Q: What is Learning Without Tears Level 1 Certification?
A: See About Level 1 Certification.

Q: What are the eligibility requirements for certification?
A: See Requirements.

Q: What is the process for becoming certified?
A: See Process.

Q: What is the in-service?
A: To complete your Level 1 Certification requirements, you must deliver a short handwriting related in-service to a group of people.  We want to ensure that you are fairly comfortable sharing your knowledge with a group.  The audience can be parents, peers, administrators, or other educators—you pick the topic.  Here are some ideas for an in-service :

• Use one of the many handouts from the Advocate CD to teach others about handwriting
• Introduce the Pre-K program to a school
• Present the Printing and Cursive curricula for a school adoption
• Give a small group of colleagues an informal overview about the Learning Without Tears® curriculum
• Introduce The Print Tool® to the therapists in your district
• Educate a group about the importance of teaching handwriting

Q: What will Learning Without Tears Level 1 Certification do for me?
A:  See Benefits.

Q: Does attendance at a school sponsored workshop count toward certification?  
A: We can't accept school district workshop attendance as verification for attending a workshop for two reasons:
1) We can't verify attendance.
2) We often customize school district workshops to accommodate the sponsor both in content (grade levels covered) and in length.

Q: What is the Handwriting Assessment workshop?
A: The Handwriting Assessment workshop teaches attendees how to administer and score the The Print Tool® assessment, interpret the results, write a report, and design a handwriting remediation plan for each child evaluated. In addition, workshop attendees will learn about curriculum analysis, the eight essential components of handwriting, and ways in which they can share their knowledge with others. The final component of the workshop is information about Learning Without Tears® Level 1 Certification.

Q: May I attend a Handwriting Assessment workshop if I haven't attended a Learning Without Tears® workshop?
A: Yes, you may. However, this workshop assumes that all attendees have a basic working knowledge of the Learning Without Tears® curriculum. The presenter will be focusing on the objectives and outline for this workshop and will not have time to spend on the details of using the readiness, printing, or cursive programs. For training on using the curriculum, you should attend either the Pre-K and/or the Printing and Cursive workshops first.

Q: Is there anything after Level 1 Certification?
A:  Currently, there’s not.  However, most things with a Level 1 have a Level 2, so we anticipate there will be more certifications in the future.

Q:  How long does it take to complete the application process? 
A:  It depends on the individual and his or her familiarity with the Learning Without Tears® curriculum and The Print Tool® evaluation and remediation package.  We hear that most applicants are spending 6 to 12 hours on their applications.

Q: What’s the online scoring?
A: It is a great tool that compiles your evaluation results. Enter the scores and print out a report with accurate subtotals and totals for the scores.

Q:  Do you think I will ever be able to submit my complete application on line? 
A:  We plan to roll out a complete online application submission during the second stage of the site’s development.

Q. What if I don’t pass a portion of the certification the first time?
A. One of our certification experts will contact you to answer questions, offer support, and make helpful suggestions to assist you in the area where you struggled in the process.
 
Q. Do I have to be Level 1 Certified to use online scoring?
A. Yes, it’s a benefit to getting certified!
 
Q. Do I ever have to update or resubmit my certification?
A. We don’t have a recertification plan in place.  We may create that opportunity in the future.

Q.  Why are the email addresses in the Handwriting Specialist Directory listed like this? jane [at] yahoo [dot] com
A.  We do this to protect our members from spam. Unfortunately, spammers “harvest” (electronically gather) emails from Web sites all the time, but manual email addresses in the format we use are much harder for them to capture.  This reduces the risk that our member directory will be targeted by spammers.  To email someone in our directory, just copy and paste the manual address and replace the [at] with @ and [dot] with .   For example, jane [at] yahoo [dot] com, should become jane@yahoo.com.

Q: Is this site secure?  
A. Yes, we are using an SSL (secure sockets layer) digital certificate to protect our members-only area and our online application, including payment processing. This SSL certificate encrypts data before transmitting it across the web, so that information you send us via this site (personal information, credit card numbers, etc) cannot be intercepted, altered or forged. You will see that the web address displayed in the secure sections of our site begins with “https” (note the s at the end of the URL). You also may see a lock icon somewhere in the window of your browser (NOT in the Web page display area).

Q: What’s included in the background check that HWT performs on all applicants seeking certification?
A: We run the following reports: a criminal check for federal, felony and misdemeanor offenses, and sex offender check. Although the FCRA notice refers to a credit check, we do NOT run a credit or financial check of any type. However, the law requires that you receive a copy of the FCRA when any consumer investigative report is conducted.

Q: Why do you run background checks on people who wish to become certified?
A: Verification of your degree, your employment experience, and your professional licenses is a direct component of your certification with HWT. Also, once you are Level 1 Certified, you automatically have the option of putting your name and information on this website for parents or others who want to locate an occupational therapist. HWT is promoting our members as professionals that we'd recommend to work with children. Therefore, we think it's wise to check criminal and sex offender history. The online directory states that we've performed this type of check on everyone listed—which we hope will strengthen your credentials and make prospective clients feel good about contacting you.