Handwriting and Beyond

[Tracee]

I'm starting to think about next year, and I was wondering what we will be doing for handwriting in Beyond. I'm not sure if ds will be reading by then, so I'm not sure if he will be writing his own sentences or not by then. Is there any kind of penmanship in Beyond?

Thanks,
Tracy

[cirons]

Hi there!

I have just started Beyond and there is no designated penmanship box that I can see....they have poetry copywork and some other sentences they have to write throughout the week which I find it plenty for my boy, but we were working through Getty & Dubay books before we started HOD and I ask my son to continue with these, about 1/2 page per day to continue working towards neat writing and eventually cursive.

Blessings,

Corrie

[my4sugars]

Tracey- I started my twin dds in Beyond last year at half-speed. They weren't quite ready for the leap to copywork, either. I actually used the 1st grade option from LHFHG for handwriting. It gave them some extra practice with their letters, allowing them the opportunity to fine-tune some challenges they were having with writing, and helped ease them into sentences. The Reason for Handwriting A gave them words to practice, then it planned a Scripture verse using some of the same words. Carrie only had them practice a few of the words per page, so it wasn't overkill. I'm glad we approached it this way. This year, the girls are in 2nd grade, can read much more fluently, and can understand most of what they are copying from the poems. The change in their penmanship has been so drastic. It also makes them very proud to see their improvement. Especially one of my girls whose fine motor control has been slower in developing. She has improved by leaps and bounds. Sorry this was a bit long, but maybe it will help you figure out what will work for your little guy. =)

[Carrie]

Tracy,

Once kiddos are ready for copywork, then that becomes their formal handwriting practice in each guide. We use a handwriting workbook to introduce how to form the nanuscript letters correctly in LHFHG and then follow it up with manuscript copywork daily in Beyond. In Bigger Hearts, we use a handwriting workbook to introduce how to form the cursive letters correctly and then follow it up with cursive copywork daily in Preparing Hearts and CTC. After CTC, we allow the child to choose whether to write in cursive or manuscript for each assignment.

Some children need a bit of extra practice in manuscript before jumping into copywork. My third little guy was like that. So, with him we did just as my4sugars suggested and did A Reason for Handwriting 'A' in Beyond in place of the poetry copywork for the first 3/4 of the year. Then, the last 9 weeks we moved into poetry copywork instead. It has worked well for him.

Blessings,
Carrie