MURRIETA -- Teaching children at age 5 how to write is a challenge in itself, said some Murrieta kindergarten teachers. But teaching them how to write neatly can prove to be an even more difficult task, they said.

The teachers, expected to send their pupils into first grade with some decent penmanship skills, are especially on the hot seat. But a new program is giving them a leg up, they say.

Trustees in June approved a program put into service districtwide this school year called "Handwriting Without Tears," which uses a combination of visual and hands-on learning techniques combined with a completely different approach to teaching the alphabet than going from A to Z.

"Handwriting is always a problem for teachers, especially for kindergarten teachers, because sometimes (the students) are not yet ready for it," said Coleen O'Dowd, a kindergarten teacher at Murrieta Elementary School. Students entering kindergarten can be as young as 4.

"The reason we like this program is because it's so child-friendly," O'Dowd said. "It's not frustrating, so they don't hate it."

The program begins to teach the alphabet to students by focusing on letters that are written in the same fashion. For example, the letter D is first represented in stick images as a large, clockwise curve. It is followed by the P, represented as a small clockwise curve. Next comes the B, shown as two small, clockwise curves.

The program also uses small, wooden cutouts shaped as the curves and lines that make up the foundation of how letters of the alphabet are written. First, students are allowed to play with the cutouts to get that urge out of the way, O'Dowd said. Then, they are encouraged to create letters with them.

"I like the sticks," said Rachel Downen, 6. "You can make letters."

Students also work with individual chalkboards the size of paperback books to practice writing, using the top left part of the board to give them a starting point they can touch and see, O'Dowd said.

"Many children are kinesthetic," O'Dowd said. "They have to touch things to learn."

Pencil grip and posture also are emphasized during the lessons, and the paper used only offers two parallel lines, rather than the standard three, to teach how to "truly fit" the letters, she said.

There is even a special song the students sing to get ready for their daily lesson, she said.

"It's something we have never taught before," she said. "It's so proactive."

O'Dowd and Shirley Sehorn, who are partner kindergarten teachers, have been using the program since 2001, after they learned about it at a conference. It includes lessons on numbers.

Kindergarten teachers at every elementary school in the district field-tested the program last spring and were unanimous in their support for using it for all kindergarten students, according to district officials.

In addition to helping mainstream students, those with special needs also benefit, teachers said.

Alta Murrieta Elementary School teacher Pandra Beecroft, who teaches special education students, said she was astonished at how the learning style was able to improve their writing skills when she piloted the program last spring. Her students have disabilities such as autism.

She said five kindergarten students who could not write their names were able to do so after the first month of using Handwriting Without Tears.

"It's very visual," she said. "They are able to grasp the idea of what the letters are."

Five months into the program's use districtwide, there have been no complaints, said Chuck Smith, president of the Murrieta Teachers Association, the teachers union.

What's more, the program actually costs the district less money than what was done in the past, which was printing handwriting booklets for kindergartners, said Murrieta Valley Unified School District spokeswoman Karen Parris.

The materials cost about $1,600 for each school and were paid for through money set aside for books and supplies in the district's budget, as well as proceeds from the state lottery, she said.

Good handwriting skills are important because they can help young students concentrate on their lessons better, rather than focusing on just getting words and sentences down, she said.

The company that sells the Handwriting Without Tears program touts dozens of studies and endorsements of its effectiveness on its Web site, www.hwtears.com.

The students say all that matters is that it's fun.

"It helps me to write the letters better," said student Micah Chitraroff, 5.

For student Ian Johnson, 6, the lessons help him feel better about his skills as a young writer.

"I think I like how I write my numbers so well," he said. "My fingers know how to write."

Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.