Does anyone delay cursive?

[kalanamak]

Kiddo is a bit of a perfectionist and is a little scared of starting cursive. He is reading it. Right now his handwriting passion is to still print, but print with a pen on grown-up paper. He's doing okay with that, neater than usual 2nd grade paper.

 

How late is "too late" to start cursive?

[hsmom]

I believe when ever he is ready is the perfect time. My ds did not really learn until he was in the 4th grade. He was just not wanting to do it and I did not make him.

 

Let him do it the way he wants. Maybe you could introduce him to reading cursive even though he is not writing it yet.

[EKS]

We did cursive in 4th grade for my older son. He is now in 8th grade and can neither write it nor read it. I don't know if it was because we did it later than normal or what. It is just one of the many areas where I have failed, I guess.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I think it will be easier to master the earlier he starts and you only have to spend about 10 minutes a school day:) You could start him off with the pre-cursive exercises and then do lots of tracing cursive till he is more comfortable IMHO. You could also use words that interest him like I did for my ds such as spooky, ghost, Jupiter, etc.;)

 

http://www.donpotter.net/pdf_files/cursivefirst.pdf

[JudoMom]

Kiddo is a bit of a perfectionist and is a little scared of starting cursive. He is reading it. Right now his handwriting passion is to still print, but print with a pen on grown-up paper. He's doing okay with that, neater than usual 2nd grade paper.

 

How late is "too late" to start cursive?

 

I wouldn't worry about it. I've started mine as late as fourth grade and it hasn't been an issue.

[ElizabethB]

You can try teaching it from a white board, that seems better for many things, and worked well for teaching my daughter.

 

We used ZB's self-instruction in handwriting, $11 from Rainbow Resource, all you need to know to teach, when she started getting better, we used the online ZB font maker to print out some copywork.

[SonshineLearner]

Maybe just call it "joined writing" as in the UK? It really takes the scary away, when you realize you're just blending the letters to each other:-) It makes sense to me that you do it very early, before all the changes in 3rd and 4th grade take place... and all.

:-)

[kalanamak]

before all the changes in 3rd and 4th grade take place... and all.

:-)

 

!!!!! What are "all the changes" you are talking about???:001_huh:

[Diana B]

I don't have any real experience, but a friend who is a pediatric occupational therapist recommends starting it earlier for this reason: As kids get older, more writing is required and its hard to teach it when they are using it. She is coming from a PS point of view and many times they start requiring things be written in cursive before it's natural, where as we don't require a lot of printing from kids before they can do it well. So I would say at what ever point you start it - don't require it for the rest of his work as well. The only time its required to write cursive is during handwriting time. THEN transition it over to the other areas.

 

You could also start it much earlier using this method (as we are doing).

[Guest]

Here's another tale of starting in fourth grade and all went fine. I waited until my daughter was interested, and then she practiced because she wanted to. She does not use cursive on a daily basis, but then neither do I, and I had to wrote in cursive all the way through high school, then started printing in college lectures because it was actually faster.

[SonshineLearner]

http://www.donpotter.net/PDF/Cursive%20First.pdf http://www.swrtraining.com/id29.html

And, 3rd grade is when they can really start to dig in and learn..... I don't know... I can't find and article, but that's just from a homeschool and public school experience....pov. Don't know if I can document it:-)

[HappyCrazyMama]

I did with my oldest son. I don't remember how old he was but I finally decided he needed to learn because he couldn't read cursive writing. :blushing: I delayed because his printing was terrible, still is sad to say. Anyway, no need to rush to start if you don't think he is ready. :)

[3Rivers]

I wait until third or until they are comfortable with printing but not necessarily perfect. DS wanted to start in 2nd, so we did, but it quickly became too much so we stopped and picked it back up this year without a hitch.

 

DD is in 6th and still forgets letters sometimes. Handwriting has been difficult for her, but she has improved so much-- I don't worry anymore.

 

I think that since every child develops at a different rate, when to teach it is less important than consistency of practice once you do begin to teach it.

[Lovedtodeath]

My plan is to introduce it at the end of third.

