Teaching Cursive Letters with CursiveLogic

I have been teaching cursive letters to my 2nd grader thanks to a copy of the CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack and The Art of Cursive as part of the Homeschool Review Crew.

Handwriting is not an easy subject for me to teach the boys.

It isn’t for lack of trying, but rather they never seem to ‘connect’ with whatever program we are using.

In large part, they want to form letters THEIR way which usually leads to miserable handwriting and a whole lot of frustration for everyone.

Teaching Cursive Letters: About CursiveLogic

They say that necessity is the mother of invention.

CursiveLogic is one example of something that sprung from an unexpected need. The founder, Linda Shrewsbury, was tutoring a young man in his early 20s. He expressed the desire to learn how to sign his name in cursive.

Looking at the lower case letters written out on paper, Linda soon saw that you could form four distinct groups with each containing a similar pattern of motion.

Using this grouping, her student was able to learn the lowercase alphabet in less than an hour!

Pieces of the Program: CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack

This pack is the base of the program containing both the CursiveLogic workbook and a webinar for the instructor.

The webinar explains the process behind CursiveLogic and how to present it to your student. Once you purchase your package, you will receive a link to access the webinar for up to 6 months from the time of purchase.

It is intended that the instructor view the webinar before beginning work with their student. You can always go back to sections of the presentation to refresh as needed.

The CursiveLogic workbook is laid out to teach everything over the course of 10 weeks.

Rather than calling them weeks, the material is broken up into lessons with the work further labeled by day for that lesson.

The workbook is coil bound at the top so it will work for all students regardless of which hand they use to write. Pages are double-sided so that halfway through the material you flip the book over to continue working.

Initial pages talk about how to use the program as well as tips like how the student should sit and position the workbook.

At the end of the book is a page of teaching tips, too.

Additionally, there are 3 double-sided pages that allow the student to practice over and over again with a dry erase marker.

Pieces of the Program: The Art of Cursive

For some, continued practice of handwriting may seem a bit dry.

That is definitely not the case when you add on The Art of Cursive.

This is more coloring book than workbook which begins with a review of letter formation before going into copywork and coloring pages.

What makes these coloring pages unique is that many of the images are made up of cursive letters and strokes.

How much fun is that!

Teaching Cursive Letters: Our Experience with Cursive Logic

While I can not say that this program has my son jumping for joy when I pull out the book, I can tell you that he is enjoying it more than past ones.

Using the Webinar

With limited time to do all the things, I elected to have him in the room when I was watching the CursiveLogic webinar.

I did it in segments, pausing as we came to each page she mentioned.

Not every family will want to do this approach, but for us it works. J would let me know if we needed to pause or re-watch a section.

Early in the webinar, she talks about drawing on a whiteboard to help guide your student with the material.

J decided that HE was going to be the ‘teacher’ and draw the suggested items. T

hey do say that being able to teach something back is the way to show mastery, so I am ALL for him doing it!

Daily Practice Pages

This is the meat of the program for your student.

If you work at the suggested pace, they will complete the workbook in 10 weeks. An exceptionally eager student could be finished in less time.

Given a child who was rather reluctant to do multiple pages in a day, J has taken a somewhat leisurely pace.

It isn’t that the amount of work is daunting. But, rather he gets focused on perfection.

Also, J has a not-so-good habit of wanting to skip something important…like the multiple tracing lines on a page… with the idea that doing it once is enough.

He is slowly learning that it IS important to help develop muscle memory which will allow him to pick up speed over time.

As a homeschool parent, I appreciate the multisensory approach to learning.

CursiveLogic uses color, movement, verbal, and auditory tools during instruction.

No learning style is missed with this approach.

The Art of Cursive

As J has not finished the CursiveLogic workbook yet, I am the one who took a look at this interesting book.

Coloring is something that can be so relaxing in the evening. And, while I do get compliments about my handwriting, I know that the more you practice the better you’ll become at it.

Using this as a follow-up for J is something I look forward to doing later this year. He is already captivated by the images and how they are formed from cursive letters.

Final Takeaway for CursiveLogic

If you are seeking out a title that is easy to use and fun, then you need to check them out.

Even though many school districts eliminated cursive writing from the curriculum, I firmly believe it is a must-have for all students.

CursiveLogic makes the process more enjoyable for everyone!

Don’t just take my word for how we found this to be. Visit CursiveLogic post on the Homeschool Review Crew website to see what other homeschooling parents thought about this resource.