Cursive first?

[yellowpolkadot1040]

So, in my search for a handwriting program for my 4, 6, and 7 year olds (first year homeschooling), I've been reading a lot about teaching cursive first. My 7yo dd (just finished ps 1) already has a fairly good foundation in print, but she is still very messy, without spaces and writes many of her letters/numbers backward. My 6yo ds (just finished ps K) is still a beginning writer, and my 4yo ds will be just beginning work on penmanship.

 

 

So, who has done cursive first? What are your thoughts? Also, for the two who have been in ps, and have had a start with printing, do you think it would be good to correct the problems they're having with print before moving on to cursive, or just jump right in and address the printing later?

[jennsmile]

Run Away.

 

Major fail with my oldest. He is a lefty, we are still recovering.

[itsheresomewhere]

I think it depends on the child. I think if I had done cursive first with DS, I would have had less battles in handwriting.

 

DD did cursive first. She is still learning it but loves writing in cursive. We are now learning print.

 

Try introducing it and see what happens. If the child hates it, then back off of it until later.

[wapiti]

My ds learned cursive first in K. He had fine motor issues and is a lefty. Cursive was awesome for him (it is often recommended by OTs in such situations). I wish all my kids learned cursive first, but their school made some changes (they attend a Montessori school; cursive first is fairly traditional for Montessori schools in this country, as far as I understand).

 

You may want to search on the K-8 board for threads.

[Delighted3]

I started both my struggling learners with cursive first when they were 7 and 8. One of them was a lefty. It was great for their reversal issues and my lefty has great cursive now. I would recommend it to anyone

JMO,

Joy

[justamouse]

Yes. All of them learned cursive first.

[Alenee]

I guess I don't really understand the "run away" comment other than if the person has dealt with the writers of SWR who encourage the Cursive First program. Then I could see why. However, ime, my kids learned early writing skills because of the natural flow of cursive. Had I waited until their motor skills caught up to their academic level (teaching print), they would've been around yo before they made anything look legible. I loved teaching Cursive First (my own way) because my kids saw immediate, beautiful results.

[yellowpolkadot1040]

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm thinking it's definitely worth a shot. My dd in particular LOVES writing, she is writing all the time, I think many of her issues are due to trying to write too fast. I'm thinking cursive could end up being a very good thing for her. With the younger two, I'm a bit more hesitant, but I'll never know if I don't try, right?

[higginszoo]

I agree that it does depend on the child. My one who did cursive first has prettier print than cursive, while two who learned to print first print in total chicken scratch, but have decent cursive (learned in second-third grade). The other learned to print first, then cursive, and can write equally neatly in both (though doesn't all the time -- but that's an almost-teen thing, I think).