Without looking I don't even remember what this thread started out as! Yes, DaLynn, I was noticing that you were making some very wise curriculum choices! I have R&S through 7th grade right now, for what it's worth. I MAY get more, but we'll see when we get to that point. If I say it FOR SURE, then it won't happen, ya know? Oh I have the MOH books but not the cd's----sorry! No GB books, cuz we used them up! But that's OK, I still love ya! :lol:
Hahaha! Right back at ya! I'll just wait and bug you next year for MOH2. And every year between now and 2011 about the R&S! What do/did you use for Spanish, or did you even do that? Should we start a "Deena and DaLynn chat about curriculum" thread? :lol:
I wouldn't make a huge issue of it but continue working on it over time. Only practice will help them get better! Amy
:lol: @ the hijack Everyone has their own style with handwriting and I think that as long as it's legible, it's fine. Of course, this is coming from someone who's own handwriting is a mix of cursive, print, and strange homemade letters.
I end up hijacking too sometimes, so it doesn't bother me. I think that it usually ends up being a great topic in the end that more than one person benefits from.
Dalynn a thread hijacker? Deena, stop teaching these girls bad habits!:lol: I bought myself a calligrapy kit with my Christmas money but haven't had a chance to do more than open it. It is something I've wanted to learn since hs and someone on her suggested trying a kit. It's something I want Joyce to learn also.
YEs it is important, as much as a pain as it is, the majority of Adults will write in cursive so in order for our kids to learn to read cursive they must learn to write it. Practical application?
I have no really reason to base this on other then my own experiance. While in college I had to grade test for a prof. His rule was that if you couldn't read it then it didn't pass. If we had to try to figure out what it said it didn't pass. Lots of kids failed test because we coudln't read their writing. Also as a manager, I would not hire people who's handwriting I couldn't read easily. Simply because I would have to read their writing later on in daily reports and employee write ups. Also we had problems with orders and such not being done correctly because of sloppy handwriting. Neither of these are things that you use the computer for, and there wasn't a computer availiable for use if you wanted to try. So I will teach my kids to have good handwriting, and Cursive is faster to write so I plan on using that. A third note is that my Grandmother was a kindergarden teacher for something crazy like 50 years (she is 94 and lives alone and gardens etc) She taught her children (6 boys) to write and move their elbow instead of their wrist. They all write with very pretty script, and they said that it makes it so your hand doesn't get tired. I don't know if I can teach my kids that, since I didn't learn it, but I am also going to try that as well. Now I really have no experiance teaching kids taht since we haven't got the ABC down yet But since it was a question on if we thougth it was important I would say YES!
Okay, Okay... I will get out the red pen and just start marking. I will have him try harder and harder.
My kids can sign their names and read cursive. That is all I am going to teach them in cursive. If they want to learn it for pleasure that is fine. I am much more concerned with legible print.As that is what any employer wants.
I think it depends on the grade level they are learning it in. My brother was forced to learn it (with abeka in a private school) as a kindergartener. He was barely good at printing as it was and then they were pushing cursive? He made his way through and although it was poor at the time. His cursive is exceptional now. I on the other hand, learned cursive in the second grade and had already had time to establish printing. I didn't have a hard time with it but I believe that's because I had time to focus on how cursive works, without having to have the added task of simply understanding the concept of making words come from my hand/pencil. Either way, I wouldn't worry, because my brother and I both have the same handwriting today (and I don't want to brag or anything but we get complimented on it all the time)
Talking about cursive and manuscript writing. My question is when should a child begin to learn cursive writing? We are new to homeschooling and I'm not sure when I should teach this. I learned in 5th grade but I think that was too long to wait...any ideas?
I think the handwriting books start them at like 2nd grade. I might be wrong, but that is what I remember.
I started in 3rd grade. In 2nd grade we learned D'Nealian style. That's what my oldest ds is working on these days (unless you'd like to call it "Italics" or "modern manuscript" :lol: ). He is about to start 4th grade work (would start 4th grade in the fall if ps'd), and won't be starting cursive until I can see that he can handle it fine motor skills-wise.
We use Abeka, and my daughter is in first grade. She began in Kindergarten, as one of the ladies here said, they start in Kindergarten. I thought it woud be too much for her also, but after the first 2-3 weeks, she was fine. I think it's important to teach cursive, I see some kids in high school, that have cursive writing I can't even read, it looks like something a small child wrote. Some don't think it's a big deal, everyone is different. I think it's important to be good at both. If and when she goes to college, I want her to be able to write her papers legibly, and be proud to hand them in. I think it's a shame to be that age, and have handwriting like a child. I will make sure she learns both well. As of right now, she doesn't complain at all about having to learn it. Every child is different. Just as everyone's teaching style is different. Just do what you think is best for your child. If it's too hard, then back off a little, and try again. Good luck. Blessings, Dianna
