Until what age do you continue with cursive?

[mama2cntrykids]

I started A Reason for Handwriting (the book that starts cursive, don't know which letter it was) last year in 3rd grade. We took the whole year to go through the book and my ds *hated* it.

 

How many years do you "do it" for? Sorry, that doesn't sound right, but I can't think of another way to phrase it:tongue_smilie:. Or to you just touch on it for a year, make sure your dc can read it and sign their name and that's it? I'm thinking of dropping it this year and just making sure he can sign his name (I know he can read cursive, so that's no problem). Would I be doing him a disservice by dropping it?

 

:bigear:THANKS!

[Ellie]

Instruction for a couple of years, requirement to write *everything* in cursive, not just signatures.

 

The more someone writes, the more comfortable he becomes with it, the less he "hates" it.

[eternalknot]

I always hated cursive writing. I printed everything; for awhile, I printed everything in all capitals. That came to a quick halt in college, when I really needed to write fast during a lecture. Those were the years I grew to love the convenience of cursive; unfortunately, after so many years of non-pratice my cursive was very poor. My college notes were messy and sometimes illegible, even to myself. Nonetheless, I kept taking notes in cursive because I figured half-decipherable was better than not having anything down on paper at all!

 

I have no idea what my kids' futures hold. I do think I would have had an easier high school-college transition had I been more practiced at cursive. Even now, my job requires me to jot down information quickly upon first hearing it. So while I still prefer to print in my everyday life, it's quicker for me to use cursive in certain situations. It helps when it's legible! Because of this, my plan is for the kids to have certain assignments that will always need to be done in cursive. Other work can be done with their own preference; for my son, this is printing. For my daughter, she loves fanciful cursive.

 

It's not a hill I'd die on, but I'd find some workable way to incorporate it into every year's plans - even if minimally so.

[rootsnwings]

I feel like it's something they do need to master.

 

My almost 4th grader started cursive in October of oSt year and has done wonderfully (we used printable at first & then Horizon's Penmanship Workbook 4 for writin words, sentences, paragraphs, etc. His cursive looks really good so I told him he doesn't have to continue with practice this year so long as he's doing all his assignments in cursive.

 

That said, his manuscript STINKS (he was ps k & 1st and evidently no one watched him form letters because he makes the ALL WRONG. We are starling Abeka 5K for manuscript in 4th grade and will continue until he has mastered it. I just feel like I would be doing him a disservice if I didn't teach him the proper way to write, and to write legibly.

[nansk]

I started A Reason for Handwriting (the book that starts cursive, don't know which letter it was) last year in 3rd grade. We took the whole year to go through the book and my ds *hated* it.

 

 

There are a few pre-cursive and italics handwriting styles in which, to move from print to cursive, one has to just join some of the letters (but not necessarily all). That may appeal to your ds. Here is a page which explains this: Step-by-step lessons for joined writing.

 

I would also suggest you show him the free cursive and italics fonts available and let him choose the one he likes. Then, have him choose what he wants to copy (sports/history/science/fav stories) and create copywork for him.

 

HTH

[nmoira]

I just finished reading Script & Scribble, a book I sought out after reading Michael Dirda's review in the Washington Post. In the end it advocates strongly for continuing to teach handwriting even in our digital age, but with a simplified italic script for the sake of speed and legibility. I didn't realize the history behind the almost 500 year history behind italics, so I'm feeling rather fusty about our choice of Getty-Dubay Italics. :)

 

I intend on having the girls keep up with handwriting for 10 minutes a school day through 6th grade, at which point they can either move on to calligraphy if they wish or drop handwriting/copywork. I will however, make sure they have plenty of practice writing to keep their speed up for note taking down the line.

[brownie]

DH has very nice cursive, but he takes notes at meetings on his laptop. He has been complimented on his ability to look people in the eye, have a conversation and keep up with the typing. If you don't push cursive I would make sure your son is a fast typist. The kids will all probably have laptops at lectures by the time he's in college...if they don't already! Brownie

[....]

Instruction for a couple of years, requirement to write *everything* in cursive, not just signatures.

 

The more someone writes, the more comfortable he becomes with it, the less he "hates" it.

 

:iagree: That's what we're doing right now with the 3rd grader. She hated it this spring also, but starting to do better.

 

She also makes fun of my cursive...:glare:

[mama2cntrykids]

Thanks everyone, for you insight! I love the idea of letting him pick a font and then form copywork from subjects that he's interested in. I think I will do that and see if it helps his attitude towards cursive.