Italic Handwriting or Reason For Handwriting?

[kimmyandgracie]

I would like to start my dd4 in a handwriting program. She can write a lot of her letters on unlined paper, and when I wrote some letters on lined paper for her to trace the other day, she seemed to enjoy it very well, even though she didn't want to make a lot of copies of each letter. I have looked at the websites of Italics and RFH and I still am having a hard time deciding. On the one hand, I think the italic handwriting is beautiful and I would love to see my daughter's handwriting look like that. I also like the fact that print to cursive would be an easy transition. On the other hand, I really like the scriptural emphasis of RFH and the fact that it would be a lot easier to find supplements for this program. What have your experiences been with these programs? What are the pros and cons of each? Which would you suggest?

[...................]

It's so hard. I wish I had taught my son with Italics because his regular handwriting is kind of ugly. I hate ball and stick and find it very unnatural for the hand to move that way.

 

However I don't think I will teach my younger dd italics, because I am concerned that it will be a pain to do something different- think of all the walmart workbooks, all the stuff your family buys (books, leapster games, everything!) and they *all* use Ball and Stick. I think it would be very annoying to have to not use all that stuff sitting around just because I want her to have slightly more natural handwriting.

 

I personally am *not* a fan of Reason for Handwriting. I have used both levels K and A and my sons' handwriting got worse. In betweeen we used Classic Curriculum Writing workbooks and his handwriting then was absolutely gorgeous.

 

What I don't like about RFH:

 

1. No review. THe K book contains absolutely no review. So you have to figure out when to review it yourself. There are no pages included for review, and the standard 1" lines are, in my opinion, too big. 1" is absolutely huge, even for a K'er. (but most programs use 1" in K so this is not really specific problem to RFH).

 

2. HUge Jump from K to A. Then suddenly after 20 lessons in first grade your child is expected to copy an entire sentence with words above the first grade level. If this were copywork, I would say it would be fine, but there isn't enough room on the border sheets for you to write, and then for your child to copy. This is very difficult for my son, and he writes very well for his age.

 

So all in all I am not enchanted with RFH, but I don't necessarily think Italics is the answer for my dd. I love the style, and we have two books here that I haven't used yet and thought of starting my dd (4.5) on, but I just can't get past the fact that she'll have to do it differently than all her little books, leapster, etc.

 

Have you considered Peterson Directed? It's what I used in Catholic School and what I plan to use with my dd.

[Sue G in PA]

We love RFH here. We switched over from HWT to RFH b/c of the scriptural emphasis. Neither of my dc had a problem with it...even the ones who learned cursive using HWT. Not a big deal, really. As to calming tea's review of RFH...I do find some merit in her assessment. She is right on about the lack of review and larger than necessary lines. I, personally, didn't find a big problem with this and neither did my youngest, ds6. But, YMMV. Ds6 is working through A as a first grader. As to words being too difficult for a first grader, I do think it depends on their reading level. I tend to look at it as a handwriting and copybook all-in-one and not a "reader", though. The border sheets, IMO, are not meant to have the parent copy the scripture and then have the child copy underneath. The child looks at the verse in the book and copies off of that. Does that make sense? I know some parents prefer to copy it out right above where dc write. You could do that on a separate sheet and place it right above the border sheet if you find it necessary.

 

All in all...if your dc needs the review of the letters (b/c she doesn't know them or hasn't gotten the hang of writing them yet), you may want to use another workbook that has more practice per letter. You can get some workbooks for that very cheaply at Walmart or even a Dollar Store. OR, better yet, get one of those wipe off placements that has letter practice on it! We use those frequently. I guess my opinion would be "don't throw the baby out with the bath water"! If you like RFH, use it. I've never tried Italics, never even looked at that style for the same reasons as Calming Tea. Seems every book you look at uses that "ball and stick" manuscript..as awful as it might be!

[Aletheia Academy]

If you don't need a lot of repetition for each letter, the workbooks alone will be just fine. I found that my ds needs more opportunities to trace before being asked to form the letters by himself. I purchased Starwrite so I can make up extra worksheets.

 

It is a good point that there are other excellent resources that don't come in the Italic font; I really want to use a few of the copybooks provided by Queen Homeschool. I decided to go ahead and stick with Italic, anyway, and may purchase the copybook resources I want and use Startwrite to create worksheets in the Italic font. I don't plan to use much, if any, workbook resources whikle my kids are learning to write, preferring to stick to narration and copywork. As far as straight Scripture verses, I figured I could easily type out the verses from the Bible or whatever devotional source we are using.

 

This is extra work and expense on my part, but I really do like the Italic font and think it will benefit my dc in the long run. I did purchase the TM for the Italic program because I was nervous about teaching handwriting. I have found the information in it to be interesting and useful; although, I don't think we will use the entire series of workbooks.

 

Decisions, decisions...I'm sure you'll pick what right for your family.

 

Warmly,

[Alenee]

It's so hard. I wish I had taught my son with Italics because his regular handwriting is kind of ugly. I hate ball and stick and find it very unnatural for the hand to move that way.

.

 

I just wanted to chime in on this with a YEAH for Cursive First for the reason in Calming Tea's quote. Check it out and see why they say to begin with Cursive.

[CalicoKat]

we've used GD Italic from the beginning - finishing Book E this year with dd 9. She's a lefty. Dh is a lefty too. His biggest concern with homeschooling was that she have legible handwriting, something he doesn't feel he has.

 

We haven't supplemented the workbooks. I feel she's getting enough practice between the handwriting workbook and her other school work. Her handwriting is beautiful--dh is very pleased that it's going so well.

 

I've got two other kids using Books A and B this year. They're doing great too. The transition to cursive was quite painless with dd 9 and I hope we have the same with the other two kids.

 

I am planning on the kids doing copywork next year. Poems, Bible verses, and paragraphs from their reading. I do own StartWrite and that should be helpful in the sheets.

[marsha617]

We use RFH in our homeschooling. We used the K program this last year. I was satisfied with the program. I have to echo one of the other posts though. The lined paper is quite wide. It's almost like the child has to "draw" the letter. So I supplemented with Smart Start 1st grade paper. The K program teaches lowercase first then capitals. The child can color a picture pertaining to the writing lesson. This is fun for the young ones.

 

My 1st grader has used workbook A this year as well. I just purchased book C (cursive) in the future.

 

I love that there is a scriptural emphasis in this curriculum. Another thing I can say about the writing style is it is not ball and stick. Children are taught to form letters in a way that would make the transition to cursive fairly easy IMO.

 

HTH

Marsha

[kimmyandgracie]

Thank you for all of your input. I have lots to chew on now.