Transitioning from HWT Manuscript to Modern Looking Cursive

[SeaConquest]

My son has been using HWT for manuscript and has pretty good handwriting for a 5 year old boy. He would like to learn cursive next year and I would like something clean, modern, and usable for everyday handwriting, note taking, signatures, etc. I think that I have narrowed it down to Getty Dubay Italic and New American Cursive, but I'm open to other suggestions. In looking at GD, it's not clear to me where I would start in the program, and I'm wondering if it would be too difficult to transition from the HWT.

 

Has anyone used either of these programs (or something in the same style) after HWT?

 

Thanks so much for your experiences. 

[hornblower]

GD is just a series of workbooks. Start at the beginning. It's not aimed at children which might be a drawback when using it for a young child. If you want something very similar Barchowsky fluid hand has two books specially aimed at littles.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, if you search and download for the free font Jarman and Jarman dotted, it's very close to both GD and Barchowsky and lets you make inexpensive personalized worksheets.

[SeaConquest]

GD is just a series of workbooks. Start at the beginning. It's not aimed at children which might be a drawback when using it for a young child. If you want something very similar Barchowsky fluid hand has two books specially aimed at littles.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, if you search and download for the free font Jarman and Jarman dotted, it's very close to both GD and Barchowsky and lets you make inexpensive personalized worksheets.

It doesn't look like italic cursive is introduced in the first book. Why do you suggest going back to the beginning?

[hornblower]

It doesn't look like italic cursive is introduced in the first book. Why do you suggest going back to the beginning?

 

I was thinking mostly because the shape of the letters in italic is a bit different than traditional NA printing, kwim? But I just went to have a look at it & it is pretty basic. Honestly, I don't recall if my kids ever used A.  I know they used C & on & it's possible they just started there. It's been a while LOL. Though ds needs a massive refresher. His handwriting is scary..

[MeAndTheBoys]

My son has been using HWT for manuscript and has pretty good handwriting for a 5 year old boy. He would like to learn cursive next year and I would like something clean, modern, and usable for everyday handwriting, note taking, signatures, etc. I think that I have narrowed it down to Getty Dubay Italic and New American Cursive, but I'm open to other suggestions. In looking at GD, it's not clear to me where I would start in the program, and I'm wondering if it would be too difficult to transition from the HWT.

 

Has anyone used either of these programs (or something in the same style) after HWT?

 

Thanks so much for your experiences. 

 

Are you not interested in HWT cursive at all?  My oldest has great handwriting and learned early.  We chose HWT cursive (after doing more traditional manuscript) because it breaks down each letter into the simplest formation possible--he did one HWT cursive book in maybe 2nd grade?  Then I just picked up generic cursive books from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for the next few years, and there was no issue in "looking different"--he transitioned right into a more classic cursive.

 

And, truth be told, your child is going to come up with their own style by the time they are in middle school.  He is 12 now and can write nicely in cursive, but he has been experimenting with various shapes and styles and it doesn't look like HWT or traditional or anything else.

 

I'm still sold on the simplicity of HWT cursive and will use it again.  It does not mean that your child is destined to write like that forever.  It just means that they will learn cursive quickly and painlessly.  That said, I realize it looks kind of "ugly" as a style on its own.

 

B

[SeaConquest]

Are you not interested in HWT cursive at all?  My oldest has great handwriting and learned early.  We chose HWT cursive (after doing more traditional manuscript) because it breaks down each letter into the simplest formation possible--he did one HWT cursive book in maybe 2nd grade?  Then I just picked up generic cursive books from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for the next few years, and there was no issue in "looking different"--he transitioned right into a more classic cursive.

 

And, truth be told, your child is going to come up with their own style by the time they are in middle school.  He is 12 now and can write nicely in cursive, but he has been experimenting with various shapes and styles and it doesn't look like HWT or traditional or anything else.

 

I'm still sold on the simplicity of HWT cursive and will use it again.  It does not mean that your child is destined to write like that forever.  It just means that they will learn cursive quickly and painlessly.  That said, I realize it looks kind of "ugly" as a style on its own.

 

B

 

I do really like HWT for manuscript, but gosh, their cursive is just awfully ugly IMHO. I would prefer something more modern, clean, and attractive (i.e. no Qs that look like 2s). But yes, he is certainly going to make it his own. I lean toward Getty Dubay because I think that most of us use a mix of print and cursive when we write.   

[Chelli]

I do really like HWT for manuscript, but gosh, their cursive is just awfully ugly IMHO. I would prefer something more modern, clean, and attractive (i.e. no Qs that look like 2s). But yes, he is certainly going to make it his own. I lean toward Getty Dubay because I think that most of us use a mix of print and cursive when we write.   

 

The bolded is why I went with NAC for cursive. It kept all of the lowercase letters as cursive and replaced almost all of the uppercase letters with a more modern print type version. I find that I tend to write my lowercase letters in cursive because it is much quicker, but I dropped those crazy, traditional cursive letters a LONG time ago. NAC is the closest to how I write in cursive. I didn't go with italics cursive because my daughter wanted loops.   :D

[Stellalarella]

I've taken two kids through HWT cursive and they both have created their own style.  All HWT does it make it easy to learn the strokes.  But just for fun I put an old-fashioned cursive  in front of my son today for copywork and he didn't have any big emotional problems taking on the new style.

 

Mr. H taught me cursive in 4th grade and he had the most beautiful, perfect penmanship you could imagine.  But alas, my cursive does not look like his.....

 

So just pick any form on the y  axis (reasonable to teach) that intersects with one on the x axis (beautiful to look at) and apply a reasonable amount of patience and practice and you should be OK.