using ez Write one 1st grade class experienced an 80% increase in letters per minute (LPM) and 2nd graders using ez Write were tested at a higher LPM than 5th graders who had not been part of the program. Legibility also improved dramatically with ez Write.
About ez Write
ez Write is a research-based, developmentally appropriate handwriting program that engages all learning styles. ez Write was developed by Mary Beckman, an early childhood special education teacher, and Tami Thoreson, an occupational therapist to improve handwriting in the early years. Research has shown that improved handwriting skills translate to improved learning in other subject areas. ez Write consists of easy to use grade specific kits that can be purchased for individual classrooms or for entire schools. In addition, Special Education/ELL, Occupational Therapy and Home Kits are available for purchase.
About New Horizon Academy
New Horizon Academy, based in Minnesota, has been serving families since 1971. New Horizon Academy now has 52 centers and serves over 6000 children. Because of our continuing love, belief, and dedication to children, we have flourished and become one of the nation's most successful and respected child care providers. The commitment to excellence our founder, Sue Dunkley strived for in New Horizon's early beginning is the foundation that our company is built on, and is the cornerstone of all our New Horizon Academy centers. Today, New Horizon is operated by many dedicated people. Although we are growing and serving more families each year, we will always have family roots, a warm atmosphere, an open door, and a commitment to excellence.
To learn more visit ez Write at http://www.ezwriteonline.com/
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