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QUINCY, ILL. -- Here's a story that came out of one of our recent Parent Advisory Board Meetings.

You might remember it's a group of local parents who help us report on stories that matter most to you and your children.

They told us about a local school thats switched handwriting styles, all in an effort to improve the learning process.

Quincy Early Childhood Center changed from a style known as "D-Nealian" to a manuscript style through a pilot program called, "Handwriting Without Tears."

Here's the difference between the two -- D'Nealian is a little more slanted than manuscript.

It calls for a continuous stroke and has small "serifs" or tails at the end of the strokes.

This is what the "manuscript-style" looks like through the Handwriting Without Tears program.

The lines are more upright, and kids have to pick up their writing utensil for each line or stroke.

For example, you have to pick up your pencil 3 times to print a "K."

KHQA's Rajah Maples headed to the Early Childhood Center to find out what the difference is between the two methods, and how the switch is going for this KHQA FactFinder report.

These preschoolers are learning how to draw their "L's" through Handwriting Without Tears. It's a pilot program that also uses these wooden pieces to help kids "visualize" letters before they even begin to draw them.

Director Julie Schuckman said, "We are seeing success. We're seeing kids write letters and names earlier in the year than they ever have before. We're seeing them be excited about it."

This teacher is showing individual letters on this piece of paper; if it's created with a little line, big line or both. Then kids recreate the letter using these wooden sticks.

The kids also use these small chalkboards, chalk, crayons and workbooks to draw the letters.

Schuckman said, "Handwriting is all about fine motor skills. We've seen kids with pencil grasps that aren't quite normal, but the crayon is small and allows them to put the pressure down to get a good mark. So it takes more pressure on the nerve, and the more senses to the brain, and it reinforces it over and over again."

Schuckman said the program builds upon success and positive reinforcement, rather than asking kids to do something they're not quite ready to do or are having trouble with. Thus, the "Handwriting without Tears" name. Schuckman said many of her teachers were skeptical about the switch at first, but now they've become believers in the program.

We also spoke with Assistant Superintendent Trish Sullivan-Viniard and Literacy Coordinator Carol Frericks about the pilot program.

They told us educators plan to bring together their observations that they've noticed over the past school year to decide whether to make the program permanent.