A Reason for Handwriting 2-3 Transition Question

[mrs.m]

I have taught cursive twice already using CLE. But my youngest is not the CLE type so I need something for transition. ARFH looks good. Do I really need the teacher's manual for ARFH?

[kirstenhill]

I doubt it. I barely even remembered how to write cursive myself, and after just practicing once or twice on the letters I was rusty on, I was just able to show DD how to form the letters and then she practiced on her own. We just jumped right in with book C and spent about a year and a half on it.

[meena]

I have the teacher's manual and think you could easily do without. Just to help you make up your mind here is what is in the manual:

 

For each lesson there are 5 short sections: Scripture Verse (what the student will be writing on Days 4 & 5, is modeled in the student book); Letter Focus (what letters will be practiced that lesson); Tip of the Week (reminders for the student--is also in the student book, common-sense such as don't put loops on cursive t or d); Extended Teaching (beneficial but IMO not worth buying TM for; instructions for getting students to think--i.e. "What other letters begin like cursive R?"); and For Discussion (discussion questions related to the weekly verse). There is also a skills list index (page numbers for each letter, letters categorized by type of stroke) and a vocabulary list (list of all the practice words).

 

ETA: Just as an added tidbit, we started out with ARFH but switched to Handwriting Without Tears. My children liked and retained the HWT method better for initially learning how to make the letters. Now that they have the basics we will switch back to ARFH for practice.

Edited July 15, 2012 by meena