Cursive in Kindergarten?

[LadyAberlin]

I've been doing Handwriting help for Kids K program with my son who will be officially starting Kindergarten in the fall. It teaches printing. I already have Pentime handwriting purchased to use in the fall. That is printing as well. My ds5 tells me the other day that he wants to write in cursive like me. He then proceeds to make up his own version of cursive and link the letters together. So now it has me wondering if I should just start him in cursive so that he will avoid teaching himself and incorrect version of handwriting. Plus if it is something he wants he might enjoy it more. I was thinking maybe I should do Getty Dubay Italics since it kind of gets you on the road to cursive. My concern with that has been that I read that children have trouble reading cursive when they use that program. I guess I could use a traditional program when he is older to learn to read regular cursive handwriting. What are my options for cursive in kindergarten? Or should I just stick with Pentime?

Thanks

[BlessedMom]

It is wonderful that he is so interested in cursive! There are some who recommend teaching cursive first. If he is so interested I would be inclined to teach it to him now.

 

You might look into "Cursive First", it would be a good fit for Kindergarten.

You can see it at the link below and there is some interesting information about teaching cursive first.

 

http://www.swrtraining.com/id17.html

 

HTH

[elw_miller]

Montessori kids do cursive early, too. I think that might even be the way they learn writing first since the fluidity of the writing is easier than starting and stopping. I may be wrong; I have only read about Montessori education and have, unfortunately, not actually had my kids enrolled in a Montessori classroom.

 

My SIL started learning cursive in kindergarten or first grade--she was in a Montessori school in preschool and kindergarten.

[ElizabethB]

Here's an article about cursive first from Don Potter's Website:

 

http://www.donpotter.net/pdf_files/cursivefirst.pdf

 

My daughter was 4 when she learned to write, she could not handle cursive or I would have tried it.

[christine in al]

I Used Cursive First with my two. I learned alot!

 

We also use Spell to Write and Read so it was GREAT, as they learn to write not just letters, but move into phonograms as they are presented in SWR.

 

As a new homeschooler, I pushed my son into cursive in 1st grade.. wrong choice because he didn't have the motor skills, Lots of tears and pushing. This was poor teaching and pushing , not a response to the program.

but at least we used Cursive First so his spelling moved along very nicely.

 

For my daughter , who had excellent fine motor skills since birth it seems, she chose to start Cursive First at home while she was still going to pre-school.

 

I love Cursive First and it makes lots of sense to me.

good luck.

~Christine in AL

[laylamcb]

I had planned to start with cursive in K...and I'm sure you can figure out where this story is going. ;) No go with the cursive; it was an exercise in frustration and tears. Having said that, just one year later, she's ready and THRILLED to be learning cursive. So give it a try, but don't beat yourself up if the little muscles just can't handle it yet.