cursive writing
kav_ann
The other day, my children and I were at a restaurant, having
dinner. As part of the marketing in the decor, there was a humorous
paragraph written in cursive. I noticed it and pointed it out to my
ds(14yo) and dd(11yo). Both read it and grinned.
It struck me then that I had not taught either of them to read
cursive. My ds tends to just 'pick things up', so it was not too
surprising that he had read it. But my dd used to have me read
cursive writing out loud to her, she could not decipher it. At some
point (I'm not sure when), she figured it out. I only noticed this
week.
She's never had "lessons" on cursive writing. There were a few
weeks, years ago, when she wanted to learn to write in cursive.
With my assistance, she pursued the materials to work on it
independently and when she asked, she and I would write things back-
and-forth in cursive. After a short while, she decided that it was
not an important goal after all. She can write in cursive, but she
chooses not too. I can understand this, I don't like to write in
cursive either. Even when she was pursuing writing in cursive, she
continued to have difficulty reading much cursive.
So, I thought it was very cool that at some point, while we were
going about living our lives, she began reading cursive.
A similar thing happened with fractions. Many years ago, when I
still thought that I needed to *teach* math, I tried to give her
*lessons* on fractions. It was incredibly frustrating for both of
us until I decided to let go of my math anxiety and let it be.
Then one day, in some activity or conversation, she was discussing
fractions as an accurate and natural part of whatever we were
involved in. It may have happened prior to that occasion, but I
noticed it at that time and realized that she understood fractions
as part of her daily life, with no adult-imposed expectations or
restrictions.
When worrying about "how will they learn if...", so much unnecessary
stress becomes part of life. It has been very fun for me to live
and enjoy life with my children and discover and relish the things
that come. My dh and I often marvel at what our children *know*,
not just academically recognized things (though those are the things
that tend to be worrying points.)
This seemed to be a good place to share this. The older my children
get, the more reassured I am about having made this decision to
unschool.
ann in Iowa
dinner. As part of the marketing in the decor, there was a humorous
paragraph written in cursive. I noticed it and pointed it out to my
ds(14yo) and dd(11yo). Both read it and grinned.
It struck me then that I had not taught either of them to read
cursive. My ds tends to just 'pick things up', so it was not too
surprising that he had read it. But my dd used to have me read
cursive writing out loud to her, she could not decipher it. At some
point (I'm not sure when), she figured it out. I only noticed this
week.
She's never had "lessons" on cursive writing. There were a few
weeks, years ago, when she wanted to learn to write in cursive.
With my assistance, she pursued the materials to work on it
independently and when she asked, she and I would write things back-
and-forth in cursive. After a short while, she decided that it was
not an important goal after all. She can write in cursive, but she
chooses not too. I can understand this, I don't like to write in
cursive either. Even when she was pursuing writing in cursive, she
continued to have difficulty reading much cursive.
So, I thought it was very cool that at some point, while we were
going about living our lives, she began reading cursive.
A similar thing happened with fractions. Many years ago, when I
still thought that I needed to *teach* math, I tried to give her
*lessons* on fractions. It was incredibly frustrating for both of
us until I decided to let go of my math anxiety and let it be.
Then one day, in some activity or conversation, she was discussing
fractions as an accurate and natural part of whatever we were
involved in. It may have happened prior to that occasion, but I
noticed it at that time and realized that she understood fractions
as part of her daily life, with no adult-imposed expectations or
restrictions.
When worrying about "how will they learn if...", so much unnecessary
stress becomes part of life. It has been very fun for me to live
and enjoy life with my children and discover and relish the things
that come. My dh and I often marvel at what our children *know*,
not just academically recognized things (though those are the things
that tend to be worrying points.)
This seemed to be a good place to share this. The older my children
get, the more reassured I am about having made this decision to
unschool.
ann in Iowa
Kim Musolff
***It struck me then that I had not taught either of them to read
cursive. ***
DS (6) is already trying to figure out how to read cursive. I've never
pointed it out to him, and certainly never named it. He is just a curious
little bugger, and hates it when he doesn't know something.
