Your favorite Cursive Program

[didadeewiththree]

My rising second grader would love to start cursive this fall(or sooner).

 

Any recommendations for a good cursive handwriting workbook?

[kmom]

:lurk5:

[didadeewiththree]

Are you looking for a good cursive program too??

[SnegurochkaL]

I used Cursive First with my 6 years old and we loved it. I am going to use it this coming year with my 4.5 years son. My dd learned to use cursive first and then started to print.

[kolamum]

We aren't using a programme, and I made my lefty wait until now, 4th grade. He begged for ages to learn it, but I felt waiting was wisest.

 

I taught him how to do his name. I printed it out via StartWrite. First each letter then all the letters connected together. It covered 9 different letters, which was enough to get him going. Now we're using Queens Cursive Copywork book. :D I love it, and he's never complained about it. ;)

[nansk]

My rising second grader would love to start cursive this fall(or sooner).

 

Any recommendations for a good cursive handwriting workbook?

 

What kind of cursive do you prefer? My dd does Getty-Dubay Italic cursive. I have posted many times about Italic.

 

If you prefer the loopy, traditional cursive, there are two main options - Zaner-Bloser, which is more slanted and is loopier, and D'nelian, which is simplified and less slanted (and cleaner than ZB, imo).

 

I would suggest show your second grader the various options and let him/her choose. The StartWrite program includes multiple styles (incl. Italic). You can make your own alphabet practice and copywork sheets in Startwrite.

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

We are using New American Cursive with my 7yo. It is working well and comes with StartWrite software with their font installed on it.

[samba]

My preference is for Zaner-Bloser. You can create your own pages for copywork, etc. using ZB Fonts Online:

 

http://www.zaner-bloser.com/FontsOnline_Sampler/FontsOnline_Sampler/index.html

[boscopup]

What kind of cursive do you prefer? My dd does Getty-Dubay Italic cursive. I have posted many times about Italic.

 

If you prefer the loopy, traditional cursive, there are two main options - Zaner-Bloser, which is more slanted and is loopier, and D'nelian, which is simplified and less slanted (and cleaner than ZB, imo).

 

I would suggest show your second grader the various options and let him/her choose. The StartWrite program includes multiple styles (incl. Italic). You can make your own alphabet practice and copywork sheets in Startwrite.

 

:iagree: I gave my son the choice of which cursive he wanted to use. I was planning to use GDI, but wanted to make sure that was the style he liked as well - afterall, it's his handwriting for the rest of his life. :tongue_smilie: He picked GDI, so I was right on with my assumption. :D I'm learning it too, since my traditional cursive is awful. I really like GDI cursive.

[wehave8]

My favorite is Old Style Zaner-Bloser. Taught it to all of ours. For our last 3 we are learnng cursive first (not the program Cursive First).

[Dmmetler]

We're using HWOT. It's not pretty, but it's fairly easy, practical, and I like the breakdown and teaching sequence.

[twins05]

I chose New American Cursive because I liked the way it looked the best. I started the first workbook with my ds when he was 7 and my other ds when he was almost 6. Now I use the Startwrite software with the NAC font.

[kandty]

We're using HWOT. It's not pretty, but it's fairly easy, practical, and I like the breakdown and teaching sequence.

 

:iagree: My oldest used HWOT. It is not pretty, but is suppose to be easier and worked fine with by son whose has slight fine motor skill problems (just needs to exercise his hands more). I am putting cursive off for my youngest since I can't decide on a program. I have the HWOT already and will most likely use that next year, but I would like him to learn a more traditional program. Maybe this post will help.

[didadeewiththree]

Is this Start Write program affiliated with the Draw Write Now program? Do any of you do both together?

[Holly]

DD is using Cheerful Cursive and it's been great, but I'm going with CLE's I Can Write Cursive for DS since it was so much cheaper. :blush:

[lovelaughs_times_three]

We use A Reason For Handwriting. I don't know if it's the best, but we like it. I think level "T" is the Transition level for cursive.

[boscopup]

Is this Start Write program affiliated with the Draw Write Now program? Do any of you do both together?

 

Draw Right Now promotes Startwrite. I don't know exactly what the relationship is.

 

I use both. We only do DWN once a week. I use Startwrite-made pages much more than that.

[Ariston]

I really like Teaching Cursive! by Linda Corson, thought I see that its out of stock right now....

