Cursive Handwriting

I was taught cursive when I was in elementary school. As a young parent however, I discovered that cursive was no longer taught in public schools. I was very surprised, questioned this change, and wondered whether there was a need for future generations to learn cursive.

And then I heard something that convinced me of its merits. Since many old, original, historic documents were handwritten in cursive, how can future generations read to verify what was written? Today, with so many things we see, read, and hear being falsified (ie: photoshopped, airbrushed, adjusted), learning to read and write cursive might just be another arrow in the quiver for our future generations.

Maybe that’s an example of long-term thinking. Taking a moment to think short-term, isn’t cursive just so much quicker to write than in print? Again, the counter-argument may be that typing is even faster. Yes, I agree; typing is quicker. However not all things can be typed as a young student. Math comes to mind. Taking notes alongside math equations might be better served in cursive.

And if for no other reason to reintroduce cursive to our households, isn’t cursive simply beautiful?

Here are some delightful cursive teaching tools.

Paper

For young beginners, note the cute, specially designed, handwriting paper. It has a red line where the pencil needs to stop at the bottom of most letters (with extra space under the red line for letters such as: g, j, p, q), a yellow line for the top of most lower case letters, and a green line for capital letters.

Check out all the different paper options to help children with their cursive writing.

Visual Posters

Posters showing cursive writing are terrific! Perfect for visual learners.

Photos: RainbowResource.com

• 

• 

Workbooks

When purchasing workbooks, line width is an important consideration. The wider the lines, the easier it is for the child to write. Here are wide lines with single letter practice and beginning letter commbinations. Using the same mastered letter is easier to combine at first. That will progress to a variety of letters.

Workbooks come in a variety of skill levels. Here is an example of lower and upper case letters on narrower lines.

Penmanship Workbooks

Subject Combination

Multi-Tasking

Below is an example of an advanced practice workbook. Here, handwriting is combined with Biblical teachings. The Summer Cursive Workbook encourages tracing in both capital and lower case letters, combining letters into words, and finally words into sentences.

If combining cursive writing with another subject interests you, how about combining cursive with literature, science, or history? I used cursive workbooks which had children practice penmanship with famous quotes written by classical authors. The possibilities are endless! So many wonderful ways to learn cursive.

Tools

To facilitate the process, sometimes needs other than paper are needed. Wider diameter pencils, pencil grips, and creative erasers all make the lessons enjoyable.

Happy Writing!