If your child has used HWOT Cursive for a year....

[Mandylubug]

would you carry through with this curriculum since they have spent their time learning this method? Would you switch to a different method of cursive? I honestly HATE how their handwriting looks. I am looking to change my girls manuscript workbooks as well. They originally learned d'nealian, then we used the HWOT and now their writing looks WORSE. So, I think I will go back to d'nealian for them.... I am just concerned of the boys getting confused if I switched to something such as Italics or D'nealian now that they have regretfully learned HWOT cursive :/

 

Opinions?

[kdownie]

No help from me, but I'm going to be watching this thread, as my dd started HWOT Cursive just today.

[MyLittleWonders]

Ds11 completed HWOT cursive and had beautiful cursive (had only because he is now 11 and seems to just want to get things on paper and not so much how it looks). I never cared about having all the loopy-loops in cursive and allowed him to create his own writing style. Ds9 has completed the 3rd and 4th grade books, but I was very inconsistent with the regularity of him doing it, so he is redoing the 4th grade book one more time. His writing has never been as neat as ds11 (script or cursive), but he is getting better and developing his own style. The other two will eventually use HWOT cursive as well.

 

Personally, I've never minded the look of the cursive; my children have never been able to replicate it exactly either. I also know for my boys, old fashioned cursive would have driven them mad. As I said above, ds11 was able to develop beautiful, legible cursive with HWOT. The program and method worked/works well for us. YMMV

[Tmhearn]

My dd has done both the 3rd and 4th grade cursive books for HWOT. Her cursive is beautiful. (Really, I'm not the bragging sort. It just looks surprisingly good to me. :-) I will definitely use the books again for my son, who is in Kinder this year. We have used HWOT all along for both kids.

 

Could it be that their pencil grip or paper placement need some tweaking? There is a pretty significant emphasis on proper pencil grip in HWOT. I had to work with both kids a lot during Kinder with proper pencil grip and proper alignment of the paper when writing.

[....]

My 11 yro used HWOT for 2 years and her cursive is gorgeous! I also had my doubts, because the letter formations in HWOT are odd (to me). Her cursive now looks nothing like it did when she was learning it through the workbooks. She developed her own handwriting. She even changed the way she connects some of her letters.

 

As far as switching back and forth - I think they end up with their own style of handwriting anyway. I wouldn't worry about problems switching.

 

Maybe you think their handwriting looks worse with HWOT because some of the letters seem really odd. My husband looked at their lowercase r's and said, "Huh??" Lol. I think the HWOT r's look odd and the v's look odd. Sorry about all the "odds". That's really the only word I can think of that describes HWOT's letters. :tongue_smilie:

[Dmmetler]

I agree here-my DD wanted to start cursive in K (she was in a pull out PS reading group with 3rd graders who were learning cursive), so I started her on HWOT simply defensively-she was trying to write it, and I didn't want her to develop bad habits.

 

Now, at age 8, her cursive is beautiful and is much neater and clearer than mine-and looks very little like HWOT. And, in fact, when I did the training, that's what the presenter said-that the goal is to teach good writing habits and develop motor skills, and that letter formation would adapt and become individualized.

[Mandylubug]

Thank you everyone! I understand the boys will learn their own style and perhaps I should just wait for that. They have learned successfully from the book. They have only completed book one and to me their handwriting is ugly with this font.

 

Girls wise when it comes to the handwriting. I think their issue is first learning the d'nealian method for manuscript and now after a year of HWOT; its horrible. Some letters are d'nealian and some are HWOT style, lol. I originally chose HWOT for them because I wanted their writing to be more spacious and tidy but it definitely hasn't assisted that area...

 

With cursive, did your children do the red and blue books before being expected to write everything in cursive? They are still having to glance at the chart to know how to form some letters.

[3Blessings]

My dc have finished up HWOT cursive just recently. I went to Currclick and bought the Bogart resources copywork book that matches up with HWOT. They use it once a week and still need to look at the chart when they do. They write letters once a week and they need to do that same thing.

 

Do you have pencil grips at your disposal? I found that my ds does better with a pencil grip.

 

Do they have any other fine motor issues? I am just asking because my dc have always had more trouble with fine motor tasks and I've learned to just roll with it taking a little longer than I might want! :glare:

[Mandylubug]

My dc have finished up HWOT cursive just recently. I went to Currclick and bought the Bogart resources copywork book that matches up with HWOT. They use it once a week and still need to look at the chart when they do. They write letters once a week and they need to do that same thing.

 

Do you have pencil grips at your disposal? I found that my ds does better with a pencil grip.

 

Do they have any other fine motor issues? I am just asking because my dc have always had more trouble with fine motor tasks and I've learned to just roll with it taking a little longer than I might want! :glare:

 

 

I don't think anyone has fine motor skill issues. I honestly don't know what I would be looking for.

 

eta: we have a bag of pencil grips and they do occasionally use those. My lefty hates them, though.

[mama25angels]

My dc have finished up HWOT cursive just recently. I went to Currclick and bought the Bogart resources copywork book that matches up with HWOT. They use it once a week and still need to look at the chart when they do. They write letters once a week and they need to do that same thing.

 

Do you have pencil grips at your disposal? I found that my ds does better with a pencil grip.

 

Do they have any other fine motor issues? I am just asking because my dc have always had more trouble with fine motor tasks and I've learned to just roll with it taking a little longer than I might want! :glare:

 

 

 

Would you link the bogart resources please, thanks

[Stellalarella]

My dc have finished up HWOT cursive just recently. I went to Currclick and bought the Bogart resources copywork book that matches up with HWOT. They use it once a week and still need to look at the chart when they do. They write letters once a week and they need to do that same thing.

 

 

 

 

One of my dc needed visual prompts for HWOT cursive for what seemed to me to be an inordinately long time. One solution for us has been the very inexpensive desk strips that HWOT sells--we just slapped a cursive strip on the front of her daily notebook. :) Just like you've done for your dc, I think it has been good for them to have a visual reference.

 

Regarding the OP question, we've found that as dd has used the program over the past 2.5 years, she has developed her own style. i have also supplemented her study with Queen's Cursive picture study books. Queen's uses a traditional cursive--different from the upright HWOT, but I think it has been nice for her to see what slanted cursive looks like. Queen's Pictures in Cursive.

 

i don't know why handwriting comes so easily to some and it such a challenge to others--i have both those types in my home--I am so glad for HWOT. :)

[3Blessings]

http://www.currclick.com/product/47885/Copying-the-Poems%3A-The-Voice-of-Spring---HWT-3-A?term=bogart+resources+handwriting+with+&it=1

 

I am hoping this works for a link ... it doesn't look like it will. I found it just by going to currclick and entering Bogart Resources Handwriting Without Tears. Also, I think she is a member here. Maybe she'll chime in, too.