I've been teaching Ana cursive, as I've said.

[conuly]

She's taking a break from learning new letters to review the ones she already knows, because we're (just over) halfway through the alphabet. She has a - l and q, t, u, and w.

We're using worksheets from here, although I modified the b so that she curlicues it back instead of just dipping down at the end. It's easier for her. Tomorrow we'll do another bit of review, just the letters she's having trouble with (b, f, k and the ha combination) and move onto the next set of letters - n, m, v, x. And then another week and a half for the last of them and she'll have her lowercase letters down. Then I'm thinking a few more weeks of review before we start on capitals?

As a side effect of all this, my *own* handwriting has improved.

Ana showed one of her worksheets to her teacher (f - and let me tell you that her fs are beautiful, she just has to think too much to make them) and we got a little note going "Well, we're still working on print letters". For crying out loud! If you were an early elementary teacher, or have been an early elementary teacher, and your kid showed you something extra they did on the side, would you be "Well, we're not doing that" or would you stick a sticker on it anyway?

And I'll tell you... I tell Ana that I want her to learn cursive now because it's easier to learn it at 6 than at 8, and that I know it'll be more frustrating for her in two years. And this is true. But the reason I don't tell her is that we only started with cursive learning because after doing print all through kindergarten and September of this year she still had no idea how to hold a pencil properly, nor that it mattered *how* you formed the letters so long as it looked more or less okay. Because you *can* print with your pencil in your fist, and you *can* print if you write your a backwards or if you do a lowercase h and then add the rest of it to make an H. (It took the better part of two weeks to convince her that the tails on letters aren't just decorative, that you can't just do most of the letter and add the tails after the fact!) But you can't print very well or efficiently that way, and it's sure to tire you eventually. Of course, there was no convincing her until she had enough letters in cursive that she could write real words and see and feel the difference doing it right makes.

Ana's teacher has 24 students. I don't know how she teaches penmanship, or if she has time to do so in her day, or if she's able (or willing) to correct things like grip when the kids are writing in class, or... any of this. But if I really felt Ana were being taught to write properly, in a comfortable and efficient way (printing is writing), I would never have ended up doing cursive with her.

(Ana's cursive letters are lovely, btw. Her bs are a bit sloppy, and sometimes her ws or us are a bit looser than I'd like, but she's just learning. If only I could get her to write on the line...! Do you think raised line paper would help?)

Comments

[feebeeglee.livejournal.com]

That's what Faith is using to learn cursive.

Schools. I tell you. Hmph.

[conuly]

What's what Faith is using? The worksheets? Or raised line paper?

[feebeeglee.livejournal.com]

Sorry. The worksheets.

[conuly]

They're convenient, aren't they?

I don't know what we'll do when we're done with them, other than practicing her sight words in cursive as well. I'd like her to do some proper exercises, but I have no idea how one goes about finding any.

[feebeeglee.livejournal.com]

We're getting these (http://www.drawyourworld.com/). I don't know of any good free stuff.

[conuly]

Well, in the past people didn't have worksheets, they had to copy their work. Oh, I wish I knew what their teachers wrote, I could write my own out.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

Something like this?

http://www.kidzone.ws/tracers/autumn/tracer-form.asp

You can just type any old thing in those little slots. The practice books we used to have, there was a sentence in which each letter appeared in capital and small form. The only one we remember is "Judge not, that ye be not judged."

[conuly]

Yeah, but I don't want to have to think. I want to come up with phrases that help with potential problems (distinguishing u and i, or making certain connections) but I want somebody else to do the work.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

Ah, okay! Hey, what about Learn to Listen, Speak and Write? They had stuff like that in there. It was a whole series, and you can still pick it up on abebooks.

[conuly]

I'll check it out, thankies!

[gingembre.livejournal.com]

oOOOOOOH. Wait. Can we add in practicing henna designs from mehandi.com??? PLEASSSSEEE???

[conuly]

YOU can.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Well, in third grade we had the classic quick brown fox and all. Cat, dog, run Spot run.... I remember the rest of the class found endless fascination in copying their own names and coming up with new ways to adorn their initials one day.

You can't please anybody.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

We were hyperlexic but could neither read nor write cursive until third grade (when everyone learned it).

Our first grade teacher would have thrown a shit fit if we'd come in knowing how to write cursive, probably worse than the one she threw when she found out we could read.

The second grade teacher would have been as laid back as she was about everything else, might have asked us to just please print in class or just accepted stuff turned in in cursive.

The third grade teacher said we'd never learn to do anything right because our handwriting was so god-awful, unlike the three little head-of-the-class pets who picked it up instantly -- either that or they'd been practicing cursive at home for years while we were banging away on that typewriter.

Re: You can't please anybody.

[conuly]

Your first grade teacher needed to get over herself.

Re: You can't please anybody.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

In a lot of ways. She shouldn't have been allowed within fifty feet of kids.

Re: You can't please anybody.

[marveen.livejournal.com]

I had one of those too! (My cursive is only average except when I'm Making An Effort for copperplate or something.)

I got on her snit list by not only knowing how to read, but *gasp* CORRECTING THE TEACHER when she spelled something wrong.

Re: You can't please anybody.

[conuly]

Maybe she should've been a better speller, then.

Re: You can't please anybody.

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

OMG You too :D

We were afraid we'd still have lousy handwriting when we were in college so we went all out. Goddam dyspraxia. It took us until we were in college. A couple of us can do some pretty nice freehand calligraphy.

[liannas-mom.livejournal.com]

Our schools took cursive out of the curriculum and replaced it with typing. I think it's too important and have already started teaching my 4 y/o.

[conuly]

I've read a lot of stuff saying that it's beneficial to teach cursive first as it helps avoid reversals and as the movement is more natural than print.

[queenlyzard.livejournal.com]

I hated learning cursive. Still no good at it. For that matter, it took me years (like, after high school) to learn to print neatly, and then only by studiously imitating my mother's letters. I'm still not all that good at it. I love computers.