Janie Grace Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I have always started cursive in 3rd grade. But this year's rising 3rd grader has TERRIBLE handwriting (printing). Some reversals but mostly just sloppy, not staying on the line, not spacing words adequately, etc. We have been using HWT. WWYD? Start a cursive program? More printing practice? There isn't another HWT book before cursive... is there another printing book you'd recommend that isn't too different from HWT? I have loved HWT's approach (the slate with wet-dry-try, the simplicity, etc) but it has always bugged me that they don't use the middle dotted line like everyone else. So I'm not opposed to using another program if you think it's best to keep him printing for another year. Then again, I know some people start cursive MUCH earlier, and maybe a fresh way of writing would help. :confused: Please advise!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Seriously, I sound like I get money from them... but I seriously don't. I would start with the cursive. Good time to go really intense about doing/watching/ together.... and I think that the cursive has a good chance of solving reversals. I had always planned to do cursive first; I believe that there's good information out there... as to why that's best. But cursive was not going as planned. Anyway, got the HWOT 3rd grade with Teacher's guide... and a short time later.... very decent handwriting. Do I still have to say "top to bottom" and such... especially when he's just writing something away from school? Yup! And I told him that he needs to write as I say, because later he'll be glad to have properly formed letters. BUT, it looks nice :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Seriously, I sound like I get money from them... but I seriously don't. I would start with the cursive. Good time to go really intense about doing/watching/ together.... and I think that the cursive has a good chance of solving reversals. I had always planned to do cursive first; I believe that there's good information out there... as to why that's best. But cursive was not going as planned. Anyway, got the HWOT 3rd grade with Teacher's guide... and a short time later.... very decent handwriting. Do I still have to say "top to bottom" and such... especially when he's just writing something away from school? Yup! And I told him that he needs to write as I say, because later he'll be glad to have properly formed letters. BUT, it looks nice :) :iagree: Dd's cursive looks better than her print, and no reversals yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy2BeautifulGirls Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I would move to cursive. There is always time to work on printing later. Here's an article about why it's actually advantageous to learn cursive first anyway. (I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately. I just did a blog post about this program. :D) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I would move to cursive. There is always time to work on printing later. Here's an article about why it's actually advantageous to learn cursive first anyway. (I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately. I just did a blog post about this program. :D) :iagree: I've been asking HWOTs to do a cursive program for students "from the start" to mesh up to their 3rd grade cursive. I'd love it if there were others asking for the same thing! I'd also like them to recognize homeschoolers as teachers and offer some type of discount for products/services. Also, they have a policy of not selling at discounts to bookstores, like Exodus Books. I believe it would be more fair for them to sell to spots where I could buy their books locally, at a price that the bookstores could afford. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Both my rising 2nd grader and rising 3rd grader have pretty sloppy handwriting- third grader is worse, though. 2nd grader still does a little reversal, and both of them still form some letters incorrectly, even after repeated instruction and reminders not to. I'm starting cursive for both of them this year. I'm hoping it helps. The third grader is excited because he thinks cursive looks cool. 2nd grader, not so much. We'll see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 :iagree: Start cursive. One of my third graders started cursive for the first time this summer and it's SO much neater than his printing :). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trishalinn Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I started teaching my son cursive last year (he was a young 2nd grader) and am so glad I did! I really only did it because he REALLY wanted to learn to write in cursive. His printing was so sloppy and he occasionally had some reversals. He has very nice cursive handwriting and no reversals. He doesn't know it yet, but I'm planning to require all work to be done in cursive this year so I don't have to struggle to figure out what his handwriting says! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy2BeautifulGirls Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 :iagree: Start cursive. One of my third graders started cursive for the first time this summer and it's SO much neater than his printing :). Yes, my daughter likes to take her time with her cursive. Printing, not so much. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy (TX) Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Yep, I would start him on cursive. It should help the reversals and he might like it better - like you said, a fresh look at writing is a good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetandSimple Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I'm in the exact same situation. I've researched quite a bit, and it really seems like cursive is the way to go. Maybe he will surprise you and the cursive will go really well! We will be using New American Cursive, though I won't be teaching the letters alphabetically as they do in the workbook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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