What is a good cursive handwriting program for lefties?

[plmzk]

I have a DD who is left handed. She LOVES writing and drawing and everything to do with pencils. I want to gently start her off writing letters because she begs daily to have "writing class time". I need to start her in cursive though because my girls are learning another language where it is only written in cursive, and my oldest keeps getting confused with one being manuscript and the other cursive. So, in hopes of avoiding that mistake again I want to start with cursive first.

 

I am right handed. DD is a lefty. I would LOVE to get something that will teach a lefty how to write properly, since I am a little clueless.

 

Anything out there K level in cursive or a gentle grade 1?

 

 

Thanks

Kate

[Dahliarw]

Handwriting without tears is designed so that the examples are visible to both lefties and righties.

[ChicoryChick]

Rod & Staff also has directions for lefties in their handwriting program. (I have 2 lefties myself)

[Hunter]

I prefer to teach vertical rather than slanted hands to lefties. The main slanted hands I know of are HWT, Spalding and Carson-Delosa.

 

I use the lowercase cursive hand in Spalding's WRTR 6th edition and the uppercase manuscript ZB hand in Simply Charlotte Mason's Delightful Handwriting. I don't teach cursive uppercase. I use the charts and sentences in Alpha-Phonics or How to Tutor as copywork.

 

This sample is from a leftie student.

 

[houseofkids&pets]

We are using the handwriting books from Preventing Academic Failure. They have a cursive book for lefties:

 

http://www.pafprogra...nd_cursive.html

[Hunter]

We are using the handwriting books from Preventing Academic Failure. They have a cursive book for lefties:

 

http://www.pafprogra...nd_cursive.html

 

Interesting. This is the first time I've seen a backwards slanting hand for lefties. I've heard of them, but never seen one. My English Noah Plan book contains a leftie slant guide as well as a rightie slant guide.

 

I just teach vertical to everyone.

[plmzk]

Carson-Delosa.

 

I use the lowercase cursive hand in Spalding's WRTR 6th edition and the uppercase manuscript ZB hand in Simply Charlotte Mason's Delightful Handwriting. I don't teach cursive uppercase. I use the charts and sentences in Alpha-Phonics or How to Tutor as copywork.

 

 

 

Interesting! I haven't heard of Carson-Delosa or strait cursive for lefties. Makes sense though! I also find it very interesting that you don't teach uppercase cursive. Can you share why? Is that both for lefties and righties?

[Walking-Iris]

I'm left handed and all three of my children are. Handwritng Without Tears worked just fine. Who cares about a slant? IMHO the only proper way to write is legibly. My oldest has also done some Zaner-Bloser cursive with no issues. I teach uppercase cursive except I allow the Q to look like a Q rather than a 2.

The main advice I can give a right handed parent when teaching a leftie is to sit on their right so they can see whatever you write as an example. Also to allow them to orient their paper how they feel comfortable. Both my left handed boys write with their paper straight up and down, I however need my paper to be slanted rather deeply while my hand stays straight up and down. Allow what's comfortable, concentrate on proper pencil grip and left to right up and down letter orientation, and don't stress "properness" but aim for legibility and comfort and ease while writing.

As they get older their handwriting will begin to take on their personal style. My oldest has begun to mix a few cursive letters into his print for example. As long as I can read it, I'm happy.

[wapiti]

My lefty learned cursive with this Diana Hanbury King workbook. No frills, all she needed.

[KellyMama]

I have 3 lefties - two learned Abeka while still in school and I taught our youngest with A Reason For. Of the three, his penmanship is the prettiest ;) I'm fairly certain it's because he had more one-on-one teaching time and he's also a perfectionist! That said, it never occurred to me until after the fact that one curriculum might be better than another for 'lefties!' ;)

[Zoo Keeper]

My lefty is doing well with Getty-Dubay.

 

His brothers and sister (right-handed) did well with Abeka; Abeka does have suggestions for lefties--my lefty (who had fine motor issues) just couldn't handle a traditional cursive. I plan to let him practice traditional cursive as an art (instead of something like caligraphy as an art) when he is older. It will be less frustrating for him then.

 

ETA: your workbook lover may like Abeka's workbooks for cursive: here is the K4 book, and the K5 book.

[Freckles]

I'm a lefty and I have a dd lefty. All of the above are great suggestions. I just wanted to add that as a lefty I sometimes start my letters from a different spot than the instructions might say. Remember lefties are pushing their pencil not pulling it. It takes more effort. If your child is writing in a notebook, I might let her use it starting from the back, so she doesn't have to fight with the binding.

[Hunter]

Most of my tutoring students have peers and family that struggle to read cursive. Some of them can read the Spalding simplified vertical lowercase cursive as long as the upper case letters are manuscript.

 

I teach cursive primarily because of the brain repair and soothing benefits of writing in a flowing script. But of equal importance is that writing is a form of communication. More and more people are not capable of reading cursive.

 

There is no "right" answer of which hand to teach. There are pros and cons of all choices. I've obsessed over this and tried a few things. I even went back to teaching manuscript first for a little while, before reverting back to cursive-first.

 

For my own handwriting I use the same hand I teach. I tend to take tiny notes on cheap printer/copy paper, and this hand is very legible, when written tiny. I also sometimes write completely in manuscript, for people I don't think can read cursive.