Learning Without Tears

By Learning Without TearsChecked October 29, 2026No affiliate links. Programs never pay to appear. How we label

Learning Without Tears publishes Handwriting Without Tears, a handwriting program with one workbook and teacher's guide for each grade, from pre-K readiness and printing to cursive in 2nd to 6th grade. Lessons pair explicit teaching with multisensory activities and hands-on tools such as wood pieces and a slate, and the publisher says occupational therapists designed it. For home use you buy the grade's student bundle (the handwriting workbook plus a Building Writers book and a writing journal) and, for lesson plans, the matching teacher's guide.

Subjects: Language arts
Grades: Pre-K to 6th grade: printing through 2nd grade, cursive from 2nd grade source ↗
Method: Traditional source ↗
Format: Books and workbooks source ↗
Faith label: Secular
Cost a year: $24.95 a year. 3rd grade student bundle (Cursive Handwriting workbook, Building Writers D and Writing Journal D): $24.95. Read on October 29, 2026; prices change. source ↗
Placement: Family buying guide by age and grade ↗

What it does well

A grade's student bundle costs $24.95, so a year of handwriting practice is inexpensive.
There is one workbook for each grade from pre-K to 6th, with printing first and cursive from 2nd grade.
Hands-on tools such as wood pieces, a slate and dough are sold for the youngest children, ages 3 and up.
The family buying guide matches each book to an age and grade, which makes choosing a level simple.

Watch for

Each grade's teacher's guide is a separate purchase at $49.95, more than the student bundle itself.
It covers handwriting and some writing practice only; phonics, spelling and grammar need other programs.
Hands-on materials such as the slate and wood pieces are sold separately from the workbooks.
Much of the publisher's site is written for schools, so the family buying guide is the place to start.

It fits

A family that wants a low-cost, grade-by-grade handwriting workbook, including for a young child who needs help with letter formation and fine motor skills.

It doesn’t fit

A family that wants handwriting folded into a full language arts program, or prefers copywork from real books.

Visit Learning Without Tears ↗

Compare Learning Without Tears

Other programs for the same subject and grades:

Blossom and Root Preschool to 6th grade (Level 6 still being finished)
Brave Writer Ages 5 to 18, about kindergarten to 12th grade, in five age bands
The Good and the Beautiful Preschool to 12th grade; high school has language arts and biology only
Institute for Excellence in Writing Primary level for kindergarten to 2nd grade, then Levels A, B and C for 3rd to 12th grade; the publisher says grades are approximate
Khan Academy Kindergarten to 12th grade, plus early college courses
Lightning Literature Kindergarten to 12th grade, in levels such as Cloud (K to 2), Spark (1 to 3), Flash (2 to 4), Grades 4 to 6, Storm (6 to 8) and high school courses
Logic of English Foundations for ages 4 to 7 (about pre-K to 2nd grade); Essentials for ages 8 to adult (about 3rd grade and up)
Reading Eggs Ages 2 to 13, about pre-K to 8th grade

Lists it is on

What we read, and how we label

Every fact on a card was read on the publisher's own website on the date shown, and the page it came from is linked. A fact we could not confirm there is left out. Costs are for one child and one year of the main package, as the publisher's page showed them that day; prices and sales change. Method and format are the publisher's own description where it gives one. The only thing we say about religion is one label, secular or faith-based, given by the rule above; where the publisher's pages don't settle it, the card has no label.

The publisher’s pages we read on October 29, 2026:

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