Teaching Penmanship
In a Facebook Live broadcast, then-Endorsed SWR Trainer and Cursive First (CF) author, Liz FitzGerald:
- introduced why we suggest teaching cursive from the beginning, why penmanship is the first step in teaching reading, and what “penmanship” is all about,
- discussed how teaching penmanship best starts with large motor and tactile/kinesthetic instruction, rather than with paper/pencil, suggestions for different media, and how the child needs “free exploration” before instruction begins,
- demonstrated the Cursive First method for teaching the phonograms a and c,
- explained the order for teaching cursive letters with Cursive First, why instruction needs to start with lower case letters only, and the stages of verbalization the student moves through when learning to write the letters,
- gave tips to know when your student is ready to move from large motor to fine motor with paper/pencil, including some resources to help your student develop fine motor skills,
- shared ideas to consider when planning your penmanship lessons, and
- reviewed the tools used for teaching penmanship with Cursive First.
Demonstration videos are also included below.
Link for this video
Mentioned in this video
See the next video for an example of a child learning the names of the lines used for writing during a fun, PE exercise.
Video referenced in Part 3
Mentioned in this video
See the next video for an example of a child verbalizing phonogram sounds while running around a letter.
Video referenced in Part 4
Links for this video
Pencil Grips
Ready Writer by Providence Project
SmartPal
Developing the Early Learner Workbooks offered by Sonlight
Links for this video
Laminated chart for Cursive First
70 Basic Phonogram cards by Wanda Sanseri
Phonogram CD by Wanda Sanseri
SWR Phonogram app in used to be available on Google Play or iTunes Stores, but doesn’t seem to be available any more.
Vis-a-Vis Pen sold by stores like Staples or Office Depot
Quick Response sleeves mentioned in this video are no longer available
In one of the following videos, Liz teaches a 4yo student the phonogram a with Cursive First