My 5th grader writes in cursive but my 2nd and 3rd grader don't know much yet. Should I teach it or is it something of the "past"?? Maybe I should focus more on typing skills instead?
I teach it. I don't care if they choose to mainly type in the future, but I want them to be able to read cursive as older family members still handwrite letters, I want them to be able to go back and read those on their own one day. In order to read cursive you need to learn to write cursive. I do think it is a dieing art, but I won't give up teaching it to them
My second graders begged to learn it. Back in the old days, they used to teach it to kindergarteners. (1920's). But, I remember the 1970's we did not learn it till fourth grade... I think it depends on the kids. Mine asked, so we started.
I just started it with my third grader this month. She detests printing/writing; so I was hoping that teaching her cursive would encourage her to be neater. She does love anything that is "girly" and thinks cursive is an art form. So far, so good.
I didn't think about them not being able to read certain things because they are written in cursive. Good point. I may start typing for my 5th grader and cursive for the 2nd and 3rd grader. I had planned on teaching it when I started homeschooling in August but it hasn't gone anywhere. Have suggestions on how to teach this?? Is there a good resource/teachers manual or do you guys just wing it??
We do. I had to. My eldest got a copybook with the letters for cursive writing written inside it when she was six. She butchered teaching herself, so I HAD to teach her. I did a lot starting off online, for free. Last year, mid year, I bought Horizon's Penmenship 3. I love it for two reasons, 1 for us it's scripture based (so if that turns you off, that's cool) and 2, it still has one day a week that is manuscript practice. So she's getting both. A rumor I heard is teaching cursive makes them bad manuscript writers. As long as my daughter is "doing her best" both are astoundingly beautiful, I hope to teach her caligraphy b/c she's got beautiful writing. It didn't even dawn on me the "reading" thing until she got a card this year written in cursive from her grandmother. And she read it! WOW...I didn't even realize it would be kind of learning to read all over again! I just recently went on a quest to find some cursive generator (thank you FC for all your work!). One of my favorite sites has to be www.handwritingforkids.com . There's a neat animation of how to properly form the letter, and you can print practice sheets out. It was a GREAT starting point for my eldest. I'm planning on using that for my son when it's time too.
There are many different handwriting styles available! And all have good and bad points, probably. I used "A Reason for Writing" with my boys. They both write very neatly when they "have to! My dd10 loves handwriting! I do calligraphy type of writing, and dd wanted (and wants) to write like me, so I looked for something that was sort of that style, but explained well. I found, and she is using Getty & Dubay Italic Handwriting Series, and she loves it! Her handwriting is beautiful! I might suggest that for you for your dd Krista!
No, I don't. They just kind of pick it up on their own. I might give a page here or there, but that's it. Oh, and right now I'm writing Faythe's copywork in cursive, because she prefers using it (and it's much neater than her printing!)
I remember learning cursive in second grade in the 60's. By junior high, when I had a social studies teacher that gave lots of homework requiring us to write paragraph answers, I had developed my own style that was a combination of cursive and printing similar to my Grandfather's writing--he had a beautiful style. I found cursive tired the hand too much and tended to make my writing more sloppy. The style I used was not as tiring and very natural. My style is probably close to Italic Handwriting and that is what I am using for my daughter. She is going to be learning the cursive style this year, which is very easy to cross over from the printing one. Oh, I have read the reviews about how some children learning the IH style cannot read family members' writing on letters and cards. Well, I learned traditional cursive and I still have problems reading any anyone's sloppy handwriting... because it is just sloppy! :roll:
I taught cursive this year to Garrett. I don't require he write in it though. My big thing is I will teach the little ones to print in D'Nealian instead of the Zaner-Bloser (block) that is soooo standard in the school system. I think the D'Nealian is much prettier, and would be easier to teach cursive from. My son was so stuck on straight letters that trying to convince him it was ok for a letter to have some curve was like banging my head against a spiked wall! My writing is a combination of cursive and print.. it is also never the same.. just what flows from my fingers. edited to fix my blonde moment..lol
i remember having to do "handwriting" books in elementary school -- but dd(10) who did 1-5 in PS never did any of that.. but she learned to handwrite anyway, just on her own....she prefers to print, but she can handwrite fine.. prolly a good thing that she learned it herself because my own handwriting is a mix of cursive and print a lot of the time and letters don't always look like they ought - i'd make a lousy handwriting teacher.... maybe i should be the one doing the practice. :lol:
my handwriting is terrible. I tend to print everything because my writing is so sloppy. I o actually practice with the kids sometimes becauseI envy those with beautiful writing. I picked upa plain cursive workbook for the kids to teach the basic formation of each letter. They will be finished it by the end of next week. Then I presenting them with black paper and gel pens for them to contiue practicing, but in a much funner way. Who doesn't like to write with gel pens on blak paper lol
We used D'Nealian when I student taught Kindergarten, and I LOVED it! I'm confused...you like it but WON'T teach it? Why not? Or is that a goof-up in your typing? I also write in my own mixture of cursive and printed.
We used Calvert for K and 1st grade and they teach cursive in 1st grade. They don't even really teach printing at all. The cursive they use is a hybrid though.....all capital letters are printed and the lower case is all easy similar to hand writing without tears but...not quite. www.startwrite.com is a good program you can buy and print out whatever you want. The first time you use it after downloading you can get all features once you close it...it shuts off a lot of things....like vowels. ROFL Modern cursive lower letters is similar to what my son does. HTH
I have chosen not to make cursive a priority. They are learning to read it via some family with hideous handwriting. Gee wonder where they learned it? And they write their names in cursive for signing their name. I just don't find it necessary in todays world. I do however insist on very neat print which they will have to use often. Though in the computer age, less and less often.
Calvert teaches an easy form (similar to HWT) in first grade. Startwrite.com is a neat program for printing out whatever you want in whatever font you want.
I began to teach my kids cursive in K. They have beautiful handwriting and they prefer cursive to print.
I just typed out a long response and was just hitting "post" when my computer went buggy and I lost it all... Anyway - I was just saying - if you are going to teach cursive, DO IT RIGHT!!! (Speaking as one who didn't and is paying dearly for it) I didn't want to teach my boys cursive last year on the road, but my husband insisted. So he sat down with them and showed them how to make the letters on plain paper and had them practice. Needless to say - they messed up big time, but he just kept going - showing them letter after letter without showing them where they go on the page nor how to properly form the letters. by the time I finally intervened, the kids were so messed up it was crazy. I went out and bought a couple of cursive books, hoping to undo the damage that had been done, but was only partially successful. My boys love to write in cursive and really hate printing, but their cursive is almost illegible because of all the misformed letters they do. I have figured out to decipher it, but John can't read their writing at all - particularly frustrating given the fact the HE was the one who wanted to teach them cursive in the first place!! So - if you are going to teach your child cursive, be sure to go through her practice sheets meticulously and make her redo any that aren't perfect. Don't end up in my shoes...