[Ann@thebeach]

We're using HWOT. It's not pretty, but it's fairly easy, practical, and I like the breakdown and teaching sequence.

 

I think this is great for kids that struggle a little more with handwriting. My son used it.

 

My DD has nicer writing and she really liked "Pentime." I thinks it's one of those hidden gems of homeschool materials.

[gswhitfield21]

My oldest son is dysgraphic, and we have had incredible success with Getty-Dubay Italics. We pulled him out of public school in second grade and his handwriting was atrocious. After 4 years of the GDI workbooks, he has very nice, if not beautiful cursive. He really enjoys the workbooks, and now that he is older, they incorporate literary terms as copywork. We took a break for him to learn typing, and when I brought out a new book, he actually thanked me! I didn't realize how much he actually enjoyed it. It amazed me to see a dysgraphic child happy about anything that has to do with writing.

[SilverMoon]

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Edited July 12, 2022 by SilverMoon

[TracyP]

I used Cursive First (although we didn't learn cursive first:tongue_smilie:) with my dd. I really liked the method laid out in the book. You learn the letter before you ever put pencil to paper. Very quick, painless... and cheap.

[Crimson Wife]

In an ideal world: Peterson Directed Handwriting as it's the prettiest cursive I've seen aside from Spenserian (which is gorgeous but can be hard to read).

 

What actually worked for my DD: New American Cursive. The look of it makes me :ack2: but after having meltdowns with PDH every time I pulled it off the shelf ("too loopy and slanted"), she learned NAC in about 3 weeks flat. She now has a script that is a bit on the ugly side but legible. I did draw the line on some of the NAC capitals and made her learn more traditional looking versions of those (F, Q, T, and Z).

[desertmum]

I like Italics very much but I can't do it myself. So now I am leaning towards this font http://practicalpages.wordpress.com/handwriting-pages/ because it is basically like my very own. I like the way it is consistent and clean...and rythmic somehow. The lady blogger told me the official name for it is ABC Cursive plain, for those who might be interested.

[Satori]

Is this Start Write program affiliated with the Draw Write Now program? Do any of you do both together?

 

When I bought my Draw Write Now 8-pack of all books, I also picked up the Start Write CD from their site (along with some pencil grips). So they must like the program enough to sell it.

 

We have used HWT series which has worked very well for us, but my daughter wanted to learn cursive, so naturally we went with HWT Cursive. But she never really wrote in cursive so I asked her if she'd like to try a different program. She jumped at the chance. We chose Getty-Dubay Italics. Right now we're just learning the print italic letters, but later next month we'll get into their cursive style.

[boscopup]

We have used HWT series which has worked very well for us, but my daughter wanted to learn cursive, so naturally we went with HWT Cursive. But she never really wrote in cursive so I asked her if she'd like to try a different program. She jumped at the chance. We chose Getty-Dubay Italics. Right now we're just learning the print italic letters, but later next month we'll get into their cursive style.

 

I look forward to seeing Satori's cursive italic! :D I think it will be a few months before we get to the cursive, but we're also doing GDI book C and learning italic print first, after having done HWT print. It's an easy transition. I just find myself forgetting to give him the book to work on individual letters, and while he's excited about learning cursive soon, he's not a "writer" by nature, so working on individual letters just isn't fun.

 

I've been learning GDI cursive with the adult book, and I now use it for writing down DS's narrations. I sometimes feel like *I* need to go through WWE dictations to practice for that. :lol: My cursive looks so much better than it used to though. It's still rough, but it's getting better and better. Much of it is actually starting to look nice. That never happened for me with traditional cursive.

[Satori]

Yeah, I intended to get the adult book for myself, to improve my own writing. It's a mix of half print and cursive, which is similar to GDI cursive. But I'd love to improve the look and consistency of my handwriting.

[ChrisB]

I really like Teaching Cursive! by Linda Corson, thought I see that its out of stock right now....

Thanks! I really like the looks of her cursive.

[Wendy Inman]

We used Conquering Cursive. We needed it for a lefty and not a lot of lefty choices out there... but we fell in love with it! It's slightly less loopy than the cursive i learned but still very pretty. Alex LOVED learning cursive this year and is now writing everything in cursive. Loved the simple instructions at the top of the page for each letter. (This was his 3rd grade year)

 

Good luck in your search!