Oh, Dearest Mother, Sweetest Virgin of Altagracia, our Patroness. You are our Advocate and to you we recommend our needs. You are our Teacher and like disciples we come to learn from the example of your holy life. You are our Mother, and like children, we come to offer you all of the love of our hearts. Receive, dearest Mother, our offerings and listen attentively to our supplications. Amen.



Active Topics || Favorites || Member List || Search || About Us || Help || Register || Login
Language Arts Come Alive
 4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Subject Topic: Cursive Handwriting Post ReplyPost New Topic
Author
Message << Prev Topic | Next Topic >>
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Avatar

Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
Posted: June 09 2010 at 1:59pm | IP Logged Quote JennGM

I admit I follow the old school. We're learning printing first, then transitioning to cursive in the 2nd grade.

I'm trying to decide on what would be best to use to teach cursive. Handwriting Without Tear is OUT!

I used Sound Beginnings and my son had a great transition from not being able to hold a pencil to writing very nicely formed printed letters.

Either Palmer or Zaner-Bloser style is the look I want.

I'm thinking both a book and educational font software. Feedback for Startwrite or Educational Fontware? Do you use it enough to warrant cost?

For books, it doesn't have to be a Catholic book. We would just use it to nail down the basic formation, and then copywork on our own.

What kind of paper do you use? Notebooks?

Thanks for any help!

__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
Back to Top View JennGM's Profile Search for other posts by JennGM Visit JennGM's Homepage
 
Mackfam
Board Moderator
Board Moderator
Avatar
Non Nobis

Joined: April 24 2006
Location: Alabama
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 14656
Posted: June 09 2010 at 2:32pm | IP Logged Quote Mackfam

I frittered for so long over the cost/was it worth it factor for Startwrite and finally purchased it last year. I am so, so pleased with it!!!

You really don't ever need to buy another stale handwriting book again if you own Startwrite (edited to say that stale was our experience...there are probably some very nice handwriting books out there). Choose copywork from your favorite sources, type it in to Startwrite in the font and size font of your choice and print. Voila! Beautiful and lovely copywork and handwriting all wrapped up in one.

I can use it with my little fella who is printing his letters and just starting to really write, and I can use it for my bigger fella that still needs help with cursive letter formation. And...it will be ready and waiting when my next little one is ready to write. Very, very, very useful to have and use!

My *only* complaint is that you are limited to one page only worth of text. If your text goes beyond one page, you have to create a totally new page to work on. It can be worked around, but it does annoy me.

Here's what is SO great about Startwrite - no longer are handwriting and copywork disconnected, they are merged into one. And, no longer is your child writing from something disconnected from the rest of his learning - he can copy hymns from the liturgical year, Newton's 3 laws, his latest poem, the tricky dictation lesson from last week, a passage from his history or literature reading - anything! But, his penmanship is now connected to his learning, to his days. It made a big difference here, and it's a cornerstone of our language arts program now!

JennGM wrote:
What kind of paper do you use? Notebooks?

I'm picky about using a nice paper for our all-in-one printer. I like a high brightness and a smooth surface. Probably no one else in the world is picky about their copier paper. I like HP and Xerox (which I can get from Costco) because they print well, don't smudge, and have a nice writing surface after they're printed.

The kids each have their own copywork notebooks for containing their work. If their work pertains to a particular subject and they have a notebook for that, they'll file their work in that notebook.

My own very passionate 2 cents about Startwrite.

__________________
Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
Back to Top View Mackfam's Profile Search for other posts by Mackfam Visit Mackfam's Homepage
 
Maryan
Forum All-Star
Forum All-Star
Avatar

Joined: Jan 02 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 3145
Posted: June 09 2010 at 2:33pm | IP Logged Quote Maryan

Not cursive, but CHC's 2nd grade handwriting has great copywork for First Communion. We really liked it. The lessons/copywork were really short.

Later they do more Zaner-Bloser simplified for cursive starting in level 3.... with jokes!

I did Seton's handwriting for 3rd grade because it was similar to a style that I learned, so I thought it would be easier for me to teach. Howver, my oldest who finds writing a chore probably would have preferred CHC. We're going back to it next year. The spiral alone is a huge help compared to Seton's binded book.

