The kids had been in private school but, then had to switch to public school. They were learning cursive in private school in second grade when they had to switch. In public school they were not learning cursive. My fifth grader was the only one in her class who was even using cursive writing! When did you introduce cursive? Do you require cursive writing for all of your kids assignments?
I started DS8 this year with cursive. I will start DS6 next year. I think when I was a kid we started learning cursive in 3rd grade.
it was 4th grade in BC, when I learned cursive. I so enjoyed it! I have taught my kids bits and peices but mostly 4th on. THen we do not force the issue as it is a dying concept, and as a child it was as if that was the 'grown up writting' to me. Now as an adult I use it for my signature thats pretty much it! lol
My ds (k) asked to learn cursive so we have been working on it for the last 2 weeks. We still practice his printing and when he writes to family members he prints. Once he knows the entire alphabet in cursive I will let him choose which one he wants to use but we will practice both regardless. I believe I learned cursive in school in 3rd grade.
Ems started learning cursive in Kindergarten. It was part of her curriculum and she took to it right away. I honestly never thought of requiring it because she prefers cursive over print. If I remember correctly, I started cursive in 3rd grade.
I was a bad mommy/teacher. My DS 10 has been wanting to learn and I just haven't had the time to slip it into our learning. So this year, I told him he had to write in cursive. I gave him an example page with all the letters and said "figure it out."... It worked He is my only one I would try that on. He just seems to be able to get anything I put in front of him. This is just one of many examples.
I'm starting my dd age 9 now. She's in 3rd/4th grade level. I think it will be easier for her to handle but she also already has a good grasp on her manuscript writing and can write neatly when asked.
We started simple cursive this year. My kids are 5 and 7 and they love it SO MUCH MORE than regular print. We are only doing a worksheet about every other day (maybe 2x a week) with letters and how they are formed right now. Then the end of the worksheet has 2 words with those letters in it. We're pretty much taking it slow and the only OTHER thing we've done is their names. So I really don't expect any work done in cursive for quite a while. Some hs'ers that I've met don't even teach cursive though, because you don't really need it except to sign your name. I learned cursive in ps in 3rd grade. I would say that I wont require them to complete work (other than writing practice) until possibly next year sometime. It really depends on how well they do with it. My daughter is already going around signing her name in cursive on everything though, lol. And my ds is so much more neater with it than with print!
My son started learning cursive in 3rd grade while at the public school. He's in 5th now and we are continuing handwriting classes which are all cursive. I've been reading lately that some schools are dropping it altogether as an "antiquated" style but I tend to have a problem with that purely from a common sense point of view. Many people from "my generation" and beyond still write in cursive quite often. I, myself, use it almost exclusively because I find it quicker and it has a better flow. If I don't teach my son how to write cursive, how will he be able to read a letter from his grandmother, for instance?
Brody, I completely agree with you! It flows so much faster than having to print. And you should have to be able to read it as well. Whenever I am writing anything I always use cursive. I was thinking that beyond worksheet practice next year when my kids are ready, I may require certain things be done in cursive. Like maybe a written book report (okay, don't see them doing that next year, but maybe year after) or just a letter to someone or spelling words. I don't know yet, but I will have both taught.
Wow, I know that I am from the "old school". lol Cursive is a must in our house. My ds writes very nicely - cursive or printing. My dd knows printing now and wants to learn cursive. I won't push her, but next year (1st grade) she will learn cursive. A Beka starts in K5 to learn cursive.
My kids began with cursive writing 1st. I would not have it any other way; especially for the boys... It was easier to translate their 'crab crawling marks' into words! :angel: And although they do write in print as well, for school... cursive writing is mandatory.
at our house, well, we do things differently. (name one house that couldn't say THAT.) ds11 has such issues with writing that we are going directly to typing. ps never did really introduce cursive, 3rd grade teacher tried but it got "pushed out" and no one followed up on it. private school in 5th, well pretty much the same thing. So now. at home for 6th, I do have him look at it, so as to be able to read it, but we are going with typing. and there you have it. On the other hand ds8 is very esthetic. He is interested in cursive, because for him it seems easier and more attractive. He was at preschool in montessori...and they start with cursive. He now has same 3rd grade teacher as above, so I don't have any illusions. We do his spelling words in cursive for study. and he has asked to memorize poems, so sometimes we do that in cursive. Next year, if I can convince dh that he should be home too...well then we will push it, because I think it will work for him. a lot of it is personality. read the handwriting analysis books... I find it very interesting. I, myself, learned in 3rd, and was "forced" until 7th...and promptly went back to printing. Now it is a hodgepodge. (my e's are like backward 3's and my d's are more cursive. I do "sign" my name, but it is more of a large K with a squiggly line.) because I usually print, I find cursive slower. I have to concentrate to write stuff out for ds8. computer programmers and IT guys usually print quite nicely. Most Dr.'s (of course) don't. We have one Dr. from Nigeria...went to boarding school at 6. (!!!) and he has lovely handwriting.
Oh how the pendulum of education does swing! About six or seven years ago, a teacher-friend was complaining about the trend to teach children cursive from day 1 and forget about print. The theory was that cursive eliminated letter reversals and was actually easier on their hands. Supposedly, five year olds tired less easily with cursive than with print.
I remember learning to write in script in third grade. I will definitely not begin with my boys until that age, or even later. Their fine motor development is on the slow side. My almost 4yo still cannot hold a pencil/crayon, and my almost 6yo struggles with printing...and I mainly require him to trace. I have only asked him to copy on two occasions, and they were a real trial for him. I choose to wait until they are ready physically to be successful. Brodysmom, I read a few years ago that scored on writing portions of standardized tests were significantly higher among test takers who used script (cursive) to write their essays than those who printed. The speculation was that because script/cursive flows from the hand more quickly, the writers were able to get their thoughts down more easily. this makes sense to me, and I want my children to have the experience of being able to take their thoughts down with such a "flow." Of course, I doubt it will make a difference if/when they get aroudn to taking tests like the SAT/GRE. By then, you'll probably just type your essay into the computer. LOL Better add keyboarding skills to my to-do list.
hmm, wow I didnt think about that.. I will inform dd of that so she can work on longer essay answers with a good purpose!
Wow What a wealth of information! I noticed that when I write something I usually print unless I am signing my signature. With computers being so popular I guess most of us aren't writing in cursive any way. He has knowledge of how to write the letters separately, but when he writes words it is sooo sloppy. I guess I will continue to work with him so it can get neater and give him a choice on his work. Maybe, I will require cursive on book reports, etc.
I started my dd in 2nd grade because she was so eager to begin cursive. I've started my ds this year (3rd grade) using Handwriting without Tears. He is doing really well and likes it a lot. I'm trying to get him through most of the book by Christmas break so he can start writing everything in cursive by January.
