Tardis Girl Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 OK, I am a big believer in using copywork to aid in handwriting practice. There are many great copywork resources out there for free or $$. I love Spelling Wisdom from Simply Charlotte Mason as one example. BUT I am struggling with my younger ones (K and 2nd grade) who can totally handle the quotes (meaning they can fluently read and can copy words), but their letter formation isn't the best. So now I am rethinking this whole process. With my older ones I used 1-2 Getty-Dubay Italic workbooks then moved into more direct copywork. For the younger ones, I bought StartWrite thinking I would create our own pages...but I'm just not getting to it!! lol So I feel like they are waiting on me. I could get some Getty-Dubay workbooks, but I'd love to just pick something up from Amazon instead of special ordering from a homeschool store paying shipping for just 1 or 2 books, etc. The books on Amazon seem to focus on just one letter per page though -- I am looking for something that maybe focuses on a certain letters but has them writing words or -- better yet -- meaningful phrases, sentences, etc. Any ideas or recommendations? Or do I just bite the bullet and order italic workbooks or put in a night or two of making StartWrite sheets just the way I want them? Ugh. Sorry so long. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizabethB Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 I use this from the white board to work on letter formation. I start with letter formation, then simple words like it and sit and fill (teaching double F, L, S rule.) http://www.amazon.com/Self-Instruction-Handwriting-Students-Improve/dp/0880853794/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333061231&sr=8-1 The order is really nice, they group similar letters together. It is meant for an older student, but if you work from a white board, it is fine, just have them write on a white board at first, then paper once they get good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrissySC Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 OK, I am a big believer in using copywork to aid in handwriting practice. There are many great copywork resources out there for free or $$. I love Spelling Wisdom from Simply Charlotte Mason as one example. BUT I am struggling with my younger ones (K and 2nd grade) who can totally handle the quotes (meaning they can fluently read and can copy words), but their letter formation isn't the best. So now I am rethinking this whole process. With my older ones I used 1-2 Getty-Dubay Italic workbooks then moved into more direct copywork. For the younger ones, I bought StartWrite thinking I would create our own pages...but I'm just not getting to it!! lol So I feel like they are waiting on me. I could get some Getty-Dubay workbooks, but I'd love to just pick something up from Amazon instead of special ordering from a homeschool store paying shipping for just 1 or 2 books, etc. The books on Amazon seem to focus on just one letter per page though -- I am looking for something that maybe focuses on a certain letters but has them writing words or -- better yet -- meaningful phrases, sentences, etc. Any ideas or recommendations? Or do I just bite the bullet and order italic workbooks or put in a night or two of making StartWrite sheets just the way I want them? Ugh. Sorry so long. :( You have to use the copy and paste on StartWriter.:lol: I highlight poems, blurbs, web site jargon, and send it to cursive in less than 20 seconds. I did a ton of Ancient History copywork, which some is on my blog (I have not gotten it all up yet; shame on me.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardis Girl Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share Posted March 30, 2012 Thanks for the recommendation, ElizabethB. :) You have to use the copy and paste on StartWriter.:lol: I highlight poems, blurbs, web site jargon, and send it to cursive in less than 20 seconds. I know there's a cut-n-paste feature, but my PC that runs that software is so ridiculously slow it just is such a pain. And honestly there are just so many choices (font, size, dots, degrees of shaded lines, etc) -- I think it just overwhelms me. I know I sound so pitiful! lol I should probably just jump in and DO IT! It doesn't have to be PERFECT! Just pick the style I want go with it. At least they'll be doing something, right? Ugh. Why do I make things so much harder than they need to be?? Hmm... I probably could've made up a couple of StartWrite pages in the time it took me to write the posts in this thread.... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Not workbooks, but you could buy the new 6th edition of WRTR from Amazon. Some of us have been talking about the new handwriting instruction in it in this thread. I was able to retire StartWrite when I discovered Spalding handwriting :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 One of our members here has made some beautiful copywork books and made them available on lulu.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 (edited) Get Penny Gardner's book - Italics, Beautiful Handwriting for Children. It has ample print and cursive Italics copywork. ETA: Another WTM member has history-based copybooks in Italic print: Classical Reading and Writing Copybook Yr 3 L1 Italic Basic. These are not just copywork, though. They include narration (and dictation) too. I also recommend Julie Shields' copybooks linked by Dawn above. Other affordable Italics options: Copycatbooks.com and ItalicBuilders.com. Edited March 30, 2012 by nansk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardis Girl Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share Posted March 30, 2012 Great links -- thank you! I really like the idea of an inexpensive downloadable file that I print off for multiple kids, too. And Penny Gardner! I haven't been to her site in ages! Thanks for the reminder on that. I remember when her site was new. lol I used a lot of her stuff with my older ones when they were little. A fond memory.... <sigh> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 How about some stuff from Currclick? Very inexpensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardis Girl Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share Posted March 30, 2012 One of our members here has made some beautiful copywork books and made them available on lulu.com. OK, I looked up some of these and am intrigued but there are no sample pages. Is Julie still on here? Do you know if she has sample pages on a blog or anything? Just debating..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardis Girl Posted March 30, 2012 Author Share Posted March 30, 2012 OK, I looked up some of these and am intrigued but there are no sample pages. Is Julie still on here? Do you know if she has sample pages on a blog or anything? Just debating..... Umm... check that. I found the preview link. :blushing: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sewgirlie Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Have you looked at Presidential Penmanship? I haven't tried it, but I'm considering it for next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ladydusk Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 I forgot she has a website, too. Julie's Copybooks. There's a sample to download. It looks like its been a while since she's been on: Julie in GA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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