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You are here: Home / Language Arts / Handwriting / Tips for Teaching Cursive Writing {and Why You Should Teach it First}

Tips for Teaching Cursive Writing {and Why You Should Teach it First}

April 28, 2017 By Melissa · PRINTABLES TIP: Always go toward the end of a post to find the printable. · Disclosure: This Post May Contain Affiliate Links. {I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.}

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Tips for Teaching Cursive Writing is a post from contributing writer Melissa Corkum.

When my oldest started Kindergarten at a local, classical, Christian school, I was surprised to learn that they taught cursive first.

To their credit, they did a great job educating us, parents, as to the “why” of how they taught. They made me a believer. I’ll share a few of these reasons before I move onto tips for teaching cursive writing.

Tips for Teaching Cursive Writing {as well as why it's a great idea to teach cursive writing first} | Real Life at Home

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Reasons to Teach Cursive Writing First

1. Cursive is often easier for young children to learn because of the flow of the letters and words. Plus, because of that flow, they don’t tend to have as much difficulty with letter and word spacing.

2. Cursive writing requires fewer types of strokes for making letters. Not only does traditional printing require more types of pencil strokes, but it also requires making perfect circles, which can be difficult for young children.

3. Beginning with printing means that students have to learn an entire system for writing only to turn around a few years later and be told that they need to learn another new system for writing.

These are just a few of the reasons that starting with cursive writing is a great option for kids. You can go here to read many more reason to start with cursive first.

Tips for Teaching Cursive Writing

My youngest, who has minor special needs including dyspraxia, has been homeschooled from the beginning. I was surprised (and a little sad) that there weren’t more resources for teaching early cursive.

Cursive Writing Practice

Here are some tips for teaching cursive writing that worked for our family:

Teach cursive writing by stroke.

I remember being amazed that all of the lowercase cursive letters could be made from four basic strokes.

I teach the approach (or swing ups) first. Roller coasters (or loops), hills and valleys, and ocean waves follow respectively.

Begin teaching cursive writing by incorporating just the basic strokes in drawing, art projects, and play.

cursive strokesimage credit

Learn More: Form Drawing for Better Handwriting

Begin teaching cursive writing by starting big.

Whether it’s sidewalk chalk, a sand box, or a mounted chalk or white board, the bigger the better. Gross motor skills develop first and cursive is mostly a gross motor skill anyway.

Once the strokes and letters are mastered on a large scale, they will transfer easily to smaller applications.

From large sensory mediums, I move to one letter per page.  Kindergartners love seeing how many times they can trace one letter with a different color every time.

Lastly, we graduate to more traditional handwriting practice. My favorite place to create practice sheets is HandwritingWorksheets.com.

Take your time teaching cursive writing.

Because I teach cursive starting in kindergarten, I incorporate writing the letter with the phonemic sound. We learn one letter a week. Learning a letter includes all of its sounds and how to write it.

That gives the student a week to really drill that letter before moving on to the next one. Older children learning cursive may move at an accelerated pace.
practicing letters

Engage the senses while you teach cursive writing.

It is important that there is some type of response felt as your pencil or finger makes the letters. Mostly it comes in the form of vibration as the writing implement travels over the writing surface.

Chalk on sidewalks, fingers through sand (like in this cool, small tabletop sandbox), and crayons on paper all provide sensory input during writing. If you use a whiteboard, stay away from markers and try grease pencils or whiteboard crayons. Using a vertical writing surface such as a mounted chalkboard or whiteboard also provides additional sensory input as your arm works against gravity.

small tabletop sandbox

Additionally, try adding audio cues. For example, when I teach the letter “I,” we say its short sound as we swing up and the long sound as we trace down and finish.

We also do an activity where the student decorates a page-sized drawing of the letter.

So far all the suggested benefits of cursive have rung true in our house. Teaching proper printing has come quick and easily at around age 8 once a solid cursive foundation is laid. By that time, they already know the shapes, they just need to know the proper way to form them.

What benefits of cursive have you seen in your family? What is your best tip?

Other Posts You May Love:

  • Form Drawing for Better Handwriting
  • Sign of the Cross Prayer Copywork Printables
  • The Ultimate List of Inexpensive Art Projects

 

Tips for Teaching Cursive Writing {as well as why it's a great idea to teach cursive writing first} | Real Life at Home

This post contains affiliate links. They don’t change the price you pay. However, when you shop through them, we may receive a small compensation.

This post was originally published on October 27, 2013. It was most recently updated in April 2017.

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Filed Under: Handwriting

About Melissa

Melissa is a cursive-teaching, photography-dabbling, primal-eating, housework-hating, triathlon-trying, homeschooling, black belt-seeking, grace-needing mom to 6 kids ages 6 to 15.  She blogs about adoption, homeschooling, and life at The Cork Board. You can find Melissa on Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr and Twitter.

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Comments

  1. Paula says

    October 28, 2013 at 8:41 am

    I taught all three of my children printing before cursive. It worked well for my first child but my other two seem to have dysgraphia and writing took every ounce of their energy and mine. Then someone suggested I try Logic of English Cursive and it uses a lot of the techniques you suggested above. The great thing about it is that all the lowercase letters start at the same spot, so my son who does a lot of reversals in printing, doesn’t have that issue when writing cursive.
    My youngest just finished learning all the lowercase letters and thankfully handwriting is not such a chore anymore.

    Reply
    • melissa says

      October 28, 2013 at 11:18 am

      Welcome to the cursive bandwagon, Paula!

      Reply
  2. Melinda says

    January 22, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    I’m a homeschool mom, and we just started cursive with my 8 year old. I probably should have researched it a bit more before starting it. But I can tell that she’s more focused, her brain is more engaged, and her other handwriting is actually a little bit neater. And I haven’t noticed any reversals, but I will be watching for them.

    Reply
  3. bushra says

    September 14, 2016 at 5:56 pm

    please give some tips or strokes technique on upper case letter too. TIA

    Reply
  4. Kathie Brand says

    January 12, 2017 at 6:51 pm

    I am a Librarian in Ohio and teach a cursive writing class for 3 weeks 1 hour a week. I have them do what I call cursive art which is what you have at the top of the page. We practice on a white board and we do fun cursive art in a zip lock bag with shaving cream in it. Is there any thing else I should practice with before moving on to the letters themselves.

    Reply
    • Melissa says

      January 13, 2017 at 5:01 pm

      That sounds like such a great class! When you move to letters, start large and then move to small (like small enough to fit on lined paper). Best wishes 🙂

      Reply
  5. Kamile says

    August 27, 2020 at 7:19 am

    Great Tips for beginners or those who struggle!!! Teaching cursive writing can be easy if we make it fun for our kids. I always encourage my kids that writing in cursive is as easy as connecting the letters together and the rest is style.

    Reply
  6. Cheryon Unruh says

    September 29, 2021 at 12:45 pm

    If you go to sign up for the work sheet maker be very careful because at “check out” there is a checkbox already automatically checked for downloading games. it is for a weeks $1.95 trial and then starts charging your charge card for much more!

    Reply

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Angie, mom to three very fun kids, is the founder of Real Life at Home.  With degrees in elementary education (B.A.) and special education (M.S.Ed.), as well as being a former homeschooler, she is passionate about supporting both parents and teachers by providing printables, crafts, and activities to help children learn and grow. Read More…

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