Just my observations.

__________________
Maryan
Mom to 6 boys & 1 girl: JP('01), B ('03), M('05), L('06), Ph ('08), M ('10), James born 5/1/12
A Lee in the Woudes
Back to Top View Maryan's Profile Search for other posts by Maryan
 
SuzanneG
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Avatar

Joined: June 17 2006
Location: Idaho
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 5465
Posted: June 09 2010 at 3:30pm | IP Logged Quote SuzanneG

Jenn~
If you don't want to invest the money initially, you could start out by trying the CONCEPT of Startwrite to see if it fits your planning, time, and focus........there is this free Cursive Worksheet Works...which is similar to Startwrite. Startwrite has many more options, of course.   

I have Startwrite and like it a lot. I just printed out some summer poems for light copywork for summertime.

Mackfam wrote:
My *only* complaint is that you are limited to one page only worth of text. If your text goes beyond one page, you have to create a totally new page to work on. It can be worked around, but it does annoy me.
That totally bugs me too. I almost came back here last week and asked if I was just missing something and it was actually possible. But, of course, forgot.

I, personally, don't really care what style we use, because I think (personal opinion) kids/teens/adults develop their own style anyway, so it's not something I care about at all.

About a year ago, when we started cursive, I asked them what cursive style they liked the best (the options in Startwrite) and we just use that one. I think it's "Modern Cursive."   

__________________
Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
Back to Top View SuzanneG's Profile Search for other posts by SuzanneG
 
Becky Parker
Forum All-Star
Forum All-Star
Avatar

Joined: May 23 2005
Location: Michigan
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2582
Posted: June 09 2010 at 3:37pm | IP Logged Quote Becky Parker

Mackfam wrote:


I can use it with my little fella who is printing his letters and just starting to really write, and I can use it for my bigger fella that still needs help with cursive letter formation. And...it will be ready and waiting when my next little one is ready to write. Very, very, very useful to have and use!


Here's what is SO great about Startwrite - no longer are handwriting and copywork disconnected, they are merged into one. And, no longer is your child writing from something disconnected from the rest of his learning - he can copy hymns from the liturgical year, Newton's 3 laws, his latest poem, the tricky dictation lesson from last week, a passage from his history or literature reading - anything! But, his penmanship is now connected to his learning, to his days. It made a big difference here, and it's a cornerstone of our language arts program now!



I don't have mine yet so I really shouldn't even be commenting, but I have to say the two reasons above are worth it to me! I hesitated because my one ds struggles mightily with handwriting and HWOT is the only font he's had success with. Then I found out that HWOT is one of the fonts on the StartWrite program. Woo-hoo! I'm sold! I can't wait to start printing copywork for my kids for next year.

__________________
Becky
Wife to Wes, Mom to 6 wonderful kids on Earth and 4 in Heaven!
Academy Of The Good Shepherd
Back to Top View Becky Parker's Profile Search for other posts by Becky Parker
 
CatholicMommy
Forum All-Star
Forum All-Star
Avatar

Joined: Feb 07 2007
Location: Indiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1254
Posted: June 09 2010 at 6:07pm | IP Logged Quote CatholicMommy

What we found that we like is the OLVS handwriting books. They are very basic, no frills, but cover all the necessities. They are inexpensive and have lots of pages.

You could easily start with the 1st or 2nd grade book (they introduce cursive in the second half of kindergarten, but there is enough review in the 1st grade book for an older child to just catch on).

www.olvs.org


__________________
Garden of Francis
HS Elementary Montessori Training
Montessori Nuggets
Back to Top View CatholicMommy's Profile Search for other posts by CatholicMommy Visit CatholicMommy's Homepage
 
pmeilaen
Forum All-Star
Forum All-Star
Avatar

Joined: Sept 07 2008
Location: New York
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 565
Posted: June 09 2010 at 7:25pm | IP Logged Quote pmeilaen

CatholicMommy wrote:
What we found that we like is the OLVS handwriting books. They are very basic, no frills, but cover all the necessities. They are inexpensive and have lots of pages.



Do you know what handwriting method/style they are using? Zaner-Bloser?

