handwriting help, I'm thinking of trying italic

[nukeswife]

Hi all,

 

Some background first.

 

My oldest is a boy that turned 11 in May, my middle child is a girl who won't be 9 until Nov and I have a just turned 5 year old son who is my youngest. My oldest has always had pretty sloppy handwriting, it's legible but unless he takes forever it just isn't neat. Even after trying cursive it's still legible but not neat. My dd loves to do copywork and had pretty good printing but we slacked off this past year and it's not quite as neat anymore. She really wants to learn cursive which I'm fine with. My youngest will start kindergarten this fall and writing isn't his strong suit. He still colors all over the place and just drawing a circle is quite a task for him. We've worked on his fine motor skills but he still needs lots of practice with them.

 

We've been using HWOT which is ok, but I my oldest always asks why the cursive letters look so different from print ones. He especially, just like me, hates that capital "Q" that looks like loopy number 2. I was looking at samples of Getty Dubay and it looks like it may be right up his alley, but I'm not sure where to start him. I also plan on working through it myself. I know they make the older learner book Write Now, but I don't think he's that self motivated to use that (maybe for me though). Would you start him in Book C so he can get plenty of manuscript practice first? I don't think it would hurt him and I'm in no rush to make him a "cursive only" kid at all. Also would you start my dd in Book C as well since she's interested and I believe ready to learn cursive? I know my youngest would be in Book A obviously once he's ready for more formal instruction.

 

Thanks in advance.

[cheryl h]

I just bought Getty Dubay for my 4 kiddos, dd12, ds10, dd/ds 7 twins. They are going to flip when I show it to them. I actually got to meet Barbara Getty at a HS Conference in Portland last month. She will show you a side by side sample of traditional cursive next to the GD and it's a no brainer, you can read the GD SO much easier. My oldest also has scandalously bad handwriting, and I think this will please her and I both. The boys hate all the curly que's anyhow. She recommended I get Book C (which transitions from print to cursive) for my dd/ds 7's, Book F for my ds10, and book G for my dd12. The instruction manual is for all the levels so you only need the one book. It's very exciting, i feel like a rebel. :lol:

[amyco]

My son learned Getty Dubay Italic...it was the only way he was going to learn any cursive. I started him in the A level book when he was age 7. I think each book reviews what was learned in the previous books, but the line spacing gets narrower as the books increase.

 

Here is a link that shows the different books, and if you click on the book, it gives a description of what is taught in each book. Also, I never used the teacher manual--didn't find it was necessary.

 

http://www.allport.com/Catalog_Category.aspx?catid=128