It's funny, though. I remember when I was little, my dad and I used to play
an ABC game in the car on long road trips. We had to start with A and find
each letter in order on signs, etc. Whoever got to Z first, won. Up until
3rd grade (when I finally learned cursive) I remember always telling him our
rule, "No cursive letters!" because I thought it was unfair if he could read
cursive, and I couldn't.
I was waiting to learn cursive! How silly. It never occurred to me, until
now, that I could have asked to learn to read cursive before it was taught
in school!
Kim
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
cursive. ***
DS (6) is already trying to figure out how to read cursive. I've never
pointed it out to him, and certainly never named it. He is just a curious
little bugger, and hates it when he doesn't know something.
It's funny, though. I remember when I was little, my dad and I used to play
an ABC game in the car on long road trips. We had to start with A and find
each letter in order on signs, etc. Whoever got to Z first, won. Up until
3rd grade (when I finally learned cursive) I remember always telling him our
rule, "No cursive letters!" because I thought it was unfair if he could read
cursive, and I couldn't.
I was waiting to learn cursive! How silly. It never occurred to me, until
now, that I could have asked to learn to read cursive before it was taught
in school!
Kim
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
barefootmamax4
--- In [email protected], "kav_ann" <kavanaugh4@...>
wrote:
him cursive and he did eventually pick it up although he does not
write it. In fact he never wrote anything(unless I really pushed and
demanded,which I used to) until this year a few months ago. We never
did grammar studies or punctuation. I was so incredibly worried and
frustrated because writing even one sentence seemed to be beyond him.
He always wanted to dictate to me and have me write for him, which I
did after much hemming and hawing and arguing.
This year after I decided to just let it go he started to type. He
does not do just simple sentences,long elaborate paragraphs! His
spelling is perfect,grammar and punctuation are all great! He writes
little notes around the house with very neat handwriting. All with no
practice. he was always a really good reader, so maybe just seeing
how the written words look was enough for him to get it.
I look back and see how I did not trust in him and how much stress it
caused us to argue over writing.
school at home, how math kept comming up that I didn't remember or
was never able to grasp from school. I stress even now that it will
be limiting to him to not be exposed to these things in a lesson
presentation. Reading what you wrote helped me remember how it worked
out with writing and that math really is not a whole differnt world.
-Kelly
wrote:
>I'm so glad that you wrote this. 11yr old DS used to ask me to read
> It struck me then that I had not taught either of them to read
> cursive. My ds tends to just 'pick things up', so it was not too
> surprising that he had read it.
him cursive and he did eventually pick it up although he does not
write it. In fact he never wrote anything(unless I really pushed and
demanded,which I used to) until this year a few months ago. We never
did grammar studies or punctuation. I was so incredibly worried and
frustrated because writing even one sentence seemed to be beyond him.
He always wanted to dictate to me and have me write for him, which I
did after much hemming and hawing and arguing.
This year after I decided to just let it go he started to type. He
does not do just simple sentences,long elaborate paragraphs! His
spelling is perfect,grammar and punctuation are all great! He writes
little notes around the house with very neat handwriting. All with no
practice. he was always a really good reader, so maybe just seeing
how the written words look was enough for him to get it.
I look back and see how I did not trust in him and how much stress it
caused us to argue over writing.
> A similar thing happened with fractions. Many years ago, when II have math anxiety now. I keep thinking about when we were doing
> still thought that I needed to *teach* math, I tried to give her
> *lessons* on fractions. It was incredibly frustrating for both of
> us until I decided to let go of my math anxiety and let it be.
>
> Then one day, in some activity or conversation, she was discussing
> fractions as an accurate and natural part of whatever we were
> involved in. It may have happened prior to that occasion, but I
> noticed it at that time and realized that she understood fractions
> as part of her daily life, with no adult-imposed expectations or
> restrictions.
>
school at home, how math kept comming up that I didn't remember or
was never able to grasp from school. I stress even now that it will
be limiting to him to not be exposed to these things in a lesson
presentation. Reading what you wrote helped me remember how it worked
out with writing and that math really is not a whole differnt world.
-Kelly