Would you let your dc choose...

[Tabrett]

...what style of cursive to learn?

 

I love GD Italic, but my dd has shown interest in learning loopy cursive. I'm not a big fan of cursive writing period, that is probably why I love GDI.

 

IMHO, GD Italic is very logical.:lol: It is neat to read and fast to write. Loopy cursive seems...well, I just don't get the point of all the loops.:001_huh:

 

I would only give my dc two choices: GDI or Cheerful Cursive.

 

Would you let your dc choose?

 

Or should I stick with GDI just because I like it.:tongue_smilie:

[Bokons]

I chose for my dc at first, but when they got older, I let them choose which handwriting book they wanted to use. We went to the store (or online), and I let them see the ones that were available.

 

For my oldest, we started with GD, then went to Reason for Handwriting (I chose both), then he decided to learn Spencerian when he was about 10. For another ds, he was using the Reason for Handwriting, but didn't like it, so we went to the homeschooling store, and he chose between the next level of Reason for Handwriting (transition one) or the Classically Cursive, and he chose Classically Cursive, and has done two levels of that one. Another one decided to do Spencerian as well after leaning cursive already.

[Kates]

I would and did. I figure a) better to be something that makes sense to him and b) I'll get much less resistance if it's something he wants to learn. :)

[Ellie]

No. I'm going to teach a traditional cursive. When dc are proficient in that, they can choose italics or some other caligraphic form.

[merry gardens]

Have you seen the StartWrite program where you can print off your own sheets and choose from several styles? I've thought about getting that program then letting my dc choose which style. http://www.drawyourworld.com/dnealian.html

[Joyofsixreboot]

I chose the cursive (HWT) BUT if my handwriting is any indication they'll add their own touches soon enough. I went through the girly phase where I had circles above my i and lots of loops and flourishes. It is now a really ugly combo of printing/italic/cursive that is if nothing else distinctive.

[DianeJM]

With my one child who I knew had motor issues, I chose a style that I viewed simple enough for him to learn. It's a fairly traditional style without all the fancy loops. Then I taught it to him. He had no say, but I explained why I chose it and said that it didn't have a lot of fancy extra strokes. He was certainly fine with that -- kind of relieved, actually. It was never an issue.

 

With my olders I did the choosing also, and I figured a traditional style would be best overall. They never had two cents to say about it either; they just did it.

 

So, all my kids just did the cursive presented to them. There were never issues about style choice with them. They don't know there are so many styles to choose from, lol; we moms are the ones who do the agonizing over style. But I did a lot of researching styles for my youngest, because I knew handwriting is an issue for him. If he had a really strong preference I would have heard what he had to say, but I'd have had the last say for reasons of ease for him.

[lisamarie]

I bought a book that I thought would be fine for my DS. After 1 day of it he was in tears because it was too loopy. I pulled out a workbook that my mom had given me that she got at a garage sale and he liked that one way better. So yes, I would let my child decide which style they want to learn. For some kids all those loops would be torture. For others, they would LOVE all the loop-da-loops. My DD likes the loops and regularly tries to embellish her print letters.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I would definitely teach the loopy traditional cursive IMHO. Cursive is quicker than printing and I imagine italics if it is mastered which does not take much effort. I recommend PenTime or other traditional cursive books. It took 10 minutes a day with ds and soon after about 1 1/2 years or so I will have him do all assignments in cursive:D We also do copywork in cursive. I think it is great. I learned it way back then and it was a life saver taking notes in college:D

[Daisy]

I would have let my daughter pick. I'd have no problem with that. She enjoys writing and loved learning cursive. She has beautiful handwriting.

 

My son? No way. But mostly because I knew what he needed better than he did.

[johnandtinagilbert]

I teach connective cursive b/c it's so easy to transition and teach, but while teaching them, I show them other ways certain letters are written. They tend to practice what they like for fun and by the time they're in 5th grade or so, kind of develop their own style, just like I did as a kid.

[BatmansWife]

Hmmmm....this one is kind of a tough one. I was just about to say to let her choose, since there really is so few curriculum choices that can be up to them (at least in our case). Buuuuttt....then I saw your two choices. Isn't Cheeful Cursive only one book? The GD books have quite a few to go through. I don't know if that will matter or not to you though.

 

I have had my own quandries about what to choose....gone back and forth umpteen (is that a word??) times. DD is also 7 and wants to do the "fancy" handwriting. I really like New American Cursive....but in the end I couldn't justify the price. So, I decided to stick with the style in her McRuffy phonics, which is very much like D'Nealian. Scott Foresman has a really nice series of D'Nealian workbooks and dd just started the first grade one and loves it. It starts out with D'Nealian manuscript. Well...this is more than you wanted to know. I guess I'd let my dd decide.

[MerryAtHope]

I do give my kids choices on some things. For handwriting, I chose the method to teach them, and then later let them adapt to a style they prefer and gave them more choices in what curriculum to use.

 

Merry :-)

[Karen in CO]

...what style of cursive to learn?

 

 

 

I would and did let her choose. I showed her a lot of samples of cursive styles - as many as I could find - then I let her choose. She chose ZB.

[Farrar]

I would think not letting her choose when she has a clear preference could backfire on you when she tries to adapt it to be her own style, which kids inevitably do. It's her handwriting, after all.

[unity]

I've got one in GDI, one in RFH, and one in HWT. I did allow them to choose because as someone else said, there are so few subjects they can have a say in, and it is after all their handwriting. I don't really care what style they use, as long as it's neat. I choose when they are really little, but at a certain point (around cursive, I'd say), I will let them choose.

[Celia]

Yes, absolutely. I think a person's writing is something of a reflection of their personality.

 

One caveat - I wouldn't let it veer drastically far away from traditional, as they need to be familiar enough with traditional to be able to read it easily.