How are our programs different?
Co-created by an occupational therapist, The TV Teacher handwriting program uses a multi-sensory approach of visual demonstrations and rhythmic chants. It is designed to engage and direct the child’s attention on a single chapter for approximately 5 minutes while exposing them to its rhythmic chant or song. Children are excited to watch and write because the visual instruction is fun and engaging. Many occupational therapists have difficulty motivating their patients to attempt writing, and that’s where we can help! Our engaging visuals paired with the memorable chants will motivate children, and the repetition we offer will help assist the child to carryover his or her new writing skill.
Most occupational therapists agree that if a child has been referred for therapy, there may be fundamental deficits to address besides handwriting skill–especially for those with special needs like Autism, Down syndrome, ADHD, Cerebral Palsy, etc. Because there is no formal training required to use our online writing program, parents can easily administer this at home to assist with pre-writing and letter formation. This allows the occupational therapist to spend more time in treatment addressing fundamental issues such as trunk strength, scapular strength, fine motor coordination, and body awareness.
What makes The TV Teacher curriculum so different is that we’re FUN! So many therapists are shocked because they actually use our program as a motivator to get kids working on other skills first, and writing with Miss Marnie, The TV Teacher, becomes the reward! What a concept!
How is our curriculum designed?
One of the best features of The TV Teacher video modeling based handwriting programs are the menu designs where you can easily navigate to any pre-writing or handwriting formation chapter your student needs to work on. These chapters are about 5 minutes each, and after a chapter ends, it will return to the main menu. It will not play until another chapter is selected. This is an excellent feature for children who perseverate. It also may be seen as an opportunity to encourage vocalization (to request a specific chapter).
Our online handwriting curriculum menus make it easy to select individual chapters one at a time.
How best to use this writing curriculum in face to face treatment
Therapists can use our online handwriting curriculum in one-on-one sessions, a small group, or with an entire class! Our video instructions are segmented by formation chapters which are about 5 minutes each. We include not only demonstrating writing the formation several times per chapter, but in our Alphabet Beats curriculum, for example, we also include 8-10 vocabulary words and concepts. These are both educational and therapeutically based, and we incorporate many important skills:
- Body awareness – we visually label most body parts and encourage imitation
- Fine motor skills – we address cutting, tracing, tying shoes, lacing, painting, and many others
- Spatial concepts – heavy vs. light, thick vs. thin, tall vs. short, etc.
- Social skills – talking loud vs. talking quietly, being alone vs. being with friends, going to the dentist, visiting the doctor, obeying class rules, adjusting to “change”
- Activities of daily living – brushing teeth, brushing hair, dressing, washing hands
- Sensory Integration Dysfunction – touching play dough, finger painting, etc.
Strategically placing these concepts within the Alphabet Beats program offers therapists a chance to discuss and use them in treatment or in a group setting. We encourage you to expand on these concepts and ideas. We have also made available the exact activities demonstrated within the videos so those children that are motivated to “cut the star” or “lace the lemon” can work on these skills during your therapy session. Visit our free downloadable page to print off these activities and have fun along with Miss Marnie.
Can I use The TV Teacher writing curriculum in teletherapy?
The TV Teacher online handwriting curriculum is hosted on our own site streaming.thetvteacher.com and can therefore be accessed by any devise you choose: laptop, tablet, or smartphone. You log into our site using your email address and password so you can switch between devices as often as you like; however there is only one person to log in under the same email address at the same time. This is designed to prevent fraud as well as allow you flexibility that if you move between classrooms, and forget to log off the site, it will follow the latest log on and kick the previous one off the site.
Why are we the best writing program for teletherapy? We’re visual! The TV Teacher online writing program has been used very successfully in Zoom, Google meets, and other similar teleteaching platforms by logging into our site and sharing the screen with your students. After the video is complete, practice sky writing the formation while saying the chant together. Practice the formation for a few minutes using various textures such tracing bumpy letters, shaving cream, rice bins, etc; or go straight to paper. On our streaming site, download the pdf of our chants/songs and share it with their caregivers so that there is communication and consistency in the language your student is using to make their formations. This can be critical for kids with special needs who may have language delays.
**COVID NOTE: Due to the various ways of remote learning / teletherapy during the 2020-2021 school year, we have expanded our coding to allow for therapists to share their login information with up to 24 of their students so that students can log in and also learn asynchronously! Our copyright is for one therapist for their caseload, and it is against the law to abuse this copyright. Please respect our act of generosity and flexibility during this unusual time.**
