Miss J has worked on her handwriting in various ways over the past couple of years and so when the CursiveLogic review became available, I thought it would be a good way to cement the cursive that just hasn’t really transformed her writing yet. It has been a very good experience for her using the CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack and The Art of Cursive.
CursiveLogic is a company that has developed a unique way of teaching cursive. It is a process that works well for young students just beginning but also works well for older students and adults. This cursive program is different than any other I have ever seen and I am so excited about the help it has given Miss J.
The CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack includes one CursiveLogic workbook and access to a teaching webinar. If you have more than one student who will be working on CursiveLogic, you will need an additional workbook for each student. These workbooks can be purchased separately.
The workbook is thoughtfully created. Bound of the top of the page instead of at the side makes it easily used by either right or left handed writers. While both sides of the page are used, you progress through the workbook on the front side of the pages, turn the book over, and go back through the remainder of the lessons on the back sides of the pages. Miss J would tell you that the very best part of the workbook is that there are dry erase pages at the back to practice on. She would practice her letter string, erase, repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Until I told her to move on. She loves the dry erase pages.
CursiveLogic gives us a wonderfully fresh approach that is multi-sensory. There is the physical, or kinesthetic, component of writing, both with the writing implement but also by finger tracing and big muscle movements to help ingrain the pattern. In addition to this physical aspect, there is a visual cue (color), a auditory cue (a statement for each letter string that reinforces the motor skills), and quick paced curriculum that moves the student very quickly to practical application, writing words by the end of the first week. This multi-sensory approach appeals to the student.
CursiveLogic has a shape-based approach that guides the student through letter connections from the very beginning. The letters are not learned in a vacuum but rather are learned in a connected string. There are four of these connected letter strings. You will notice on their website that there are basic shapes that letters share and these are grouped together to make the student’s grasp of the connection simpler. It is a logical program that students seem to really respond to, if Miss J is any indication.
Miss J has done very well with CursiveLogic. The combination of letter string, color cue, and catch phrase has been really helpful to her. I have seen great improvement in the few short weeks we have been using this program.
In addition to the workbook, the Quick-Start Pack gives access to a webinar on teaching cursive with the CursiveLogic program. I learned a lot listening to the webinar and seeing the program in action. The webinar will walk you through a lesson with the program and help you see how to guide the learner. Some tips I learned included how to phrase things in teaching to help reinforce the program and the purpose and order of the letter learning. This was a very informative video to watch and I found it useful to prepare myself to teach this program.
If you are an adult who is wanting to refresh or tidy up your own cursive, The Art of Cursive might be for you. This is an adult-style coloring book, with intricate images and copywork. The images to color are actually made up of connected letters and the copywork quote. They are lovely! They provide some different ways to practice letter connection and to work on the uniformity of the letter formation, while providing the relaxation and fun of a coloring book. This also served as an incentive to Miss J to work hard on her cursive since I told her should could not use the book until she had completed all of the lower case letter strings. She was successful and got to use The Art of Cursive.
One note about The Art of Cursive: While it can easily provide a practice for a youngster, it is not intended to teach a child cursive. It is intended as a refresher for an adult or to help an adult learn through abbreviated lessons. There are reference pages in the front of the book that show letter formation and give practice, allowing an adult to learn cursive through the shortened lessons. This book is not intended to teach cursive to a child; the CursiveLogic workbook is where children need to begin.
I had never thought out the fact that a shape based approach to cursive might be a more logical and helpful way to teach writing but this type of approach has really made a difference with Miss J. Her writing still has a way to go but whose doesn’t at age 9? She has made significant progress in the past month using CursiveLogic and is able to write in cursive now. Her letters are more uniform in size and it is becoming a more automatic way of writing for her. Progress has definitely been made.
I definitely would suggest you check out CursiveLogic and their products: CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack and The Art of Cursive. During the month of March 2018, CursiveLogic is offering a 20% discount on the CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack, which is the combo of the webinar and one workbook. Use the code CREW2018 at checkout. Now is a great time to get this program.
Blessings,
At Home.
Other Homeschool Review Crew families used this program, as well, and you can see their results by checking out their reviews. Click on the banner below.
At Home 