Is startwrite worth it?

[parias1126]

I'm contemplating buying it. What are some things you use it for primarily?

[nansk]

I have used it only to make alphabet practice sheets and then some copywork. Now, I just write the sentence by hand (in Italic) in the notebook and dd copies it. So we are not really using it any longer.

 

But if you are enthusiastic about it, I'm sure you can make various notebooking pages in Startwrite or use it for spelling practice. I do think it is worth it if you can't write in the handwriting style you want your kids to learn. :-)

[cloversandlions]

I don't have StartWrite; instead, I found a free online font that was very similar to D'Nealian, and I'll make sheets using that. It's maybe not perfect, but I think it will work.

[Hunter]

I used to be a big proponent of Startwrite, until I read the handwriting section of WRTR. Once I memorized the letter scripts I no longer needed to trace the letters for practice, or to be able to see models of the letters.

[boscopup]

I use it to make narration pages (I type the narrations now) and for copywork. If you buy it, use the HSBC code (you have to call to use it) for 25% off.

[creekmom]

I bought it this summer and have found that I use it quite a bit. My kids are learning italics, and it's so easy to type up their copywork, poetry to memorize, etc. it that font for them to copy. That said, I don't think the italic print on the Startwrite is as pretty as the GD italics, but it's good enough. My youngest was in tears yesterday bc she couldn't copy the italics under the line where I had typed it, so I got back on the computer and changed what I had typed in solid letters to dotted lines that she could trace- problem solved and no more tears (and it took all of 10 seconds!)

[ChrissySC]

Perhaps you have a younger child, but it has proven to me that it was worth it. I use it to print all manner of text and copywork. Reading cursive is every bit as important as writing it, and I use it to print instructions and text quite frequently. I use many of the cursive fonts as well to expose her to varying styles so that reading will be much easier.

 

If you only want to use it to substitute for the handwriting practice, even then it is worth the time. However, if you add the cost of the books over time and consider the time that it will take to develop practice sheets, you may feel otherwise. I use the copy and paste feature to transfer what I want copied, but we are no longer practicing forming letters (for this, I too used a formal program with its accompanying book).

 

Just some babble. HTH.

[Tracy]

I bought to make copywork. This year, we are doing WWE1, but dd is writing in cursive, so I had to turn the worksheets into cursive for her.

[blondeviolin]

Well I'll be the dissenter and say I wish I would have bought Educational Fontware instead so I can have the functionality of a word processing program.

[nansk]

Well I'll be the dissenter and say I wish I would have bought Educational Fontware instead so I can have the functionality of a word processing program.

 

Oh! I agree. EFI is much better value (and easier to use) than StartWrite. I only used StartWrite because I got an old version free. If I had not, I would have definitely bought EFI.