Cursive: A Multi-Sensory Approach to Handwriting

Join us as we learn how to write the D'Nealian cursive alphabet using the senses of sight, sound and touch. During each class, learners will experience 4-5 new uppercase and lowercase cursive letters, retain them through repeated practice, and learn how to connect the letters to form words. (Please note that there are several forms of cursive, D'Nealian cursive will be used as the guide for this class.

While learning new letters, the teacher will provide learners with real-time modeling, as well as visual and aural cues to achieve proper letter formation. While the teacher will model appropriate pencil grip throughout the course, pencil grip will not explicitly be taught nor corrected.

Prior Knowledge: Learners must be able to name and identify all 26 letters of the alphabet. Learners should have some prior experience forming letters with a pencil and paper. **Due to development concerns regarding hand strength, fine motor skills and visual planning, learners younger than the minimum age will not be permitted.**

Materials and Supplies: For each class, learners must have a writing instrument (I would recommend a sharpened pencil along with other "fun" tools such as markers, pens, or colored pencils.) and lined writing paper. It is STRONGLY recommended that learners have wide ruled handwriting paper with the middle dotted line. This will encourage proper letter formation. This paper can be found inexpensively at most dollar stores or even printed off of the internet. Learners will also need a set of unlined index cards for our final meeting.

Week 1: Introductions, Letters A-E, Words: Abe, cab, bad, ace, Ed, ebb
Week 2: Letters F-I, Words: fig, if, Hi, gig, high
Week 3: Letters J-M, Words: jam, Jim, milk, Kim, make
Week 4: Letters N-Q (preview U), Words: nope, pond, quip, Quinn, loop
Week 5: Letters R-V, Words: rust, Russ, vest, trust, strut
Week 6: Letters W-Z, Words: wax, yak, zoo, mix, way
Week 7: Learners will practice writing complete sentences in cursive using some of the words that we have learned. We will also have an opportunity to practice writing our first names in cursive.
Week 8: We will conclude the course by creating a set of 26 cursive reference cards, with additional writing practice if time permits. (Unlined notecards are needed for this meeting.)

*Late/Missed Class Policy* All courses will begin on time as long as one learner is in the classroom. In the event that no students are in the classroom at the assigned class time, the teacher will leave a message on the discussion board and exit after 10 min. Class recordings are available upon request.