klhoward42 Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Can someone explain to me why Abeka teaches Cursive as their main writing before they teach manuscript? I am starting k4 this year with my daughter and I know she isn't ready for Cursive. I purchased the manuscript curriculum to teach her first but I am confused why they would do cursive first. Any ideas?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy2BeautifulGirls Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Not sure about Abeka, but this article might enlighten you. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klhoward42 Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 Thank you so much I appreciate you sending that article it make it make sense now. I am still not sure I need to start her at 4 years old though!!! I will definitely have to think about it !! Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 My #2 child learned cursive along with her older sister using side walk chalk at an old 4 & young 5. (She turned 5 in the middle of that summer.) You would be amazed at how much easier it is to teach cursive vs. manuscript at that age (with some kids at least). Good luck with your decision! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 If you want to teach a writing style that can easily transition into cursive, consider Getty-Dubay Italics or BJU Handwriting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krismoose Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 If you ever do want to try cursive for a 4yo, A Beka really does have a nice program, with large enough font size and bite-size amounts of work on each page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennijean Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I asked the Abeka rep this very question in May, and he sited many of the same reasons mentioned in this article. It really got me thinking about the whole handwriting business, because I was almost tempted to skip cursive altogether! with modern technology, was this an important skill? So, I believe we'll begin cursive this year, while my DD6 is in first grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy2BeautifulGirls Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Thank you so much I appreciate you sending that article it make it make sense now. I am still not sure I need to start her at 4 years old though!!! I will definitely have to think about it !! Thanks again! You're welcome! Good luck deciding. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I saw an A Beka K5 cursive workbook yesterday that a girl now in college used back when she was 5. I couldn't believe how nice it looked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I can't speak for Abeka, but I teach cursive young. I taught cursive first to my oldest (and my youngers picked up printing before I could teach anything). I found that my oldest naturally picked up print without much instruction (just some reminding where to start the letters) after learning cursive. By 2nd grade, he was fluent in both. It's nice to NOT have to teach handwriting in 2nd/3rd grade again when we have so many other things on our plates. His handwriting recieved the first glowing comment when we went for his portfolio review this summer.:001_smile: (b/c he's been writing in cursive so long, it's natural) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Here's A Beka's answer: Cursive Writing Flyer The real question to ask is probably why the rest of us teach printing first. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classically Minded Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I introduced cursive in K and it slowed down my daughter's reading. Once we dropped the cursive, her reading really took off. Here are quotes from Susan Wise Bauer on Abeka's cursive first: Back in the 1970s, the private Christian schools associated with Abeka in Pensacola, Florida, started teaching cursive writing in kindergarten. There’s one pedagogical advantage to this–it’s harder to reverse letters. But that’s balanced off by a disadvantage: many children need to print because they need the visual likeness between what they’re doing and what’s in the books they read. The A Beka approach to cursive was governed by a more general concern: it appeared more advanced to teach cursive in kindergarten than to wait for the traditional second/third grade window. Private Christian education was relatively new; now, Christian schools could boast that their students, trained in these untested, unfamiliar classrooms, were ahead of their counterparts elsewhere. The push backwards was for boasting privileges. The rest of her article is here:http://www.welltrainedmind.com/reflections-on-education/third-graders-saxon-math-and-elitism/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caterpiller Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 What If we don't write properly in cursive ourselves. :glare: I use a combination of cursive and print. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyLittleBears Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 I like Memoria Press' idea of teaching print in K and cursive starting in 1st. Cursive was taught first prior to about the 1940s, but most children did not go to school until they were about 6-7yrs old. It should not impede reading, but early enough to establish good speed and practice. Speaking from experience, I wish my oldest had learned cursive in first instead of 3rd. He did 2 whole years of cursive and has now regressed to print. His cursive is painfully slow compared to his print and I now have to remediate with italic cursive to give him a little more speed.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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