Is 6 years old (ds) too young to start HWT cursive/formal handwriting curriculum?

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

I recently decided to start Miquon (formal math) with my almost 6 year old and now I'm wondering about handwriting. He seems so young to me! But, I keep wondering if I shouldn't go ahead and let him try it out. I asked him if he wants to learn and he does, but his attention span isn't the greatest. So if we go that route, how often should I introduce a letter and how much pratice should be required? I don't know if this matters but he got through the 26 short vowel sounds in PP, but when it came to two letter blends he couldn't really remember the individual sounds easily, let alone read many of the blends (though he passed the review/game of the indivdual letter sounds and didn't miss any before we went to blends??), so we are working on those before he progresses. I'm stressed! So many varying views on ages for academics and I feel caught in the middle.

Edited September 11, 2010 by mommyjen

[Kirch]

Is there a particular reason you're thinking of starting with cursive? You certainly can, but with one so young I'd start with print, especially since he's building reading skills--it'll be easier for him to make the connection between what he's reading and what he's writing. Jumping immediately to cursive seems like it might be complicating things unnecessarily.

 

If he doesn't struggle at all with fine motor skills, he's definitely old enough. I'd suggest starting with HWOT printing. The kindergarten book is very gentle, and if he doesn't have much experience or practice writing letters, HWOT's suggestions and methods would be good. It shouldn't be overwhelming to do one page a day for a child without any fine-motor issues. He may need extra practice, so you could buy (or make your own) extra practice paper and maybe do one new letter a week. If you'd really rather start with cursive and you think he's ready for it as far as motor skills, he should be able to do it. Lots of schools that use A Beka begin first graders (maybe even Kinder?? I can't remember!) with cursive. It's not so much about age as it is about whether or not he's ready.

 

And don't worry--keep practicing on PP. It'll click! If he can do the letter sounds individually, he'll eventually get the hang of it. Try this--grab a set of magnetic letters, pull out a long-sounding consonant (like "S" or "F"--these sounds are held longer, so he can keep making the "S" sound while his brain and eyes move on to the next letter) and the "A" magnet. Have him practice saying them separately a few times, as you point to them. Then, have him say and hold out the consonant ("SSSSSSSSSS") and then he moves his hand to the "A" and says the short "A" sound. Then get some sticky tack or tape and "glue" the letters together to help him see that the sounds stick together. Once he gets the idea, move on to other letters. My ds loved this "game!"

Edited September 11, 2010 by Kirch

[Pamela H in Texas]

I would do manuscript instead of cursive also.

 

Just a note though. My mother is an occupational therapist in a public school district in Houston; and she starts the students who are struggling with print on the cursive mid-2nd grade to give them a headstart. Additionally, many students who struggle with OT, reading, writing, etc do better with cursive than print.

 

And yes, my mother uses HWT :)

[bbrandonsmom]

What's OT?

Doesn't PP have some games in there for blending? Ds had a time blending too, but I think it was due to how I taught him to put words together and he had to relearn. Once he got the connection, it was fine. We just kept practicing in PP.

 

Cursive. ? Ds saw cursive yesterday and wants to try it. He woke up this morning and is asking me where the letters are with the little curves on them are. I'm going to let him try, only because he has an interest and wants to. He'll either see that he can or can't do it yet.

[Dmmetler]

My almost 6 yr old is doing HWT cursive because she wanted to learn cursive, and is doing fine with it. We're using the chalkboard, air writing, and a lot of the multisensory strategies quite a bit, and I'm making a lot of practice pages for her on the larger double-lined paper before we move to the workbook, because the lines are a little close together for her at first.

 

However, she was already a solid reader, so didn't need the letters to be the same between reading and writing as a bridge. That would be my one concern with starting with cursive.

[Dinsfamily]

My 6yo started cursive this year with no problems. I plan to start my next one in cursive at 5. We found it easier than learning print (i taught ds6 print last year). I would just be sensitive to his attention span, writing fatigue, and desire.

[Medieval Mom]

Ds started cursive at 5 :) He loved it!

[mammaofbean]

my 5 year old is doing the HWT cursive workbook. one letter a day, some letters take two days. i require no more practice than is in the workbook, for her this is 10-20 minutes. she is doing so much better with cursive than she was doing with manuscript. she is highly motivated because she wanted to do cursive, so this helps.

[Whereneverever]

We did cursive at 5 and I think it actually helped with reading- it clearly shows where words start and end since the letters are linked. My DD found that really helpful, and actually found the cursive strokes easier then writing in print.

[Doodle]

Doodle expressed an interest in learning cursive near the end of his K year. I bought HWT cursive and we got started. But, we didn't start with cursive. He is finishing up HWT2 simultaneously while we get started in cursive. He has very nice printing and once we finish book2, we will focus totally on cursive. He's already told me that once he learns all the letters in cursive, he plans to write that way all the time.

[CourtneyChn]

My dd started cursive when she was 6, but we did New American Cursive. She did fine with it. We used a sand tray to practice each letter before writing it and she loved that.

[Satori]

We learned to print at age 4, and once she mastered that, my daughter wanted to learn cursive at age 5. Handwriting is one of the things she just loves. I wasn't ready to teach cursive yet, but she started teaching herself, so I quickly bought HWT Cursive (it was our next book to use anyway). We've recently started it and she already taught herself how to write all the letters except a few of the tough ones. So I now am just going to go with her flow.

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

Well it sounds like the concensus is to go ahead and start but go gently and be considerate ds's attention span/strength. That's what we'll do.

[jwoodbri]

I don't have any experience with the HWT cursive but I would like to soon. :) As far as 6 being too young to teach cursive, definitely not! Traditionally in Montessori classrooms students are taught cursive. Here's a little article on why. I tried to write an explanation but it wasn't coming out very clearly! :) http://aaaa.net.au/questions/cursive.htm

[sibbis]

Here's a good article about the rationale for teaching cursive first. http://www.swrtraining.com/id29.html

 

Full disclosure: I'm using Cursive First with both my kids and I love it!

[nansk]

Here's a good article about the rationale for teaching cursive first. http://www.swrtraining.com/id29.html

 

Full disclosure: I'm using Cursive First with both my kids and I love it!

 

 

Hi sibbis,

 

The article you linked to is an edited version of the first chapter of the CF TM. If you have the TM, could you please let me know who these quoted people are?

(Gladstone, 2000)

(Joss, 2001)

(McInnis, 1995)

 

I assume (Blumenfeld, 1997) is Sam Blumenfeld.

 

TIA

[DarlaS]

Do keep in mind the lines are a little smaller in that book as it is typically used for 3rd grade.

 

You could always enlarge the pages though or make your own using their larger lined paper (or StartWrite software) and the teacher's book.

[Twigs]

The article you linked to is an edited version of the first chapter of the CF TM. If you have the TM, could you please let me know who these quoted people are?

(Gladstone, 2000)

(Joss, 2001)

(McInnis, 1995)

 

 

I don't have the TM, but Gladstone is possibly Kate Gladstone.

 

http://www.handwritingrepair.info/Kateabout.html

 

I learned a.lot about handwriting at her site.

 

Best wishes.