Cursive writing

Cursive writing is an art that takes time and skill but can be learned with the help and assistance of one knows how to teach and one who has patience. First, make an introduction to your student or students to cursive writing and make the writing process sound interesting and fun. Starting off positively will help instill a desire to learn. When beginning to write the individual letters be sure to present all of the letters at the same height. This is important because it gives continuity and evenness to the letters and makes the reading of the letters easier to read. To start off on the right foot-so to speak-begin with lower case letters first. Once you've completed the lower case letters, then you can begin writing the upper case letters. Second, make sure that your student or students keep their eyes on your writing as you put the letters on a board or other piece of paper before them. Then, watch how he or she writes the letters. Third, be sure to guide your student or students to write at a slant-preferably a 45 degree angle when writing. This is to ensure that their cursive letters have an even tilt. He or she can slant to the left or to the right-whichever angle feels best for him or her. Fourth, have your student practice the letters, beginning with the letter a. You could have your students write certain letters on certain days of the week such as doing a through d one day and e through h the following day. Have the student or students share their work with you and then praise and advise them on how they can improve. Fifth, once the student or students have practiced their letters and feel confident with their work, have them compose a short letter to a friend or family member or preferably sharing and exchanging their work with another student. Then, after reading another's work-share what they have learned. Sixth, if you are teaching cursive writing to one or more children, have them watch you as you make the letters. When you do this, purposely make some mistakes and then show or ask them about mistakes that were made. When the children find mistakes, it helps them to learn. But most of all, make sure that those who you are teaching practice their letters on a daily or a three times a week basis. The more they practice, the better they will become when writing letters. And, be sure to encourage your students as much as possible, for this will reinforce the learning process and create a desire within them to continue.