How to help DD with cursive

[nancydrewrocks]

DD is in recpetion but has just started a new school due to a move from overseas.

For the last 18mths at school she has been learning to print in lower case (with upper case where appropriate). We turned up to school today and the class are doing proper joined up writing - lots of flicks and curls and loops (for want of a better description) She was a bit upset because although the teacher was wonderfully encouraging it is very clear that she is going to have to relearn to write.

She is quite shy and a bit unsettled at the moment and I was really hoping that she wouldn't struggle with "work" on top of everything else but it seems she might
Any tips

Ask the teacher to sit and show you how to write each letter.

With your DD, try to get her just for now to add flicks at start and end of the letters. After she's mastered those you can slowly move onto reshaping individual letters.

Tell you the truth, ime, she can probably continue with the printing for a long time to come and slowly take on board the other style. They don't really move onto real joined up writing until Yr2, so your DD has plenty of time to master the new style; there shouldn't be a problem with her printing for now, and slowly taking on new style. She may need to hear that reassurance firsthand from the teacher, though.

At DD's school they learn how to write in cursive - and she's in reception too. She'd already learnt how to write a few letters in upper case before starting reception and this is how she prefers to write.

The way I deal with it is to let her write how she likes at home but I encourage her to write in cursive on her homework sheets. The school gave us a sheet of A4 with the alphabet on in cursive which was really handy - I think you can even get them with little dots and arrows on to show you how to write them. Perhaps ask the school if they can get hold of one for you to have at home?

I certainly wouldn't try and pressure her to write cursively at home, just facilitate if she wants to try. I kind of think if the school want them to write like that then the school will teach them to do it - it's not something for us parents to worry about too much!

I personally think reception is too young to be learning cursive writing when a lot of the kids struggle with writing anything. My DD1 didnt learn currive writing until yr2 and she now has beautiful handwriting (when she can be arsed). What next? Phonics at post-natal classes.

The way DD's school explained it to me, it wasn't some pushy thing, they just teach them cursive from the beginning so they don't have to learn how to write differently in yr 2 or whatever. They acknowledge it'll take longer for them to learn to write but reckon it's worth it in the long run. They seem pretty chilled out about it too, I noticed in DD's classroom the other day that the children have all written their names on pictures of them that are on the wall - a fair few are in normal upper case. So they obviously don't labour the point which is good or it might put them off writing altogether.

Our school has a hand out sheet for parents which demonstrates how each letter should be formed - that sort of thing would help you both.

The main difference with cursive and print is that all cursive letters start on the line, and printing tends to start from the top. In essence it will be learning to re write for her, so it-is good she is in reception where they are all beginning.

We start cursive from reception age too

I would really try not to think of it as "re-learning" actually (or to let dd think of it this way), but as a progression in style from where she is at the moment.

Apart from the entry and exit strokes, most of the letters are formed in the same way as in printing. So she needs to start from the line and get to the "printed" letter that she knows from there (if you see what I mean) and in some cases add an exit stroke. There are some good worksheets online which might help.

I have to admit I am not yet entirely convinced by teaching children to write with entry and exit strokes before they are even reading, especially given that the majority of reading materials don't have these. It seems very confusing to me, but I know that a lot of teachers and parents swear by it and report very good results.

I'm sure your dd will be fine - it can only be a good thing that she has developed the skills to form letters well already, even if she has to adapt to a new style. Hope she settles in well anyway - her teacher sounds very nice, so that is a huge bonus.