4Kiddos Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I am gearing up to start teaching my oldest son reading/handwriting. I reading through SWR as they have you do both simultaneously and am working on doing the learning log myself. They recommend teaching cursive first before manuscript handwriting. I learned manuscript first and was wondering if teaching cursive first will cause a problem with my ds being able to recognize the words in learning to read. He knows his phonogram sounds and I wanted to make the next step but I feel a little worried. Plus, I am just worried in general as this is my first time teaching anything! Did anyone here teach cursive first? Did your dc have a problem with reading and recognizing the words? For those of you who taught manuscript first, why did you? What do you all think? I would appreciate your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy (TX) Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I used Cursive First along with SWR for my oldest son. He didn't seem to have any problems going back and forth between reading print and writing cursive. You'll teach him to write the cursive letters, but when you learn the phonograms using the flashcards they will will be in print so he'll get used to both. Now, my second son didn't seem to catch on as fast to SWR and didn't love the cursive, so I let him go back to manuscript after we learned all of the cursive letters. I also had him do a workbook based phonics program and then we came back to SWR as a spelling list. I'm starting my 5yo daughter on Cursive First and SWR and it's going slowly, but well. So... all that to say if you want to do cursive first, I would just try it and see how your son does! I bet he'll do fine. If not, there are other ways to get it all done. Each child is so different! Good luck with your teaching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I think using cursive first actually helped reading here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I use OPG to teach reading, but we love Cursive First here! My kids love that they can write in cursive and I love that I only have to teach one kind of penmanship because their printing gets so much better after practicing cursive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I also used Cursive First and there was no issue with recognizing print in books. It also went much better than our earlier attempt at learning manuscript. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramlingk Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I taught manuscript writing first because I didn't see the point of starting with cursive. After reading these posts, I can see why you might. If only I had it to do over again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachmejoy Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I taught cursive first to my son and I highly recommend it! It helped him on a variety of different levels. I wasn't totally happy with the Cursive First curriculum which I used for awhile, so I ended up writing my own. (Which is 40% off on my website right now at www.teachmejoy.com using code NEWYEAR):001_smile: I am now starting my Joy of Handwriting with my dd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Cursive can be harder for children with certain learning disabilities, who need to completely write and FINISH one letter, before starting to think about the next letter. The connections between the letters is requiring an extra skill. I don't recommend starting boys in general with cursive as they are more likely to have the above mentioned problem. But children without this disability do well with starting cursive immediately and they ARE the majority. So sometimes there is no need to go looking for trouble. In general I VASTLY prefer the handwriting method in WRTR to the one in SWR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristin0713 Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Cursive can be harder for children with certain learning disabilities, who need to completely write and FINISH one letter, before starting to think about the next letter. The connections between the letters is requiring an extra skill. I don't recommend starting boys in general with cursive as they are more likely to have the above mentioned problem. But children without this disability do well with starting cursive immediately and they ARE the majority. So sometimes there is no need to go looking for trouble. Which disabilities? I'm just curious because I have done so much reading on this and I haven't seen that information before. Do you have any links? Not trying to be argumentative--just want to learn! We've been doing SWR and Cursive First and i love the program. I have found CF to be very easy to implement and by teaching my DD the phonograms on both the cursive and book print cards, she learned them both without a problem. We practice reading both, she writes in cursive, and she reads readers in book print. My only complaint is that the SWR guide is poorly written. It is too full of information and a lot of work to weed through it all. The yahoo group is extremely helpful, though, and has made it all click for me in how to get started and they are quick to answer questions when I feel stuck. I am so, so glad that I started with this and it is such a complete language art program that we will not need to supplement with anything else. Plus, my DD at almost 6yo has such beautiful handwriting already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julikins Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I'm in this dilemma right now. My son has learned manuscript but it's SO MESSY and full of reversals. I remember with dd that her reversals basically stopped when she learned cursive, so I decided to have him start learning cursive right now, in the middle of 1st grade. I'm always concerned that I'm confusing him, but he seems to be getting it. We're about 2 weeks in. So we'll see how it goes. I just stay right there with him while he's doing his handwriting practice to make sure he makes every letter correctly. He tends to forget the right way all of a sudden, after doing it correctly several times. So I just have to view this subject as one he can't do independently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misslissa Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 