What do you think of my idea about ds's handwriting & wanting to learn cursive?

[*********]

Zee really wants to learn cursive. he's 8. He's doing 4th grade math, and he's almost done with his 3rd grade lanuage arts program.

 

His printing is sloppy in his daily work. He CAN print neatly, but he's not, because he's got better things to do, LOL. So I made him a deal that I'd start the crusive program AFTER he used good penmanship for a while.

 

Is that a good idea? Now I'm second guessing myself, and thinking I should let him go ahead and learn cursive now since he's interested. I don't know. He doesn't know I'm waffling, btw. I'm just concerned that if I'm having trouble reading his rushed, sloppy printing right now, how in the WORLD am I gonna read rushed, sloppy cursive, you know? But then I think maybe his cursive will be easier to read, because he'll enjoy using it, and therefore do a better job.

 

Anyone BTDT and want to gvie me advice?

[jasar31629]

Well, I'm not a veteran hs mom, so take my advice for what it's worth. But for dd, I like to go with interest. It makes learning much more fun and it sticks better too. Perhaps his cursive will be better than his print anyway! :) Dd learned it by interest about a year and a half ago, although her print was good at that time as well. She likes both now, although she still uses print in most things. I'm beginning to require final drafts in cursive on top of our penmanship lessons.

 

I say go for it if he's interested...there's no harm in putting it aside if he's not ready after some lessons.

[Ellie]

He's old enough to learn cursive. Teach him, but still require him to do manuscript (which is what we do IRL--every time we fill out a form, there are directions that say "Please print.").

[Dmmetler]

I'd go with interest as well. Cursive was one of the specific things DD wanted to learn when she came home from PS K to homeschool-at age 5. So we started slow. Now, at 7, she can do several sentences of copywork in cursive, write a short thank you note, and is starting to do some of her daily work in cursive. Her printing has improved a lot, too, even though I never formally taught it.

[Murphy101]

Ime, the younger they learn cursive the neater BOTH their forms of penmanship.

[JMDRAD]

I'm not highly experienced either but here goes. My dd now 8 struggled with printing. It was terribly messy and she was really trying. I started her on Cursive First last year and we both love it. Her cursive is so much neater than her printing and even though I don't require her to print, that's improved also. My K-er is doing the Cursive First program too and loving it.

[luvnlattes]

I would let him learn it. My middle son hasn't had the best handwriting and it goes downhill if he's in a hurry. When he writes in cursive, it forces him to slow down because he has to think a bit more about how to form the letters. If I want something written more neatly from him, I require it in cursive :D . I've noticed lately that his printing has improved.

[momof4monkeys]

I agree that if he is interested in learning cursive go ahead and teach him. Since he really wants to learn how that makes it even better.

 

Cursive may be more his style than printing anyway! :)

[FO4UR]

My 8yo has sloppy print (typical for 8yo boys:tongue_smilie:), but has really nice cursive handwriting.

 

Cursive is more...ergonomic...for the human hand.

[Unicorn.]

Let him learn it now before he loses interest. Fwiw, my dd can't print any better than a k'er, but her cursive is much neater!

[*********]

All righty then, you all have convinced me to teach him. He'll be so glad. :D

[ereks mom]

I think you should go ahead with cursive. I taught my ds to write in cursive in the second half of 2nd grade. He was doing well with phonics, was reading well, and could write neatly when he put effort into it. For my dd, I waited until the beginning of 3rd grade because she was struggling with phonics and spelling, and that seemed to take so much focus that I didn't want to add something else new. You said your ds is doing well--it sounds like he's a bit "ahead" academically (compared to his agemates in the public schools)--so it's time.

 

ETA: The local private Christian school doesn't teach manuscript handwriting at all. They begin with cursive in preschool. My niece is in first grade there this year, and she has been writing in cursive since she started preschool there two years ago at age 4. FWIW, the school uses all ABeka curriculum. ABeka's beginning penmanship materials for kindergarten are available in either cursive or print. From the ABeka website:

 

A Beka Book uses a traditional approach to writing. Before the 1940s, schools across the nation took this approach and, as a result, most American school children developed beautiful handwriting. Ball-and-stick manuscript came about as part of progressive education reforms in the 1940s. The change was made primarily to help children recognize the letters in the “Dick and Jane” look-say readers. By starting with cursive writing rather than manuscript printing, we help the child develop good writing habits from the very beginning. This means that habits acquired from manuscript printing do not need to be unlearned.We also strengthen the child’s reading skills. By joining letters, cursive writing reinforces the blending of sounds within words.

Edited January 20, 2012 by ereks mom

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

My older ds wanted to learn cursive, so we started it with both boys this year. They really like it, and their cursive writing is neater than their manuscript. Ds1 is almost 9, and ds2 is 7.5.

[Cinder]

Zee really wants to learn cursive.

 

His printing is sloppy in his daily work. He CAN print neatly, but he's not, because he's got better things to do, LOL. So I made him a deal that I'd start the crusive program AFTER he used good penmanship for a while.

 

 

Well, he really wants to learn, so you have that going for you. I say go for it. My ds2 has horrible printing. Really horrible. But his cursive is legible. He wanted to learn it so we did. And then I made him practice everyday. Even though he'd completed all his workbooks his cursive wasn't very good. But we spent another whole year doing copywork so he'd be forced to get that muscle memory built. Now (a couple years later) his cursive is ok (legible at least) but his printing is still atrocious.