I am a Handwriting Fool!

I have a confession to make. When in college I was required to take Handwriting for Elementary Education. I think that may have been part of what led me to switch my major to secondary ed. See, I withdrew failing from Handwriting. Now, before you call the Homeschool Police and tell them I am not qualified to teach my children to write, let me say something in my defense. I have BEAUTIFUL handwriting. I know, toot toot goes the sound of my own horn, but I really do. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't born that way. I have worked VERY hard to have pretty penmanship. I have practiced loops and swirls and dots and swoops until my hands cramped. I am very fond of the Zaner Bloser Handwriting and that is pretty much what A Beka teaches, so I thought I'd give it a shot. We are in our third week of school and I am just now starting, so you can tell I have been procrastinating a little.

I was aghast to discover that my 4th grader was not taught handwriting last year. This is NOT her teacher's fault. She had an AMAZING teacher last year and I consider her a friend still today (and at least she tried by giving them a handwriting workbook and encouraging them to use it in their spare time). It IS the fault of our education system. Because Handwriting cannot be measured on standardized tests, it is no longer part of our standard curriculum. But it IS a part of mine. So it was with much trepidation that I have pushed into the fray to teach my near-9-yr-old how to write cursive (I'm starting Kadoodle today too). We have been working on printing with my first grader and I found some great ideas at http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net/. A friend recently sent me to her blog and I am HOOKED. Not only does she teach with the same biblical principals that I do, but she was also a brick and mortar teacher and "never thought she'd homeschool", she has three kids almost the exact same ages as mine and I have already learned so much. Anyway, she posted on her blog some downloadable pages from "Draw Write NOW" and they are AWESOME for printing copywork. I will be buying those for my littlest and maybe even my middle child. (http://www.barkercreek.com/products/category/Draw+Write+Now/183.0.1.1.32421.0.0.0.0)


BUT my 4th grader is learning cursive.

So, I found some great resources for copywork for her. I was in love with two because one had options for the KJV version of scripture copywork and since that is the version we memorize, that was very helpful. I have been teaching scripture memory to first graders with the KJV for about 12 years now and have found that it's rhyme and meter is THE ABSOLUTE BEST for little people who love to sing, dance, snap fingers, and clap hands. No other version can make that claim. You may not like the thee's and thou's and ye's and shalt's but try to dance to any other version and you will be hard-pressed to do so. Which I find hilarious considering my own conservative Independent Baptist upbringing and the stand on dancing, but when it comes to the Psalms, it's got a beat and I can dance to it. Hey, David did. At least I'm not naked around a fire, just silly in my own living room!

So, here's the copybook that I found online...http://www.copycatbooks.com/free_c_printables.htm and you can buy more from their store for VERY reasonable prices.

THEN, I found something that is very helpful to us in our own home. It is still in the beta stages, meaning that the site has quirks and clicks, so be patient with them, BUT it gave us the great ability to use our own Bible verses we are learning for Sunday School and TNT (A.W.A.N.A.).

http://www.worksheetworks.com/ is my new favorite place for making my OWN stuff. I haven't even scratched the surface of what is available, but I am excited to get there. For now, it is time to delve into 1st grade for a little while.

And no, I still haven't been able to get those high heels on yet, BUT I only have about three more weeks till I can start trying!