J'etudie Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I chose Italic handwriting largely because of the similarity between the print and cursive letters. Now I'm thinking, "Why not just start with cursive?" As far as letter formation goes, is there any reason this is a bad idea? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I don't see why it would be a problem. Lots of Montessori schools teach cursive before printing (in fact, I'm not sure they teach printing at all). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKDmom Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 (edited) I'm using Getty-Dubay Italic with my kids. I don't see any reason not to do cursive first, but IMO, the print and cursive are so similar that I'm not worried about the transition. I am planning on starting my 5yo at the beginning with book A (basic). That way, he'll get the advantage of the bigger line spacing and letters that are a little simpler to learn. His fine motor skills just aren't that great, so I want to make it as easy as possible to get him started writing. If you decide to start with cursive, I'd be sure to get Kindergarten paper to practice on and I'd probably spend some time just doing the basic strokes before forming the actual letters. Edited May 27, 2009 by bonniebeth4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J'etudie Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 I have Penny Gardner's book for letter formation and StartWrite to make copywork so I figure I can make it the right size for him. I have heard of Cursive First and when I saw just how similar the Italics print and cursive were, I started thinking, "Why bother with print?" Thanks for the input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maria/ME Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 I agree that there shouldn't be any problem in using the cursive style first! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwka Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 In Poland, where I come from, kids were learning cursive from the first grade, without any instruction on printed letters. I don't know why here (USA) they are starting so late... With Italic handwriting you have printed section on the beginning of each book anyway, so it gets covered yearly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmschooling Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Kids need more motor control for the bigger spaced lines, so I woudln't worry about it. The true "Cursive First" program uses smaller lines b/c it's easier for young kids to control. We're doing Italics A for Kindergarten then moving to cursive shortly after...either with italics or another...not sure yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J'etudie Posted May 27, 2009 Author Share Posted May 27, 2009 Kids need more motor control for the bigger spaced lines, so I woudln't worry about it. The true "Cursive First" program uses smaller lines b/c it's easier for young kids to control. I didn't know that about the Cursive First program. It makes sense, though. I've realized I have great difficulty trying to write on Kindergarten or 1st grade lined paper because it's just too big. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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