Foundations and Rhythm of Handwriting both offer instructions for teaching handwriting in two styles: cursive and manuscript.
Before beginning, the teacher should decide which form of handwriting is best for the student. We encourage teachers and parents to read our blog article Why Teach Cursive First? We also suggest that you consider the following three questions:
- Does the student struggle with fine-motor activities? If the student struggles with fine-motor skills, it is helpful to begin with cursive. Cursive handwriting requires significantly fewer fine-motor movements than manuscript. The pencil does not need to be lifted up and down between letters, and placing the pencil to begin each letter is greatly simplified by the fact that all lowercase cursive letters begin on the baseline, whereas manuscript letters begin in seven or eight different places.
- Does the child show signs of reversing letters while reading and/or writing? If the student has demonstrated confusion about the direction of b’s and d’s, or p’s and q’s, cursive can be very helpful in minimizing the issue. Cursive handwriting naturally emphasizes the direction of reading and writing, from left to right. Furthermore, it is difficult to reverse b’s and d’s and p’s and q’s in cursive.
- Does the child attend a school where manuscript handwriting is taught? If a parent or tutor is using Foundations to supplement a reading program at school, we suggest matching the handwriting style to that of the school to minimize confusion.
In Foundations, the A and B Teacher's Manuals include instructions for both cursive and manuscript, so that they may be used with either style, while Student Workbooks A and B and several of the supplements are specific to the handwriting style the student is learning.
Rhythm of Handwriting books are also available in either handwriting style.