How to teach dc to slant their cursive?

[...................]

and ...Does it really matter?

 

I think slanted cursive is a bit faster and easier to write, as the hand seems to flow across the page with the writing...but I'm sure it's not that big of a deal, right?

 

My dd8 is using RFH and she's doing beautifully. Her cursive is pretty, and she totally is ready for it. And, I don't even expect my 2nd graders' cursive to look nice. I only want her to learn the strokes correctly. But it does look nice.

 

However, it is not slanted, and I can't seem to figure out how to teach this using RFH. There are no slant guides, and I admit I don't have the TM. Perhaps there is info in there that I am missing.

 

Is it easy to get them to slant? Is there a trick? If it's not too hard, I would like to teach her to slant. But if it's a huge hassle I am not willing to die on that hill.

[GingerPoppy]

When I was in school, we were simply taught to turn the paper or book about 45 degrees to the left so that the letters would automatically (in theory) slant to the right.

[Crimson Wife]

I attended some talk years ago by a handwriting analyst and IIRC the degree of slant in someone's handwriting reflected the personality trait of being emotionally expressive (slanted to the right) vs. reserved (up-and-down or tilted backwards).

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That's funny because my dd8 is extremely expressive emotionally, and loud, and excited and happy, and jubilant...but her cursive is turning out mostly straight up and down! :tongue_smilie:

 

Anyway, yes I have been having her tilt the paper as I think that makes sense but it doesn't really work. She just changes the angle of the writing.

[Twigs]

If she is comfortable the way she writes and her writing is legible, do not worry about the slant! I've never had a slant to my writing, even after I taught myself italics.

[Jay3fer]

Here's a recent thread about the slant: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=328810

 

I wrote:

IMO, it doesn't have to slant. My mother has the neatest script handwriting in the world, and it doesn't slant at all.

(ETA: she was taught in the 1950s in a VERY proper Anglican girls' school - I suspect they knew and taught handwriting VERY properly indeed :-))

I think it's a matter of personal taste, so choose a program - we use HWOT - that will help your ds feel like a success right away.

 

p.s. Script may look fast, but I never learned it at all and print in block letters - amazingly fast (though not always legibly) :-)))

[justLisa]

I posted that thread, and I in no way intended to make slant seem an issue for me (not sure if anyone took it that way, just sayin.....). I think it's funny. I could turn DS page sideways and he'd STILL find a way to write straight. When asked, he says "I just like it that way, it's my style." So be it! I would actually advise against teaching any kind of STYLE to a child. I think slant/no slant is a part of style and each should have their own :D

[Critterfixer]

If you have an hour to kill, I recommend checking out Theory and Art of Penmanship (Payson, Dunton and Scribners) 3rd Ed 1864 over on Google Books. It was directed at teachers and has some first rate thoughts on penmanship, including a section in Cp 4 on Lines and Angles which is really interesting. This is a teachers manual, and the style probably wouldn't interest anyone, but some of the thoughts on teaching what was a beautiful cursive script is well worth the read.

 

Style is a personal choice; however, it doesn't hurt to have mechanics down so that you can decide what your style will be, instead of just going with whatever happens when the pen meets the paper.

 

That is of course if penmanship is worth the teaching. Not everyone would agree on that.

[nukeswife]

I'm in the, "don't think it matters" camp. My kids have no slant (the two that are writing in cursive) and as much as I hound them to tilt their paper, they prefer not to. They find tilting the paper more uncomfortable, so I've decided to give up that battle since their writing is pretty decent and legible. I say pretty decent because my 7th grade son has handwriting like his dad, so I'm just happy I can read it.

[sixpence1978]

:iagree:

With most everybody above. I have to slant to my cursive. My DD's is mostly straight, but occasionally will slant it backwards. I would only make a big deal out of it if you actually want to fight that battle. Otherwise, I would just focus on the legibility and basic letter formation.

[jenL]

Thanks for asking this question as I was pondering it the other day. My ds doesn't slant when writing in cursive, and like others, every time I tried to get him to turn the paper (to the point of taping it down at a 45* angle), he'd still find a way to write without a slant.

 

In thinking of my own writing, I tend to slant sometimes, but not consistently. Dh only writes in cursive to sign his name; he prints the rest of the time, so I've decided that I'm not going to worry about ds.

[boscopup]

I've been paying attention to other people's handwriting lately, and I've found that it can look very nice while still having no slant. I don't think the slant is that big a deal (though I did post a similar concerned thread a few months ago :D). We're currently on a cursive-hiatus... I think I'll just do a crash course in cursive during our 3 week "summer break". I want my son to learn cursive, and he's interested in learning cursive, but I have a hard time making it a priority, and I'm also concerned about him going backward in his writing ability when we've worked so hard to just get him writing where he is (physically). His ideas are excellent, but he still has to think about how to form each.and.every.letter. So introducing cursive is just going to set us back farther. For that reason, I've decided I want to teach DS2 cursive EARLY... in Kindergarten... so by time we get to the stage where writing is starting to get easier, we won't have to go backwards and learn a whole new method of writing! It just seems crazy to do that in 2nd-3rd grade as they're starting to gain confidence in print. :001_huh:

 

Anyway, I digress... Slant vs. no-slant in other people's writing seems to not matter. I've also noticed that left-handed people often slant left (which makes sense), and that looks nice too. As long as the letters are written neatly, I don't think the direction of slant makes much difference.