If your child doesn't really have great handwriting in cursive nor that great in printing, do you/would you push cursive? Or would you just drop it and go on?
They need to be able to sign their name and they need to be able to read cursive. I think being able to write legibly is very important, but how they do that - cursive or printing, is not.
He can read cursive, write in cursive (not very nicely), and sign his name. I was just curious if he is not that great at it if I should keep pushing it or drop it and have him work harder on things that matter more.
Jeannie's evaluator said it's best to catch problems while they are young, before they are set in their way of doing things.
Hubby has to print, alot mostly caps (work), I write in cursive (most of the time). They have to be able to write decent in both print and cursive. My younger two are starting to print and my oldest is learning cursive.I will have my oldest rewrite stuff.
I have to be able to read Emma's cursive writing. If I can't, she does it again. How she does it, doesn't matter to me as long as it is legible. Everybody has a style of their own.
My ds writes very well. My dd is terrible. lol. I have her rewrite anything I cannot read. I am pushing cursive right now because I want her to feel comfortable writing that way. HOwever, she is allowed to choose manuscript or cursive on plenty of assignments.
I don't have it handy, but I found a daily cursive practice book that we really like. It shows how the work is supposed to look so I look at it as copywork but you also have an example of what the words should look like. I'm just getting in the door but I'll try to remember to put the title on here.
I think it's important they know HOW to read & write both ways... and eventually (hopefully, at least lol), be legible in both.... but I wouldn't waste too much timehaving a handwriting 'class'. My son has HORRID handwriting.... so when he's doing chapter/lesson reviews, I just make him write the questions & answers ---- ya know, give him more to write in all his usual subjects. I'm hoping it gets better.... but most people can't read my husband's or my father's handwriting... so he may just be doomed by genetics.
Okay, the workbook is - Daily Handwriting Practice Contemporary Cursive and the publisher is Evan-Moor. It has daily practice for 36 weeks. It is nice because it is not lengthy but still gives reinforcement everyday. We found it in B&N.
I think it's important - both scripts. I've always been able to write neatly. My father couldn't write well at all and it bugged everyone around him - no matter how much we loved him. Amazingly - my son can write very neatly. My daughter rushes. Therefore they are both going to do penmanship soon again. My kids try and tell me they can type everything.... and I ask what happens when the power goes out? Also - I tease them that they need it if they ever lose their voice (I did in HS for 2 weeks!).
I've found a few places where I like doing handwriting from... one of my favorites right now is www.worksheetworks.com - while it's in beta it is free. But you can type the script you want to type (even cursive) and you can do it either as a tracing or as copy work. Also...our dollar store has great work books... When my eldest was transitioning to cursive, I got a workbook from the dollar store and had her do one side of a page per day. Then I had her do a letter a day from www.handwritingforkids.com (which is great b/c it has the "how to" animations for correct formation). THEN...we moved into an actual penmenship curriculum. I like the Horizon's penmenship because even though it is mostly cursive, there is one day a week where they practice manuscript as well. That said, handwriting is my daughters (and my son's) least favorite activity...and she does it first to be done with it. My son doesn't do it first, but he does not like doing it much. He likes it much more when I use worksheetworks and he gets to say what he wants typed out. That he does without complaint. Another thing I did with my eldest when she was learning was that I used www.edhelper.com 's handwriting sheet generator - same concept as worksheet works that you get to type out a script but I always made it a "Today is etc...and made it a journal about her life. Now we have this neat memory of her kindergarten and first grade years. It also helped her memorize her name, address and telephone number well. (that was repeated every day) and helped her grasp the passage of time as well. Anyway...fix it now while he's young. It may be tough...but....it's easier now than later. Just and opinion, though...I have no basis on that other than personal opinion!
Oh - this past year I used Happyscribe stuff from currclick. The kids picked out a topic and then worked from that. I also mixed in the Bible verses one and they enjoyed it a little more
When Elijah was in K, his teacher would give him a paper to print his letters. When he was done, she took that paper and corrected everything that was below the line, above the line or not neat. I was so mad because my little one couldn't take all that red color on his paper. I was talking with a friend of mine and she told me to let it be. The more she corrected, the better he would be. I thought to myself, ya, right. Well, today we were at the library and he was talking to the people in the bookstore, they were complaining about the way kids write today. They asked him to write his name, he wrote it so very nice, they were floored. They told me that he was a very smart boy. He is a very good writer and printer today. I'm sure it was because of all the red on his paper. We left K in Feb. of that year. I kept on correcting him over the years and everybody always tells me how nice of a writer he is. Keep at it. Maybe not so much at a time, but maybe start with a few sentences and then add as his writing gets better.
I think some people are "doomed by genetics." :lol: My ds9 has had some HORRIBLE manuscript handwriting issues, so much so that I hesitated to bring him into cursive. I have to be able to READ what he writes, and it's not feasible to put EVERYTHING on the computer. (A lot of our work IS done on the computer. I think typing is also a necessary skill in today's world. But not to the complete neglect of legible handwriting.) Anyway. We've found italics (or D'Nealian) to be a fantastic transitional solution here. He does very well with it, writes legibly and carefully without taking ages to do so. Soon we will move into him doing all of his work in this writing style, so that it is the "norm" before moving him on to learning cursive. We use Getty-Dubay Italics books; they move from Italic print to Italic cursive, and he enjoys the "workbook" feel to them.
We use the Getty-Dubay Italic series too. My dd is in 6th grade this year, and LOVES the italic handwriting! She did OK before, but does GREAT now! I was a sloppy writer until I had 2 penpals who wrote very neatly. I was embarrassed, so I'd buy cards from the store just for the calligraphy style writing, and I practiced them over and over. now my natural way to write is in calligraphy style. That's why my dd likes the GB Italic, because it's close to how I write.
Deena, you're my best friend. Any time I have a curriculum question, I'm just gonna ask you first. :lol:
:lol: Seems like everything I look at, or am using, you either are using or did use at one time. Besides, your youngest is a year older than my oldest, so it's good timing. Can I claim the REST of the R&S's? Got a Getty-Dubay Book B you wanna get rid of? :lol: Don't have an MOH1 reproducibles CD-ROM you no longer need, do ya? Okay, okay, I'll stop. I'm good at hijacking threads this week....
