Roxy Roller Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 A little background... ...I taught my DD11 cursive at the age of 4 with Abeka. She has beautiful handwriting. I tried to do the same thing with my three sons in the middle, and we suffered through a couple of years with it before I dropped it and switched to manuscript. They started cursive again when they hit 3rd Grade and they are all handwriting beautifully now. The other day I was telling my DS5 that he was printing his 'o' wrong. He was going clockwise, instead of counter-clockwise. He threw down his pencil and announced that he wanted to learn cursive instead. I said that he had to learn his printing first. Later, I realized that maybe he could learn cursive like his sister. I just assumed that he would be like his other three brothers. I guess my question is, what should I look at for a 'cursive first' curriculum? I don't really have any desire to go back to Abeka, and I honestly want something that is open and go - he likes workbooks, and is very independent. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edwena Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Cursive First is what I've used with both of my dc. It's cheap and it works.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Cursive First is what I've used with both of my dc. It's cheap and it works.:) :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TC5 Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 :iagree: My now-8yo son didn't do very well with any writing in kindergarten, but we used Cursive First anyway. He still struggles to put anything on paper (numbers, letters, drawings), but his cursive is beautiful. I am now teaching my 5yo son with Cursive First, and he is doing very well and loves it. This program has many elements to it, and for this 5yo, I'm doing the minimum. I just gave him the worksheets, explained how to write the letters, showed him, watched him and corrected him, and he does well. Now he copies words. But the program also has information about more that you can do if your child needs it (probably any child would benefit from it, but I just wasn't getting it done). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Handwriting Without Tears is the easiest!! It took a little boy's ugly handwriting, which wasn't clear at all, to a very legible handwriting!! Get the Teacher's book and the students; you won't be sorry! I'm going to offer him a transition cursive, if he'd like... perhaps next year or the next.. but for now... just looking at how nice it is makes me smile. All for $20 and about 2 months of writing. SWR is nice, but didn't work, as he just couldn't write that small... and starting at 2 o'clock for the round letters didn't work for him. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I used Cursive First. It was cheap, and it did work. But I felt like it also looked cheap, and that bothered me, given the technology so commonly available. It also bothered me that it provided so few opportunities for the child to actually write whole words, because that is what my dd5 really wanted to do. I would recommend that you just make your own worksheets, but I like that Cursive First used the Modern Cursive font, which begins every lowercase letter on the baseline, eliminating a lot of confusion for the child. I don't think that the other programs out there do that. (There are only a couple that I was able to find that are meant for K. I don't remember the names of them right now.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenDaisies Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 New American Cursive is designed for 1st grade. We just got it so I can't say much about it. I am a HWT user, but I didn't want to use a 3rd grade curriculum for a 1st grader - I wasn't sure she could write that small. What I have noticed so far is that NAC teaches them alphabetically and uppercase/lowercase are taught at the same time. I prefer HWT's developmental order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachmejoy Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I went through this with my son and couldn't fine exactly what I was looking for. I ended up designing my own. Feel free to check it out. I tried to keep it cheap so moms like me could afford it. It's on teachmejoy.com and is called the Joy of Handwriting. You should be able to see some samples on that page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 New American Cursive is designed for 1st grade. We just got it so I can't say much about it. I am a HWT user, but I didn't want to use a 3rd grade curriculum for a 1st grader - I wasn't sure she could write that small. What I have noticed so far is that NAC teaches them alphabetically and uppercase/lowercase are taught at the same time. I prefer HWT's developmental order. This is another plus for Cursive First. It teaches similarly formed letters together. It also teaches all lowercase before teaching uppercase. I only taught dd lowercase as part of the program, and I teach her the uppercase letters only as needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I like Abeka's K cursive workbook. It's the best as far as being developmentally appropriate and price, that I've seen. I had Cursive First and I like the methodology, but the reproducibles are poorly done...and not big enough for a 5-6yo. StartWrite is a good option. Buying a ream of handwriting paper and making your own with a pen and a highlighter is another good option. My dc like sentences that were picked just for them. NAC seems expensive for what it is. Pictures in Cursive looks good, but maybe not for K/1st when you need more focus on letter formation. jmho. ymmv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krismoose Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 (edited) After much searching and trying Cursive First, I used Handwriting Help For Kids: Create Cursive. I copied extra pages of the first half of the book (you're allowed to do that for the intended user) because he needed more practice than what was in the book. By halfway through, he was using it as is. The font is large enough for K-1st, it's sequenced by letter formation, lowercase first, words are formed quickly, and all the lowercase letters start on the baseline, making it very easy for my ds to remember how to form the letters. I started him just before 5 and at 6:4 his cursive is decent, on its way to being nice (I hope :) ). I turned the same book into a wipe-off book for my dd who's almost 4 and has much better fine motor skills than ds did at this age, and has been asking to learn cursive like her brother. After Create Cursive, ds has been