Handwriting and Cursive

Grades K-5About 50 minutes a week

Handwriting is a habit of the hand, and habits are set early. A good grip and posture in kindergarten save a year of undoing later, and fast, legible cursive by grade 4 means his pencil keeps up with his thinking.

What you need

  • Short pencils and a regular pencil
  • Lined paper with a dotted middle line
  • Child-sized scissors and crayons
  • A table and chair where his feet rest flat
  • An envelope and a stamp

What done looks like

  • His grip looks the same on the last line as on the first.
  • A stranger can read his print and his cursive.
  • Copying a paragraph in cursive takes about as long as saying it slowly.
  • A letter he wrote arrived in someone's mailbox.

What to do, grade by grade

  • K: grip for pencil, crayon and scissors; letters r, n, m, h, b, p (pull down, retrace up, curve over); left to right, top to bottom.
  • Grade 1: every print letter, even size and spacing; feet flat, paper tilted for the writing hand.
  • Grade 2: begin cursive with the forearm gliding on the table; keep printing neat for daily work.
  • Grade 3: one steady slant across the whole page.
  • Grade 4: cursive fast enough to keep up; hand-write, address and mail a real letter.
  • Grade 5: choose print or cursive for the task; fix the letters that break down at speed; check legibility honestly.

How to teach it

  1. Five to ten minutes a day beats one long session. Stop while his hand is still fresh.
  2. Check grip first: pencil pinched between thumb and first finger, resting on the middle finger. A short pencil makes this easier.
  3. Tilt the paper so the bottom corner points toward the writing hand's elbow.
  4. Say the strokes out loud as he writes: "down, back up, over."
  5. Explain why cursive exists: the letters join, so the pencil rarely lifts and writing gets faster. Name the model you use and stick to it.
  6. For the legibility check, have him read his page upside down or swap pages with you, so memory cannot fill in the words.
  7. Praise one good letter by name before pointing at one to fix.
Curriculum goals this sheet covers (14)

In the words of the grade-by-grade guide.

  • Holds a pencil in a grip that will not have to be undone later, and writes left to right, top to bottom.
  • Forms the print letters r, n, m, h, b and p by pulling down, retracing back up the same line, and curving over.
  • Holds a pencil, a crayon and a pair of scissors with a grip that works
  • Prints all upper and lowercase letters legibly, with correct formation, spacing, and consistent size.
  • Sets up posture and paper position for writing, tilting the paper the correct way for the writing hand.
  • Keeps printing legible and correctly spaced while cursive is being learned, because most of his real work still gets printed.
  • Names the handwriting model being learned and explains why cursive was built for speed. Texas begins cursive instruction in grade 2.
  • Writes cursive with the forearm gliding on the desk instead of with the fingers alone, which is the movement the Palmer model is built on.
  • Keeps a single consistent slant across every cursive letter on the page.
  • Writes legibly in cursive with enough speed that handwriting stops slowing down his thinking.
  • Writes a real letter by hand in cursive, addresses the envelope, and mails it
  • Writes legibly in cursive and in print, and picks whichever is faster for the task in front of him.
  • Identifies which cursive letters lose their shape first at speed and corrects those instead of slowing the whole page down.
  • Checks his own handwriting for legibility in a way that keeps memory from filling in the words.

Goals covered: Holds a pencil in a grip that will not have to be undone later, and writes left to right, top to bottom.Forms the print letters r, n, m, h, b and p by pulling down, retracing back up the same line, and curving over.Holds a pencil, a crayon and a pair of scissors with a grip that worksPrints all upper and lowercase letters legibly, with correct formation, spacing, and consistent size.Sets up posture and paper position for writing, tilting the paper the correct way for the writing hand.Keeps printing legible and correctly spaced while cursive is being learned, because most of his real work still gets printed.Names the handwriting model being learned and explains why cursive was built for speed. Texas begins cursive instruction in grade 2.Writes cursive with the forearm gliding on the desk instead of with the fingers alone, which is the movement the Palmer model is built on.Keeps a single consistent slant across every cursive letter on the page.Writes legibly in cursive with enough speed that handwriting stops slowing down his thinking.Writes a real letter by hand in cursive, addresses the envelope, and mails itWrites legibly in cursive and in print, and picks whichever is faster for the task in front of him.Identifies which cursive letters lose their shape first at speed and corrects those instead of slowing the whole page down.Checks his own handwriting for legibility in a way that keeps memory from filling in the words.

All real-world sheets