My kids learned cursive first in K at a local classical school. we are now HSing and my son will learn it first next year when he starts K. It is a gross motor skill so tends to be easier to pick up at young ages. Additionally classic cursive can be taught from only 4 basic strokes (we teach by stroke instead of another order). My DD who tends to mix b's and d's and p's and q's never does with cursive because they are all distinctively different. At our CC community, I've noticed my kids are much more efficient writers because they use cursive. There is research that suggests the brain develops continuity of thought during writing while using cursive that manuscript does not allow. My kids have never struggled with reading manuscript and writing cursive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SophiaH Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I learned manuscript first and was wondering if teaching cursive first will cause a problem with my ds being able to recognize the words in learning to read. He knows his phonogram sounds and I wanted to make the next step but I feel a little worried. I've never done this but I would have the same concerns as you. We're kind of taking a middle ground. My son learned manuscript through Memoria Press' First Start Reading, but in MP's first grade curriculum they begin teaching cursive with their New American Cursive program. This is what we are planning on using, and it seems like a good compromise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 I am gearing up to start teaching my oldest son reading/handwriting. I reading through SWR as they have you do both simultaneously and am working on doing the learning log myself. They recommend teaching cursive first before manuscript handwriting. I learned manuscript first and was wondering if teaching cursive first will cause a problem with my ds being able to recognize the words in learning to read. He knows his phonogram sounds and I wanted to make the next step but I feel a little worried. Plus, I am just worried in general as this is my first time teaching anything! Did anyone here teach cursive first? Did your dc have a problem with reading and recognizing the words? For those of you who taught manuscript first, why did you? What do you all think? I would appreciate your help! My dd#2 learned cursive when I was teaching dd#1 cursive over one summer using side walk chalk on the driveway. While she was slow to read fluently, she could recognize either cursive or print (upper & lowercase) letters at the same rate after the first couple of weeks. (The reading issue had nothing to do with the cursive instruction.) Dd#3 is learning (to write) cursive right now & has no trouble with reading (manuscript). We go through flashcards with both cursive & manuscript. We used Cursive First & I prefer that curriculum's method of introducing lowercase first & letters in the order of which type of strokes they need vs alphabetically. It is helpful for kids learning or for review for the older kids who need a refresher (just copying the pages you need). FWIW, I've taught my kids 'reading' with 100EL first. I generally don't introduce handwriting until 2nd semester (K-year). We do go onto use SWR for our phonics/spelling/handwriting/grammar. I haven't taught a boy yet, but I have two coming up. We'll see how it goes. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastal academy Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 My daughter used Cursive First. After much research, we decided on it and I am so glad we did. Her penmanship now at 8 yrs. is so beautiful, and I am so glad I don't have to start teaching it to her now. She can write very quickly. No problems with reading and I think it's helped her with spelling as well. I like how Cursive First makes it so easy for them to learn by memorizing the strokes. She totally picked up printing on her own, and for some odd reason, her printing is also nice and IMO better than most children her age. This is a child who's printing was horrible when she was 5 or 6. I really think teaching her cursive first helped improve her fine motor skills overall. My son is now starting cursive first. He actually has already learned to print his letters correctly, but before he starts doing lots of copy work, he will learn cursive this year and then proceed into cursive copy work. Blessings! CS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicalTwins Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 My boys have caught on quickly to cursive. I wish we had taught it first so that letter reversals wouldn't be an issue with print. We are not all the way through cursive but they were able to read a receipe my MIL gave me the other day that was written in cursive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. A Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 We are also using Cursive First. DS is absolutely thrilled to practice his letters every day. We just recently made it through the lowercase letters and he's very excited to begin learning capitals next. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachmejoy Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Cursive can be harder for children with certain learning disabilities, who need to completely write and FINISH one letter, before starting to think about the next letter. The connections between the letters is requiring an extra skill. I don't recommend starting boys in general with cursive as they are more likely to have the above mentioned problem. But children without this disability do well with starting cursive immediately and they ARE the majority. So sometimes there is no need to go looking for trouble. In general I VASTLY prefer the handwriting method in WRTR to the one in SWR. I don't necessarily agree with this. If you look on the website for the National Institute of Learning Disabilities (NILD), they teach cursive only. We have just had my son tested and he has some LDs but has done beautifully with cursive. I have had 2 levels of training with NILD and they never said to go to print if the child was having trouble. We just worked slower. It is important to have the strokes down before actually going on to the letter as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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