enoying doing Pictures in Cursive, starting halfway through the primer, after they teach the letter formation. He's almost done with the A book, and I think he may be ready to copy something without pictures next, like a weekly Bible verse. I'm interested in seeing if there's anything else out there with more practice right in the book ...I'd use A Beka K4 if the letters started on the baseline. ETA: Just checked out Teachmejoy's link - I think I may give that a try this time! Thanks!! Edited February 12, 2011 by krismoose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Thank you so much for introducing me to Cursive First. I have been using the Modern Cursive font in StartWrite and am looking for a course that TEACHES that font. I think this is just what I have been looking for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Thank you so much for introducing me to Cursive First. I have been using the Modern Cursive font in StartWrite and am looking for a course that TEACHES that font. I think this is just what I have been looking for. If you already have StartWrite, I would not buy Cursive First. The Cursive First worksheets are just one letter per half sheet with one word to write at the end. (And they are not even exactly half of a sheet. So if you cut them in half, they are not all the same size.) You can do the same thing with StartWrite, and the worksheets you print will look way better than the Cursive First worksheets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Does it concentrate on grouping similar letters and the strokes involved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Does it concentrate on grouping similar letters and the strokes involved? Yes, it does. I believe that there are four different categories and one half-sheet for each. (I would have to look back at it to be sure.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Using StartWrite alone is leaving me without any basic instruction on handwriting. I feel like I am missing something important. Software is supposed to be a supplement to formal instruction, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinM Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 (edited) You have already gotten a lot of responses but I wanted to throw a new one out there just in case... I was searching for a cursive program for my 5.5 yr old a few months ago and I stumbled upon a Kinesthetic program called Loops and Other Groups. I really liked the look of it compared to others so I went with it. It groups similar letters together similar to Cursive First. I believe it is designed for 2nd graders but my DS has been doing really well with it. I'm taking it slow and letting him set the pace and so far so good. It is workbook style although I have my DS do extra practice on lined paper if needed. I have some of the really wide paper but I think smaller is easier for cursive...not too small, but something in between the really wide and really narrow, if that makes sense! Here's a link to a sample if you are interested. HTH! Edited February 12, 2011 by RobinM Fixed the link! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxy Roller Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 Thank you all for your posts! I will check into these options. Thank you for reminding me about StartWrite. I have it, so maybe I need to just make up my own sheets and work from there. I might see if I have my daughters old Abeka worksheets, to guide me in a reasonable progression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxy Roller Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 You have already gotten a lot of responses but I wanted to throw a new one out there just in case... I was searching for a cursive program for my 5.5 yr old a few months ago and I stumbled upon a Kinesthetic program called Loops and Other Groups. I really liked the look of it compared to others so I went with it. It groups similar letters together similar to Cursive First. I believe it is designed for 2nd graders but my DS has been doing really well with it. I'm taking it slow and letting him set the pace and so far so good. It is workbook style although I have my DS do extra practice on lined paper if needed. I have some of the really wide paper but I think smaller is easier for cursive...not too small, but something in between the really wide and really narrow, if that makes sense! Here's a link to a sample if you are interested. HTH! Thank you, Robin. I like the looks of this, but I am on my last child, and it seems a little over my budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roxy Roller Posted February 12, 2011 Author Share Posted February 12, 2011 I went through this with my son and couldn't fine exactly what I was looking for. I ended up designing my own. Feel free to check it out. I tried to keep it cheap so moms like me could afford it. It's on teachmejoy.com and is called the Joy of Handwriting. You should be able to see some samples on that page. This looks good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 What font is Loops and Other Groups? Either the links are the same or my iPad isn't showing the samples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinM Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 What font is Loops and Other Groups? Either the links are the same or my iPad isn't showing the samples. It is a cursive font... and I think it is unique to the program. I'll copy and paste the link again: http://www.abcteach.com/samples/fonts/lg_handwriting_deskcard.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinM Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 What font is Loops and Other Groups? Either the links are the same or my iPad isn't showing the samples. You were right... It was the same link! Sorry about that.. I fixed it! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 Using StartWrite alone is leaving me without any basic instruction on handwriting. I feel like I am missing something important. Software is supposed to be a supplement to formal instruction, right? This is the exact reason that I purchased Cursive First. I toyed with the idea of doing it without a formal program (see this thread), but ultimately I felt like I was missing something. But using Cursive First did not get rid of that feeling. It provided me with an order with which to teach the letters, and some instruction about posture and grip, but you can find that stuff online. All I got from it were worksheets that I considered to be poorly done. We only spent a few weeks with it, and I just couldn't continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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