__________________
Eva
Back to Top View pmeilaen's Profile Search for other posts by pmeilaen Visit pmeilaen's Homepage
 
CatholicMommy
Forum All-Star
Forum All-Star
Avatar

Joined: Feb 07 2007
Location: Indiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1254
Posted: June 09 2010 at 11:22pm | IP Logged Quote CatholicMommy

I'm not sure the name of the font, actually. Here is the link to the image of the cover of the 1st grade book. I can scan a copy of one page to send you if you like, but the cursive on the cover shows the basic idea.
OLVS Handwriting 1B

Also, I just learned about the handwriting books from Memoria Press - they have three print copybooks, then one in cursive, followed by another book to use for transitioning to regular paper.
Memoria Press Copybookshttp://www.memoriapress.com/descriptions/Copy-Books.html

__________________
Garden of Francis
HS Elementary Montessori Training
Montessori Nuggets
Back to Top View CatholicMommy's Profile Search for other posts by CatholicMommy Visit CatholicMommy's Homepage
 
CatholicMommy
Forum All-Star
Forum All-Star
Avatar

Joined: Feb 07 2007
Location: Indiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1254
Posted: June 09 2010 at 11:24pm | IP Logged Quote CatholicMommy

Oops. Then I found this set one on Memoria Press's website too.

__________________
Garden of Francis
HS Elementary Montessori Training
Montessori Nuggets
Back to Top View CatholicMommy's Profile Search for other posts by CatholicMommy Visit CatholicMommy's Homepage
 
pmeilaen
Forum All-Star
Forum All-Star
Avatar

Joined: Sept 07 2008
Location: New York
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 565
Posted: June 10 2010 at 6:45am | IP Logged Quote pmeilaen

CatholicMommy wrote:
I'm not sure the name of the font, actually. Here is the link to the image of the cover of the 1st grade book. I can scan a copy of one page to send you if you like, but the cursive on the cover shows the basic idea.
OLVS Handwriting 1B



That would be great! Do you also happen to have the manuscript books from the? I'm interested in how they form the capital "A."

__________________
Eva
Back to Top View pmeilaen's Profile Search for other posts by pmeilaen Visit pmeilaen's Homepage
 
cvbmom
Forum All-Star
Forum All-Star
Avatar

Joined: Feb 15 2005
Location: Ohio
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 930
Posted: June 10 2010 at 12:24pm | IP Logged Quote cvbmom

CatholicMommy wrote:
I'm not sure the name of the font, actually. Here is the link to the image of the cover of the 1st grade book. I can scan a copy of one page to send you if you like, but the cursive on the cover shows the basic idea.
OLVS Handwriting 1B


I'd like to see a sample of a page, it's tough to buy sight unseen on handwriting like that. We tend to prefer a style that all lower case letters start on the baseline. I can't tell that from the cover.


God bless,
Christine

__________________
Wife to dh - 18 years!
Mom to dd (16), ds (15), dd, (12), dd (11), ds (9), dd (8), dd (7), ds (5), dd (3), ds (2), and ds (1)
Back to Top View cvbmom's Profile Search for other posts by cvbmom
 
CatholicMommy
Forum All-Star
Forum All-Star
Avatar

Joined: Feb 07 2007
Location: Indiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1254
Posted: June 10 2010 at 12:53pm | IP Logged Quote CatholicMommy

Ugh. My scanner is being cranky. I'll see if I can get it going later this afternoon.

(with OLVS - not all the lower case start at the baseline; there are benefits and drawbacks - I like this style for my son because he would get confused about how to start the vowels in words such as "bat" - going from the b to the a is easier for him this way, then thinking that he always has to start at the baseline. Not all children will have that hang-up - mine does! )

In the meantime, the OLVS cursive is very similar to this one:
http://www.homeeducationresources.com/FREEhandwriting.htm

OLVS is a bit smoother on a few (like the lower case n), has a little notch on the top of the lower case c, and a couple of the other tiny things. But the differences are very minor.

I'll see what I can do about the scanner later today. Sorry!

