This is why I haven't done it. I downloaded HST and I still haven't figured it out. I even got Planbook and then didn't like it. I thought about the V planner because I like her basic planner. Uhhhmmm ...

Thank you for your input. It sure makes me feel better! :iagree:

How right you are. I'm barely starting out but I can tell i don't know how long it takes to teach something and for ds to learn something. Personally I hate to "spoil" a pretty planner. I am using Donna Young's basic excel planner (I would like to buy her V Planner). So if and when I make changes I will simply print out the updated version and keep that as a record as things "done".

I voted around $250 and then realised I meant £250! Right. In any case, I am starting from scratch so I've had to buy a blackboard and other things new. Other things I managed to find in a used curriculum sale our local he association held last May.

I may sprint for this CD. I think it may be easier to have all forms together in a cd. Also I like having the planner on my pc because I am not always close to a wifi zone. I have to say that the V planner looks good. I got HST basic and it can shift lessons forward but not backward (for that you have to update to HST+). I am testing Planbook but it a pain to set free weeks in a block. Hopefully someone who has used the V planner and will come back to us soon? Pretty please???

I got people telling me Getty-Dubay is italic and that even cursive italic is not real cursive, merely "joined-up" writing. I am thinking here, how does cursive italic compare to traditional cursive for letter reversal and such? In the UK they are using joined up writing so print letters all have a little tail at the end. The idea is that this will make transition to full joined cursive easier. I have a week to go before school starts and I'm still sitting on the fence...

Donna Young has some videos on her website to show how to do things in her v planner. But I don't know if these are enough because I haven't bought the cd yet.

You are so sweet. Yes. Well. I think ds likes squiggly writing because this is how he sees mummy write. Also he likes to draw using loops and doodles to fill in the sky, or the sea... I saw the Victorian Modern Cursive and I may go this way to satisfy his craving for loopiness. I also saw this some time ago: http://practicalpages.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/free-cursive-handwriting-charts/handwriting-cursive-lowerupper/ the lower case is also like Victorian Modern Cursive, if you looks closely, with loops added later. Thank you so much, all of you. You have been very patient. What would I do without this board? :001_smile:

Promise to try harder (blushes)

Looks amazing so I am :bigear:

Thank you for the link and the idea. Beautiful workbook! I got Startwrite but directly from them which means it came without NAC. Arrrggghh! That sample is sooooooo cute. It looks like the German one with a normal "t". Love it! This font and the German font look a lot the same I write which is why I imagine ds wants something similar. I'm having a talk with dh about this handwriting business. My mum sid she was the same. She only wanted to do "squiggly" writing and did not do print, italics or anything else. She has amazing handwriting so I guess... Why did I get such a weird kid??? :lol:

I know how you feel! I haven't done it yet so you may want to wait for more experienced members. However, because I also like the look of printed planners I downloaded some pretty clip art from the web and used it as a front cover. Then I got some clip art turned into "watermarks", which I can either include in the document as a background or print on blank paper and use this paper to print my reports (or excel sheets if that is what you are using). I put everything in a two ring binder, but you could use a 3 or 4 ring binder which are closer to what something like a printer planner looks like. I hope I am making sense here. Because my printer is a basic one and colour cartridges are terribly expensive and don't last very long either, I take the fancier, more colourful stuff to the stationary shop and have it printed there.

It is not the same font but it is really cute. I saw this font once but it had a line running through it. The "t" is funny but workable. It is a very distinctive cursive for sure. Anyone writing like this would stand out!;)

Well, I have ZB that came with Startwrite so I may go that way. I cannot do Palmer to save my life, let alone teach it to the kid! Thank you for the suggestions. I will scratch my head a bit more and think this over. Well. I am still smarting after ds hated the italic font on sight and asking for "squiggly" writing. I need a font I can have in my pc so I can generate worksheets, rather and a consumable workbook. Tonight I printed samples of "fonts" so I can get a better idea of what he wants to do. My librarian friend says this is the wrong approach as a child may choose a font that is not the best for him/her. So today I feel I got a set back and a telling off! :tongue_smilie:

I actually googled the name and came up with naught. Here's the link to the page: http://blog.homeschoolingdownunder.com/category/handwriting/

I have to admit I like italic handwriting. Now it turns out my ds wants something loopy and threw a "eeww" when I showed him some italic writing. I went back to my pc and looking at this jpeg he yelled "Yes!". Can someone tell me which font is this? It cannot be ZB because it has a "sensible" upper case G and Q :D Help? Anybody?

You don't mention if you are looking for print, cursive, or italic fonts but here is one I like. It is a type of modern cursive. http://www.dafont.com/hand.font Not perfect, but free.

Exactly! I bought Starwrite because it is an "instant" download. Living overseas means sometimes things get lost in the post and delivery times are anywhere between 2-6 weeks. I was worried if the cd from Educational Fontware went awol that's $50 down the drain.

for what it's worth. I first downloaded the xls file on our mac. I also had Open office which runs xls files beautifully. I had no problems running the planner.

Computer fixed (I hope). I am very interested in the planner. I triedd HST but it is driving mearound a bend. I got planbook but can't manage to make it understand that we take a week off every three. Anyway, I am bumping this in case someone else wants to chime in!:bigear:

It…is…a…simple…xls…file.………but…wait,…my…pc…makes…me…put…all…this…period marks…between…words....HTH????? Here's…the…link:……http://donnayoung.org/forms/planners/exweekly.htm The…excel…files…are…halfway…down…on…the…right. In…the…meantime…I…have…to…find…out…what…happened…to…my…pc…:confused:

Thank you for speaking up. Please let me know how it works for you. I am trying the freebie excel planner on her website and I liked it -hence my interest in the V planner. Well...:bigear:

Looking around Donna Young's website I saw her xls planner and I fount it really simple to use. I also saw she's got this V Planner which does all kinds of things but still based on a xls file. It is not free but again it is only $25. Has anyone used this V Planner? If so, did you like it? If you did not like it can you tell me why not? :bigear:

I just bough Startwrite and I really like it. Except for one thing. I want to use cursive italic capitals and italic lower-case letters and splicing the two is messy. It involves opening a new text box everything you change font type and I haven't been able to do a neat job of it. Other than that the software is great.

Well done, both of you!