Can someone tell me why HWT's "r's" and "b's" look so

[Alicia64]

weird??

 

The "r's" look like funny "m's." And the "b's" aren't attached.

 

I've never in my life seen "r's" like this before. I even asked dh thinking I was missing something and he said the same thing: that he'd never seen an "r" like that in his life.

 

I'm sticking w/ HWT because otherwise it's fine and fun, but I'm telling my kids, "that's not how we do 'r's'."

 

Alley

[nukeswife]

I'm guessing you mean in cursive and I've thought the same thing. I'm working on getting my kids to make a traditional cursive lowercase r, but for b's I just taught them to print one and then bounce back out from the ball part of it kind of like when you make a letter p. It's really no harder to make a b like that then the traditional cursive one and it's much easier to read it.

[boscopup]

Are you talking about print or cursive? The print r and b looks normal to me? :confused: I just checked the cursive version in Startwrite, and the r looks weird just because it's not slanted at the top, but the b looks fairly normal to me. I don't care for HWT's upright cursive anyway. We use the print, and it's pretty much how I naturally write. We're switching to something else for cursive.

[Alicia64]

Nuke: good idea on the "b."

 

Bo: yes, I'm talking about cursive, not the printed. The "r's" and "b's" . . . when you look at them written within a word really look wrong.

 

I don't know what the folks at HWT were thinking.

 

I almost want to find another cursive program, but which one?? Any ideas?

 

Alley

[littlebug42]

I recently ditched HWT cursive and just started teaching it myself. I wrote the letters on the white board and had them copy them into a notebook. Each day, I take their notebooks and write out their signature at the top. I leave room for them to copy and then write a sentence/short poem etc below with lines left blank for them to copy. They have gotten more out of it than any handwriting program. Also, trying to transition dd9 to write on regular notebook paper was not going well because she was so used to the HWT lines.

[chicagoshannon]

It looks about right to me. If it had the proper slant I think it would be fine.

[UmMusa]

Oh dear! I just placed an order a few hours ago for HWT!!!

[Alicia64]

Um -- it's only the "r's" and the "b's" that I'm not good with. The cursive version. Other than that it seems fine.

 

Very kid friendly. I think it's been a great intro. to cursive. My kids have liked it.

 

Alley

[nukeswife]

I recently ditched HWT cursive and just started teaching it myself. I wrote the letters on the white board and had them copy them into a notebook. Each day, I take their notebooks and write out their signature at the top. I leave room for them to copy and then write a sentence/short poem etc below with lines left blank for them to copy. They have gotten more out of it than any handwriting program. Also, trying to transition dd9 to write on regular notebook paper was not going well because she was so used to the HWT lines.

 

I'm thinking we'll be going this way soon. I have Startwrite, so I don't know why I haven't been doing this already using a font I like a bit better.

[Momling]

I'm okay with the r's and b's... but I hate HWT '6' -- it looks like a b.

[Abigail4476]

The "r's" and "b's" look normal to me. Is there a new version that's linked somewhere where they look different?

[Alicia64]

Mom -- I'm sorry, I'm not being clear. I'm not talking about uppercase letters -- I'm talking about lower case letters.

 

In the sample in your post look at the word "Brazil'. See the lower case "r"??

 

It looks like a funny "m".

 

Everyone can be "okay with them," but I'm 46 yrs. old and have never seen lowercase, cursive "r's" or "b's" look the way this program has them look.

 

Alley

[frankcassiesmom]

I bought HWT for my first and didn't do a DAY of it because I couldn't stand the way the letter look. Everything about them actually I can't stand. :) And now having looked at that attachment with the cursive, I'm even more convinced!

[Alicia64]

Look at the sample again -- in the words "backpacked" and "November"...the b is attached. ;)

 

Coastal: Look at the sample: can you see how the small b's look something like a small "l" because the round part doesn't touch? ;)

 

I guess this whole debate is over. I've been writing long enough. The "r's" and "b's" just aren't right.

 

Alley

[nukeswife]

Look at the sample again -- in the words "backpacked" and "November"...the b is attached. ;)

 

I think she means the lower part of the lowercase b doesn't come back in more toward the center before the tail that attaches it. I think they look to open myself, which is why I'm teaching the lowercase b like in italic cursive.

[frankcassiesmom]

I guess this whole debate is over. I've been writing long enough. The "r's" and "b's" just aren't right.

 

Alley

 

:lol:

[boscopup]

Yeah, their cursive is weird. For traditional cursive, I was going to use Pentime, but then I decided to do Getty-Dubay connected italics. GDI print is very similar to HWT, letters being formed the same way, etc.

 

I also don't like the HWT '6', but I just had my son do the slant. He'd been taught ball and stick style writing already, so he knew how to do a 6.

[coffeefreak]

You're right, it looks funny in the books, however, the whole premise of HWT is to make cursive writing as simple as possible. All their cursive letters use as few strokes as possible, and follow the natural "flow" of the letter. It's fabulous for kids that struggle with dysgraphia, have a hard time holding a pencil, or struggle with hand-eye coordination. My oldest was all of the above. :001_smile: HWT was a lifesaver, and her handwriting looks "normal" for a 5th grader. NOT like the samples.

 

HTH!

Dorinda