For years we did not use a handwriting program. Miss 18 learned cursive from Richard Scarry’s big picture books and the handwritten examples I made up for her in a little scribbler. She was enthusiastic and learned quickly.
My son, on the other hand, was not enthusiastic. He even had trouble printing. When I tried to teach him cursive using my own examples, I soon concluded he was not ready. The trouble was, he never, ever did become ready, and now he’s 16 and still finds cursive difficult.
Even though Miss 13 learned well and quickly, Miss 10 is as reluctant as her brother.
So I’ve made a decision. Ready or not, the Little Misses are learning cursive. If it’s hard, they can go slowly, but they will practice. Regularly.
There are many beautiful and involved handwriting programs out there, but we chose a simple, convenient, no-frill set of workbooks with a solid track record, the Canadian Handwriting Series….
To read the rest of this review, please visit Curriculum Choice.
Oh, the Richard Scarry Books! My girls used to love them when they were little. Happy memories there.
My 17-year old learned handwriting when she was in school (we pulled her out of school when she was eight).
My 12-year old used to be a very reluctant learner. She’s very bright, yet she was late with just about everything “schoolish”. First, we despaired that she’d never learn to read, then we worried about her handwriting…
In the end, I decided on Handwriting Without Tears for her. We used it on and off – and not entirely without tears, I’m afraid. Still, I think it was the best method for her. Even though she never finished the series, her handwriting is beautiful now. It’s just that, because she didn’t have enough practice, she writes s-l-o-w, but that will improve over time, I’m sure.
Oh, and despite our despair during her early “school” years, she’s a very good reader now. I don’t even know how exactly that happened, but the important thing is that it did happen, and she’s happy reader, too.
Isn’t it interesting how differently different individuals learn? Once a person is motivated, he or she can do much more than we suspect.
I’m glad your daughter is a good reader now. It can make such a difference, can’t it.
Annie Kate
By the way, how on earth do you ever manage to homeschool in the Netherlands after having sent one of your children to school? We were told one of the reasons our application passed was because we had never sent our children to school!
Well, we were taken to court for that one, of course, but school didn’t really want her anymore. She’s gifted (measured IQ 147), and got so demotivated in school she began to exhibit autistiform behaviour. So she got diagnosed with Aspergers. (Of course, the Aspie vanished within a year once we got her at home, but we weren’t going to ever send her back to school anymore. Not after all the trouble we’d been through.)
And yes, I’m really happy my 12-year old is a good reader now. In fact, she took a couple of (English) reading comprehension tests last week, and performed at grade 9 level.
I didn’t really get good at cursive until I was married and felt like I should really start writing like an adult. It can be done!
LOL!
I suppose there’s hope for my son, then!
Annie Kate