Cursive in Preparing

[stawnasalas]

My ds is 9 and just learned to copy in cursive (by looking at sentences that were already in cursive) this summer. He is NOT ready to copy sentences that are printed in cursive yet. Is anyone allowing there dc to do printed copywork? I am not even going to attempt to go there, as he already got nervous when I said that was what was written in the plans.

[deltagal]

My oldest was also struggling with cursive when we were in Preparing. I've linked you to Carrie's advice which was to go on a "cursive break" until we completed Cheerful Cursive. I think this advice would work for you in your situation, as well.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2748&hilit=+cursive#p20373

[LynnH]

If you write it in cursive on the whiteboard can he then do it? If he can I would just do that for as long as it takes until he is comfortable doing it from print. My ds has dysgraphia and I still do that sometimes for him.

[cirons]

My dd9 had only learned some cursive joins by the time we started Preparing so I let her do printed work until she had learned all her joins. She was doing the Getty & Dubay cursive in italics books alongside Preparing for a while until she felt more confident. Each time she did the copywork, she just added a few more joins, a few more words and by half way through the program, she was doing everything in cursive. I did not push her, she just practiced at her own pace and this seemed to work well.

HTH,

Corrie

[stawnasalas]

Thank you everyone. I may just continue lettin him print for now, and buy some kind of cursive practice books, I've seen one at Walmart even. He is very easily frustrated and I dont want to push him now, especially since hsing is new to all of us as well. Thank you!

[off2workigo]

Yes, let him print. The JOY of homeschooling is meeting our children at their level.

When you're SURE he knows all the letters, why not have him write the first TWO words of any copywork assignment in cursive...then print the rest?

As he becomes more comfortable, and it doesn't seem to take a painstaking amount of time, up it to four words. Followed by the rest of the words in nice printed manuscript.

Then six, eight, ten words.

There's certainly nothing wrong with requiring two or four words (or however many he doesn't have to AGONIZE and SLOW WAY DOWN over) to give him a bit of a stretch, but if *I* had just learned cursive and had to copy full sentences in it, it would probably feel like forever, and I would think it was a big 'ole waste of my time.

Printing in manuscript still helps to develop fine motor control, and will help strengthen the muscles and skills he will use to write beautiful cursive in the future.

-Rebecca

[moedertje]

I was torn with this same subject, since my son has not gone through the Upper case part of "Cheerful Cursive". He wants to write cursive in his "Common Place" book. He is writing the cursive upper case letters he knows in cursive and the ones he does not in manuscript for now. He has been doing fine, copying from manuscript into cursive, it does take him a long time, but he is not complaining and I am pleased with the way it looks We will be able to see the progress as the years goes.