Two Handwriting Questions

[CathyCDK]

I have two girls, ages 11 and 9. Up until now, we've used only A Reason For Handwriting. I'm considering a change for both girls for the following reasons:

 

11 year old switch to Handwriting Without Tears. She is left handed and her handwriting is mostly illegible. She writes quickly and carelessly, without regard to neatness. On the rare occasion that she puts in her very best effort, her writing is sill messy. The quantity of practice in A Reason for Handwriting is painful for her. I haven't been able to determine if it's a character issue or developmental issue.

 

9 year old switch to Getty Dubay Italic. Her printing is neat, but she prints very slowly. She has resisted learning cursive, so I thought Getty Dubay might be a good compromise for her.

 

Question #1: Does the above seem like a good idea?

 

Question #2: When switching, which level do I chose? Start at the beginning or start at grade level?

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Blessings,

Cathy

[boscopup]

Is writing physically painful for your 11 year old? I remember hearing that by about 7ish, the pain of writing should stop, and if it hasn't, she should be evaluated. I think I'd start there.

 

GDI sounds like a good choice for the other one. I've tried it out myself and really like it. Just making a few changes to my own printing has made it a little nicer looking. I plan to work on it some more. I'm switching my son to GDI for cursive next year. We've been using HWT for print, and I like it a lot for print for him. I just don't like their upright cursive, and my son is excited about learning GDI cursive anyway (I showed him several styles and he picked that one, which happened to be what I was planning to use anyway... go mom!).

[almondbutterandjelly]

Yes, that sounds like a good idea. Handwriting without Tears doesn't actually put the Grade on the actual book, so even though it might mention a recommended grade on the website, you could use any book you think would work for your dc. I believe the "5th grade" book is Can-Do Cursive and you would probably want to look at the sample pages to see if that would work or if you should get a different level.

 

I also want to recommend, if you haven't done so already, that you have your kids learn to type. There are some great typing programs out there for kids. We used a Spongebob one, but I know there are some fun free ones on-line, too, somewhere. For some kids, the physical act of writing is just rather torturous to them, and typing is much better. They should still have to do some minimal handwriting practice every day, IMO, but for writing assignments and things, they should be permitted to type if they would prefer that.

 

As I'm re-reading your post, you might want to try Handwriting without tears for your younger one, too. Be sure to read their philosophy on how to teach it, too. It's enlightening and makes a lot of sense! Plus their wet-dry-try technique is fun for the kids as they learn. HTH!

[kandty]

I have used HWT and the teacher's manual has a ton of information to help get a left handed student writing correctly. My Dc are right handed, so I have no experience, but I know it is covered nicely in the TM. I recommend it. My DS has some position problems and it really makes his hands start hurting fast. But, once we corrected the problem he still experinces pain because now it is a new position and his hands aren't used to it. It is a slow recovery process. May need to do some hand strengthing exercises too. I have no experience with the other program. Good luck!

[CathyCDK]

Thank you for the replies and suggestions.

 

When I say that writing is painful, I should have said that it's painful for me! So much complaining over getting it done!

 

 

For GDI users, have you run into any trouble with your kids reading other cursive?

[nansk]

For GDI users, have you run into any trouble with your kids reading other cursive?

 

Not at all. My 6yo dd is able to read my regular cursive as well as my GDI cursive.

 

Question #2: When switching, which level do I chose? Start at the beginning or start at grade level?

OP,

I would suggest starting with the GDI C book. It starts with the Italic print script and introduces the cursive forms in the second half. The cursive forms are basically the same as the print forms with the little serifs (joiners) added on.