We have a lot of cursive writing posts here on The OT Toolbox. Check out the search bar and you’ll see tips for how to teach cursive writing, help with cursive writing speed, and even cursive letter order. There is a lot that goes into teaching cursive writing to kids. It doesn’t need to be complicated, though. Here, you will find a plan starting at the beginning when teaching cursive. This is everything you need to know about cursive writing for beginners.
Cursive Writing- Start at the Beginning
Think about when kids start to learn cursive. They might be in second o third grade, or between 7 and 8 years old. Or, depending on the school and the cursive writing curriculum, there may or may not even be a plan in place to teach cursive writing.
Some teachers have to come up with cursive lesson plans on their own. Others follow a cursive curriculum such as Zabner-Browser, Handwriting without Tears, or D’Nealian. Sometimes, the school district allows a set number of weeks for cursive writing and if a child misses days during that time period, they miss the boat on learning a certain letter in cursive formation . In most cases, cursive is taught once and not covered again. Kids can write their spelling words in cursive or complete journals entries in cursive, but they are not required to do so. Usually, that is the only practice a student gets in fine tuning their cursive handwriting. Letter formation might get checked, but not graded for accuracy and the child doesn’t have the chance to go back and correct letter formation errors. They may not even notice a teacher’s marks on a letter formation mistake.
How to start teaching cursive
We’ve shared a lot of strategies to teach cursive here on The OT Toolbox. When getting started with cursive writing for beginners, try some of these first steps to cursive writing success:
Start with these pre-cursive activities. Start with pre-cursive lines and use the activities in this post to work on curves, lines, bumps, waves, and re-trace lines.
Grab these cursive flashcards to work on multisensory writing strategies when practicing cursive letter formation.
Use this gross motor warm-up before starting a cursive letter lesson. It’s a nice way to get the whole class geared up and ready to write.
Be sure to start with posture and paper positioning when beginning cursive lessons.
Use these tips to teach cursive s.
Try a cursive lines worksheet. Use the free worksheet below.
Cursive Writing Worksheet
Use this free cursive lines worksheet to work on pencil control, cursive lines, and motor planning needed for connecting letters, re-tracing over cursive letters, and gaining motor control needed for smooth writing lines.
Enter your email below to access your free cursive writing worksheet.
Print off the cursive writing worksheet and trace the lines in a variety of ways to practice smooth lines, re-trace, bumps, and curves. Try some of these cursive worksheet ideas:
- Try Rainbow writing with colored pencils.
- Slide the cursive worksheet into a page protector. Use dry erase markers.
- Color Mixing Writing– Use markers to mix colors while working on line formation and re-trace in cursive.
- Tape the worksheet to a wall and get the gross motor action involved.
- Pin the worksheet to a bulletin board. Trace the lines with a highlighter, pencil, pen, or marker to gain sensory feedback from the bulletin board.
- Sandpaper Writing Trick– Place the cursive worksheet over a sheet of sandpaper. Trace the lines with a pencil to gain proprioceptive feedback when writing the cursive strokes. The sandpaper can be used with markers or a pen as well.