Brigitte Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 My first graders need more guided handwriting books than what we have. I have Getty-Dubay Book A for them, but I feel like there are not enough letters to trace before they start forming them on their own and there is not enough practice per letter. I am wedded to the idea of italics and they do have interest in Cursive. So, my question is what to you use that has lots of tracing first and lots of practice? Brigitte PS - I have gone back and forth about what style I want them to use, but now I just want them to have neat, legible handwriting. HA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 I think there are places online where you can print out extra italics sheets for more practice. I've not used them but maybe someone will come along soon who knows of a couple, Regena Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lorna Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Your children are still quite young and it would make sense to spend lots of time drawing as well as handwriting practice. Our daughter learned to print and, although she has very neat handwriting, she still doesn't form her letters correctly. She was taught to write too early in school in my opinion. Our son was later to write and didn't really learn properly until I took him out of school at the age of six. He then started straight onto cursive. His writing isn't as neat as his sister's but I think it is going to end up faster and he certainly forms his letters correctly (because I was able to watch him whilst he learned). I am not sure why children learn to print. I don't see that it is much easier and they only have to relearn at a later date. Both my sisters still print and it looks rather naive. They are very accomplished academically but I don't think they have ever developed their own personal 'hand'. If I had my time again I would certainly do plenty of drawing to build up hand-eye coordination and when I thought they were strong enough in their hand muscles, only then would I start writing. I would start with cursive and be very careful to explain how a letter was formed and take the time to ensure it was write. I also think that one doesn't want to put a child off the process of writing and so by drawing one can disassociate the physical ability from the act of writing. I hope this makes sense! Dot to dots might be a fun place to start with hand-eye coordination. They are available from Dover books. Best wishes, Lorna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted January 20, 2008 Author Share Posted January 20, 2008 He then started straight onto cursive. His writing isn't as neat as his sister's but I think it is going to end up faster and he certainly forms his letters correctly (because I was able to watch him whilst he learned). I would start with cursive and be very careful to explain how a letter was formed and take the time to ensure it was write. I also think that one doesn't want to put a child off the process of writing and so by drawing one can disassociate the physical ability from the act of writing. I hope this makes sense! Thanks, Lorna. What are you using for cursive? My girls do a LOT of drawing. In fact, I think they draw quite well for their age. I do not expect neat and pretty hadwriting at this age. I just find that the books I have do not give them enough practice to make the whole exercise worthwhile. I think that if they have more dotted letters to trace before going out on their own, their hand will have more "memory" for the movement when they do their own writing. Does that make sense? Brigitte Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lorna Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Your daughters' love of drawing will really help. We actually used a beautiful alphabet which I found in the home-education book that inspired me to take my children out of school. It is called 'One to One' and is by a man called Gareth Lewis. All his children are grown-up now but they helped illustrate the book and, along with this beautiful alphabet with instructions on how to teach it, it also has some lovely craft ideas, book suggestions, gardening recipes and all sorts of ideas. It is a great book to have if your children are aged 0-11. Although it isn't a classical book it is certainly traditional and homely. The way it works is this. You first learn the script so that your child can understand your writing and so that you can teach it more effectively. You then introduce the letters separately. Next you move onto two letter sequences and progress to words. I then used to write out favourite poems and leave every second line for my child to copy underneath. I was inspired to use this alphabet by my dd's home-educated pen friend. Previously she had had very difficult to read writing and within a month it transformed. It was beautiful. It looked very mature and traditional and suited her artistic and intelligent correspondence. I couldn't help asking dd to ask how she had done it. She told us; the irony was that we had the book already on our shelves and I had never really noticed the small section on handwriting. So there it is. If you decide to get the book, don't expect it to have very much handwriting in it. It really did work for us. I am happy to say I have permanently adopted this way of writing too. I like the beauty of it. The book I think is available in the US from http://www.fun-books.com/homeschooling.htm . The family also have two websites (which are linked to on my blog - they are the only links I have right now!). They will be happy to post it out to you if you can't get it in the US. They are a lovely family and I know they won't charge you much postage (if any). I am sure your daughter's would like this handwriting - especially if they are artistic. Best wishes, Lorna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam "SFSOM" in TN Posted January 20, 2008 Share Posted January 20, 2008 Here's the direct link for One to One. Fun Books is one of my favorite book sellers. I'd forgotten them. I don't share their philosophy of home education, but I dearly love their book selections! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peek a Boo Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 if my guys need extra practice on a letter but can already form it properly, I just use a lighter colored pencil [orange? light green?] and write up some practice sheets. They can then pick any darker color and write directly over my writing "to make the color change" lol. It's almost too easy and does exactly what i want it to do. Sometimes I have them watch me write too. good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhesa Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Here's a couple of online pages I use: www.learningpage.com (D'Nealian alphabet- you have to log in, but it's free) http://www.cep.pdx.edu/titles/italic_series/excerpts.shtml (Sometimes I'll use this to create my own page) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted January 24, 2008 Author Share Posted January 24, 2008 Thanks, Ladies, for all the suggestions. I will check out the websites you have linked. Ya'll are the best. Brigitte Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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