[Leighton Academy]

My oldest just started cursive a couple of months ago. I was unsure of when to start. One day, he asked to learn so I bought him a book. He has had no issues and loves doing his handwriting.

[Jamee]

We'll be starting in the fall with my 5th grader. We just started homeschooling this semester and he's never had any consistent, real instruction in PS. I just want him to be able to read it if nothing else. I'm still trying to get his printing legible.

[robsiew]

My ds wasn't ready for it in 2nd, but in 3rd I required it. I'm glad I waited, he did just fine. I used Handwriting Without Tears and it made it really easy for him. Now he's noticing the letters don't have as many "loops" as other cursive and he's wanting to add them in! I told him "go for it!" Go figure... I thought I was doing well by having him learn the simpler route! :lol:

Better that than hating cursive I guess!

 

Oh... and I just took it slow. We didn't even do it every day. We started in Sept. and he's finally almost done learning all the letters. I don't require anything else to be written in cursive.... yet. That's our next thing....

[daybreaking]

http://www.donpotter.net/PDF/Cursive%20First.pdf http://www.swrtraining.com/id29.html

And, 3rd grade is when they can really start to dig in and learn..... I don't know... I can't find and article, but that's just from a homeschool and public school experience....pov. Don't know if I can document it:-)

 

This article is the one A Beka uses to support starting with cursive. Interestingly, Susan Wise Bauer just wrote a blog entry discussing the early introduction of cursive and how it's usually not a good thing. The whole of the article is about introducing material when the child is ready, as opposed to pushing skills backwards. It was very thought provoking for me.

 

Here it is: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/blog/

[SonshineLearner]

This article is the one A Beka uses to support starting with cursive. Interestingly, Susan Wise Bauer just wrote a blog entry discussing the early introduction of cursive and how it's usually not a good thing. The whole of the article is about introducing material when the child is ready, as opposed to pushing skills backwards. It was very thought provoking for me.

 

Here it is: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/blog/

 

I would suggest that starting printing is harder and less developmentally correct, than starting cursive. The Cursive First points to France and the fact that they did printing first for 3 years? and then went back to cursive...

 

Does anyone know if this is documented outside of "Cursive First"?

[daybreaking]

I would suggest that starting printing is harder and less developmentally correct, than starting cursive. The Cursive First points to France and the fact that they did printing first for 3 years? and then went back to cursive...

 

Does anyone know if this is documented outside of "Cursive First"?

 

We have not found this to be the case. When my 3-year draws, it's almost all straight lines and circles, just like the stick and ball lines of manuscript printing, rather than the curves and curlicues of cursive writing. I find it interesting how proponents of "cursive first" assert that cursive is more developmentally appropriate, whereas proponents of "manuscript first" assert manuscript is more developmentally appropriate. If you are interested in the research supporting "manuscript first," here's a few links:

 

http://www.zaner-bloser.com/about/newsandresearch/research/detail.aspx?id=94&terms=cursive+first

 

http://www.zaner-bloser.com/about/newsandresearch/research/detail.aspx?id=76

[FO4UR]

Why not teach the cursive strokes, very casually, in fun gross motor mediums and then when he's ready to put it on paper it will all be familiar???

[Tree House Academy]

I didn't delay cursive, but I definitely wanted to encourage you to wait until your child is ready. My son, at the beginning of 1st grade, was just itching to learn cursive (since that is how all the adults and older brother write). Well, we started it and he did okay, but it very quickly became cumbersome for him. He started to really hate it and I decided it just wasn't worth the hassle. He was barely even 6! We put up the cursive for a month or so, got it back out, and same thing happened. I put it back up. Finally, just after Christmas, we gave it another try. This time, he is doing wonderfully. It is tougher for him, but it does not frustrate him any longer. He does a beautiful job, is okay with mistakes, and is learning it well. I think waiting until he was actually ready physically (as well as mentally) has made the most difference.

[kalanamak]

Why not teach the cursive strokes, very casually, in fun gross motor mediums and then when he's ready to put it on paper it will all be familiar???

 

 

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