How (and why) to Teach Your Child Cursive Handwriting in a Simple Way
Does your child know how to write in cursive handwriting? Today I’m sharing all about Getty-Dubay cursive handwriting books, how we’re using them, and why I think it’s important to teach my kids cursive handwriting.
As with a lot of skills, we have let go of some of the “old fashioned” skills that were routine for our grandparents. Some of these skills are so amazing to watch our kids work on and master. Things like baking bread, learning to play an instrument, and yes–cursive handwriting, are are beautiful things to watch our kids learn. The other beautiful thing is that if we have missed a skill in our upbringing that we want to learn too, we can easily pick up a pen, a brush, a handful of flour, and learn alongside them.
In this article, I’ll be sharing all about Getty-Dubay cursive handwriting books and how you can easily teach your kids this useful skill too. I’ll also be sharing a new, modern way to teach cursive handwriting to our kids as well.
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Ready? Let’s go!
I was compensated by Getty-Dubay for my time. All opinions are my own.
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What is Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting?
You may have heard of Getty-Dubay handwriting when you were learning cursive handwriting, because it’s been around for over 40 years. This is a very popular way to learn cursive handwriting because your kids, who likely just mastered printing letters, don’t have to relearn what the letters look like.
A cursive “s” looks like the “s” they’re used to and so on…they’re simply joining letters they’ve already learned.
You, as the homeschool mama who’s teaching 100 other things in a day, can save a ton of time on not having to remake the wheel in teaching their kids how to write in cursive.
Sometimes using the word penmanship denotes perfection, which is why at Getty-Dubay, they don’t use the term penmanship. They simply call it handwriting because they are all about providing kids with a useful and legible handwriting for daily life. We use handwriting all day, everyday right? Taking notes, essays, even writing a grocery list! So we need to teach our kids to handwrite legibly.
About Getty-Dubay Handwriting
This company was founded in 1979 by Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay, two college professors from Oregon with over 50 years combined teaching experience. They are both artists, calligraphers, and teachers who saw a need for an easier way to teach cursive handwriting in schools.
Learning Cursive Handwriting? There’s an App for That!
Would you believe that Getty-Dubay has a handwriting app? They do. How does that even work? Let me tell you!
The Handwriting Success App is a complete handwriting curriculum for grades around K-6. (My almost-9th grader loves to practice cursive still!) Your child can get great handwriting instruction with the touch of a button. It works on a tablet with a stylus and you can download it and try it for free.
While I am an old soul who could never ditch the paper and pencils, there are lots of reasons why a handwriting app would come in handy.
- Take it in the car for homeschooling on the road
- Less bulk and paper clutter
- You can erase the “page” and redo it over and over for multiple kids
- Your child is able to see their beautiful handwriting (and their improvements) on a medium other than paper, which is fun!
Why I Love Teaching My Kids Cursive Handwriting
Cursive handwriting that quickly gets nixed from the daily docket both in regular schools and homeschools. I like to keep it on the docket and here’s why.
- You are able to write faster and usually more legibly with cursive
- Kids take more pride in their work when they’ve used cursive–it’s special and they know it!
- Legible handwriting is important.
- Maybe more than anything, I don’t think we place enough value on the many beautiful things surrounding us. Adding cursive handwriting to a basic ol’ history essay is beautiful and I’m all for more beauty.
I hope you’ll take a minute to head over to the Getty-Dubay website and check out their workbooks and even their app!
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