Classical Conversations ~ PreScripts Cursive Words and Drawing {Schoolhouse Review}

Do you know that many public schools do not even teach their students to write in cursive anymore? It makes me sad to think that my great great grandchildren might come across my journals someday and not be able to read them because they can't read cursive handwriting! Well, my children are going to learn to write and read cursive handwriting ... and use it in their schoolwork and lives! (What, because we do so much texting and electronic communication now are we just going to stop teaching our children how to talk?) We started learning cursive letters this past winter and I wanted to continue the skills and learning through the summer. We have been reviewing PreScripts Cursive Words and Drawing by Classical Conversations for the past several weeks and it is a beautiful product.

We chose to review the Cursive Words and Drawing level. In hindsight I wish that we would have chosen the Cursive Letters and Coloring level instead (the first level). My children are still in the formative stages of learning their cursive letters, and have been learning in a different style, so copying the words and phrases proved to be frustrating. It was an ooops moment for me in choosing the wrong level of this product. This, by the way, is not at all the fault of Classical Conversations because they certainly had a more appropriate level for us. I just chose incorrectly. I just want to make that perfectly clear. And I wanted to point this out so that you could be mindful in choosing which level would be appropriate for your child. 

Continuing to use the product during the review period did challenge and stretch my children. And, that's a good thing! We don't always get to do things the way we want to do them, right? And sometimes things just take a little extra hard work. Although we gave it a go for a few weeks, I did decide that we should put it aside for a bit while we master our cursive letters. In fact, I plan to purchase the Cursive Letters and Coloring level for us to use first.

Let me tell you all the reasons why we will be doing this so that we can pick back up with the Cursive Words and Drawing level at a later date!

• It comes in a beautiful top spiral, soft-bound book that made writing very comfortable (can you remember learning to write and the spiral getting in the way of your hand?)

• It is broken up into three parts: Letters, Words, and Scriptures; Writing Numbers in Cursive; and Tricky Letter Combinations in the First Chapter of James.

• It involves copywork of scripture! It's wonderful!! For instance, on Page 1 the children practiced the capital and lowercase cursive Aa, then they practiced the word "All", and finally they copied Romans 3:23: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Not only did they practice cursive handwriting, but they also read a scripture and then wanted to know what it meant. (A little additional daily devotional!)

• At the end of each lesson, there is a drawing page. A drawing page? Why would there be a drawing page in a cursive handwriting book? In "A Note for Parents: Tools for the Journey", provided at the beginning of the book, it is explained that "[d]rawing will help develop the fine motor skills necessary for writing and provide practice in sitting still and working independently." And, it was just a fun way to end a (sometimes) difficult writing lesson.

I highly recommend the PreScripts cursive handwriting products from Classical Conversations. The levels available are:

• PreScripts Cursive Letters and Coloring recommended for ages 3-7 (my recommendation is to start with this level unless your child has completely mastered writing his/her letters in cursive), purchase price $11.99.
• PreScripts Cursive Words and Drawing recommended for ages 5-10, purchase price $12.99.
• PreScripts Cursive Sentences and Art Lessons recommended for ages 7-12, purchase price $12.99.
• PreScripts Cursive Passages and Illuminations recommended for ages 9-high school, purchase price $12.99.

As I stated, we reviewed the PreScripts Cursive Words and Drawing level. If you would like to read other reviews on this level, and reviews on the other three, visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.

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