2 part inquiry on Handwriting

MJ, I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten what ages your children are. That information would affect my answer.

We have used Italic workbooks for our younger children and they do a great job during the lesson/practice time, but when they write in other notebooks or on other paper there is a marked difference.

#1->> I’m wondering if anyone has advice on continuing with a workbook style program, knowing as they mature their handwriting will improve or to just do copywork only, using a composition style notebook.

You might want to do a little of each in order to help them make the transition. You could do the workbook for one day or one lesson (I’m not sure how they’re set up), then have them practice that same concept on a regular paper, then have them do a copywork exercise on regular paper, being careful to incorporate the concept they learned. It would be nice if the exercises on regular paper were different passages/text from the one in the workbook, so they don’t get bored copying the exact same words over and over. Once they can do the concept on regular paper, go back to the workbook for the next lesson and continue the process. Obviously, this would be done over several days and would then take longer to get all the way through the workbook, but it might help with making the transition.

Also, our son used the Italic book last year to learn cursive, but I noticed this method didn’t “come naturally” to him. He really had to stop and think about the joins and never got a smooth rhythm going.

#2>> Do we re-do cursive using a different style or have I not given him enough time to practice the italic method?

My first thought is to let him continue with the method/style that he started with and just give him more time. However, I have no experience with (1) the Italics style and (2) boys! 🙂 So I’m eager to hear from others on this.