__________________
Garden of Francis
HS Elementary Montessori Training
Montessori Nuggets
Back to Top View CatholicMommy's Profile Search for other posts by CatholicMommy Visit CatholicMommy's Homepage
 
CatholicMommy
Forum All-Star
Forum All-Star
Avatar

Joined: Feb 07 2007
Location: Indiana
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1254
Posted: June 10 2010 at 12:59pm | IP Logged Quote CatholicMommy

pmeilaen wrote:
CatholicMommy wrote:
I'm not sure the name of the font, actually. Here is the link to the image of the cover of the 1st grade book. I can scan a copy of one page to send you if you like, but the cursive on the cover shows the basic idea.
OLVS Handwriting 1B



That would be great! Do you also happen to have the manuscript books from the? I'm interested in how they form the capital "A."


I do not have the manuscript one, because it was just one semester's worth and my son could already print (he taught himself, then he went to a part-time preschool). Since at home, we are mostly Montessori, I only ordered the cursive ones.

The cursive A is the same for capital and lowercase - just varies in size.

Does that help?


__________________
Garden of Francis
HS Elementary Montessori Training
Montessori Nuggets
Back to Top View CatholicMommy's Profile Search for other posts by CatholicMommy Visit CatholicMommy's Homepage
 
JennGM
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator
Avatar

Joined: Feb 07 2005
Location: Virginia
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 17702
Posted: Aug 20 2010 at 8:59am | IP Logged Quote JennGM

SuzanneG wrote:
Jenn~
If you don't want to invest the money initially, you could start out by trying the CONCEPT of Startwrite to see if it fits your planning, time, and focus........there is this free Cursive Worksheet Works...which is similar to Startwrite. Startwrite has many more options, of course.   

I have Startwrite and like it a lot. I just printed out some summer poems for light copywork for summertime.

Mackfam wrote:
My *only* complaint is that you are limited to one page only worth of text. If your text goes beyond one page, you have to create a totally new page to work on. It can be worked around, but it does annoy me.
That totally bugs me too. I almost came back here last week and asked if I was just missing something and it was actually possible. But, of course, forgot.

I, personally, don't really care what style we use, because I think (personal opinion) kids/teens/adults develop their own style anyway, so it's not something I care about at all.

About a year ago, when we started cursive, I asked them what cursive style they liked the best (the options in Startwrite) and we just use that one. I think it's "Modern Cursive."   


Well, I just ordered my StartWrite. I didn't have to do much outlay for books this year because so many I already have, which was nice.

I just thought I would mention I called in my order instead of placing it online. When I mentioned I was a homeschooler, she said they give us a little discount. So that was a nice treat!

__________________
Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
Back to Top View JennGM's Profile Search for other posts by JennGM Visit JennGM's Homepage
 
mamasue
Forum Pro
Forum Pro


Joined: Nov 09 2009
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 139
Posted: Aug 20 2010 at 12:49pm | IP Logged Quote mamasue

I know it's late but rainbow resource has it for $31 or $32
Back to Top View mamasue's Profile Search for other posts by mamasue
 
KC in TX
Forum All-Star
Forum All-Star


Joined: Aug 05 2005
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2621
Posted: Aug 20 2010 at 7:23pm | IP Logged Quote KC in TX

Maryan wrote:
Not cursive, but CHC's 2nd grade handwriting has great copywork for First Communion. We really liked it. The lessons/copywork were really short.

Later they do more Zaner-Bloser simplified for cursive starting in level 3.... with jokes!

I did Seton's handwriting for 3rd grade because it was similar to a style that I learned, so I thought it would be easier for me to teach. Howver, my oldest who finds writing a chore probably would have preferred CHC. We're going back to it next year. The spiral alone is a huge help compared to Seton's binded book.

Just my observations.


My son prefers the CHC cursive to the Seton. We did the same thing as Maryan. I own both the EFI and Startwrite. I prefer the Startwrite although having to create a new page annoys me as well.

__________________
KC,
wife to Ben (10/94),
Mama to LB ('98)
Michaela ('01)
Emma ('03)
Jordan ('05)
And, my 2 angels, Rose ('08) and Mark ('09)

The Cabbage Patch
Back to Top View KC in TX's Profile Search for other posts by KC in TX
 

If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login
If you are not already registered you must first register

  [Add this topic to My Favorites] Post ReplyPost New Topic
Printable version Printable version

Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

Hosting and Support provided by theNetSmith.com