When to start cursive

[Motherjoy]

Should I wait until their print is very neat or just push forward with cursive? My 9yo learned cursive this year, and the 8yo, and 7yo brothers want to learn in the fall. They still need help with their print, though.

[Nealewill]

I would wait until they know their letters but I wouldn't say their letters need to be beautiful. My son is doing Bigger this year and his handwriting is pretty messy. If I wait till his writing is neat and pretty, he will never learn cursive LOL. But he is consistent and I can read it so I am starting cursive this year with him.

[my3sons]

I agree with Nealewill! I'd have the 7 yo solidify printing skills more for sure, and the 8 yo? I guess it depends on how well that child forms letters, words, and sentences in print. Overall, I try to have our dc be able to write fairly smoothly, quickly, and legibly in print, and have their print be of a smaller size (i.e. not huge letters and words taking up large amounts of space, but rather working toward being able to write small enough in print to write on wide-lined notebook paper) to be able to begin cursive. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie