Print vs. Cursive first?
April 25th, 2008
Do you teach print or cursive first? Internationally, typically cursive is taught first. Some progressive public schools in the states are teaching cursive right out of the gate in kindergarten. I’ve read different studies about it and didn’t really have a strong conviction about it, one way or the other, until this morning.
Jackson learned print in his Montessori preschool before he came home for home school. They actually preferred the idea of teaching cursive first, but went with print because so many kids left them and went to public school. They needed to make sure kids where doing what was normal here. They mentioned how it was easier for most children to learn cursive first. I never really thought of it, but think of it. All the starting and stopping. Picking up their pencil every stroke. Especially for a boy who doesn’t like to sit still in the first place. It must be very frustrating.
I must say, He has hated writing this whole time. His concentration and fine motor skills have really developed this year, and he was able to write “pretty” print writing but he was constantly frustrated, with b’s and d’s and reversing letters here and there. For about 6 months he has been asking to write cursive. I have held him off, because in my mind, I wanted him to have mastered printing before we tackled a new skill.
A few weeks ago, I lamented a sheet that had all of the letters on it both print and cursive. I would put it on the table as he was writing for him to reference hoping that it would help him with the letter reversal and alleviate some of his frustration. So the other day, I gave him his copy work and asked him to put his name and date at the top before he began like always. When I came back, he had done it in cursive, all by himself.
Today, I actually said “OK Bud, today you get to write in cursive.” He did all of his copy work (several lines) in cursive with very little help from me. When he was done he said, “Mom cursive is so much easier! I can do it faster and it looks better. They all have a little hook that tells me which way the letter is supposed to be facing so I don’t write any letters backwards.” Not to mention he felt like learning cursive was a signal that he was no longer doing “baby” work but beginning to do big kid work.
In hind site, I think I should of started him with cursive earlier. The reality is, he will be moving to typing in a few years, and do much of his writing work, via the keyboard. Is it that important to have gorgeous penmanship? I mean (no offensive honey) my husband’s handwriting is horrible and he is 35. Moving him to something that is less frustrating and gives him success and confidence, in my mind is MORE important than doing print work because that is what everyone else does.
What do you think. Should we start with cursive first?
Entry Filed under: Homeschool
9 Comments
Add your own1. Cathy | April 25th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I’m interested to know what others think about this…. I am starting K with my oldest son. Is there a correlation with handwriting and learning letters and other language arts… phonics, spelling, etc? I already noticed that certain fonts confuse him with reading (ie. the 2 ways to write the letter a).
2. Amber(Homeschool Diva) | April 25th, 2008 at 7:31 pm
My oldest had that problem too, but it only lasted a bit and now he doesn’t even notice it.
Here are some interesting articles:
http://www.nathhan.com/mcinnis.htm
http://www.abeka.com/Resources/PDFs/CursiveFly.pdf
So, there are strong opinions on both sides. I realized today, that our son could read the cursive writing just as well as the print in his copy work with no help from me. I think kids don’t find things as difficult as we assume they may. Those are just my 2 cents on the topic. So far:-) I may think differently when it comes time for the next one. She seems to do print without any hesitation, but that is also her personality. She is always up for a challenge and enjoys it, so maybe this is a personality issue as well.
3. Cathy | April 25th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
What writing Curriculum do you use?
4. Amber(Homeschool Diva) | April 25th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I am using Writing Without Tears but have heard that Writing for a Purpose is very good as well as Abeka’s Cursive at Kindergarten.
Hope that helps.
5. amanda | April 25th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
We learned both manuscript and cursive and have found both useful at different times.
Totally off subject, your blog is lovely. Having fun playing with the design?
amanda
6. Amber(Homeschool Diva) | April 25th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Yes, Amanda, my new birthday camera and learning basic codex is filling my artistic itch this month:-) Those tootsies are my soon to be 5 year old little girls. Thanks for the compliment and thanks for keeping it simple on the writing issue. Both are good and needed:-)
7. Sara | May 15th, 2008 at 11:51 am
My daughter knew how to print(quite sloppy, but still readable) before starting kinder, so I went ahead and started her with the K5 abeka cursive. She has done a great job with the cursive and it has improved her print greatly. I really don’t have an opinion either way, but from my own personal experience, I’m glad we started out with cursive.
8. heather | July 14th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
If a child learns a little bit of print, is it harder for that child to do cursive? Or is it better to just stick with the print to begin with to not confuse the child-or does it not confuse the child? The child being 5 years old?
9. Amber(Homeschool Diva) | July 14th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Give it a go Heather. My son learned print first and then went to cursive and found cursive tons easier for him.
My daughter has picked up print just through osmosis, but I am formally teaching her cursive first and will go back and refine the print.
The research I did said that kids are resilient and able to handle the dichotomy between the two and no damage is done, Many many people start with cursive and then go to print, and I believe most European students do this well.
Hope that helps. I am using handwriting without tears and it is wonderful for both print and cursive.
Hope that helps.
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