What is CursiveLogic?
We received two different items. The CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack consists of one copy of the workbook and access to the instructional video. The workbook has thick, heavy pages with two laminated pages in the back for dry erase practice. It is full color with basic instructions throughout the book.
The lowercase letters are taught in four lessons, each lesson split into four days of work. The letters are grouped by similar shape so that a string or group of letters are all taught together. The uppercase letters are taught in six lessons, again with similar shaped letters grouped together. The method is intended for ages eight to adult. We are using it with a first grader. She has a little experience with cursive, and because she's younger we sometimes took five days to teach one lesson.
The video is called a webinar, but it was accessible as a rented item through Vimeo and I can watch it whenever I want to. The neat thing about Vimeo is there is a Roku app so I could watch from my computer or stream to my television.
The video is very helpful and I'm really glad I received access to it. It explains the CursiveLogic method, teaches the first string of letters in great detail, and gives examples for the other three strings of lowercase letters. It also discusses why this method works so well. By teaching connected letter strings, the child is not writing cursive letters alone. This helps prevent boredom. Have you noticed how your brain shuts off when you do something repetitive? That doesn't happen with CursiveLogic, the strings provide the repetition and the matching letters help create muscle memory.
There are a few parts of the video that show a virtual whiteboard and how the letter strings are written. I chose to begin each new lesson by having my daughter watch just that part with me. An older teen or an adult could teach themself cursive with the video and workbook.
This method works for kinesthetic, visual, and auditory learners. The child traces and writes, and is encouraged to use a marker or colored pencil to match the color of the letter string. There is a catchphrase that goes with each letter string which provides the auditory component, and helps the child remember how to form the letters. All together, it's pretty neat and an ingenious way to teach cursive!
The other book we received is The Art of Cursive coloring book. This is not meant as an instructional book, but does have a few pages at the front of review for anyone who has learned the CursiveLogic method. The rest of the book is full of intricate line drawings to color. The neat thing about this book is that repeated letters and cursive motions are worked into every page! You can practice cursive while coloring! On the back of the coloring page is a quote from a famous individual. The quote is there to trace, and then to copy. This gives plenty more cursive practice!
How did we use CursiveLogic?
We started each CursiveLogic lesson on a chalkboard. I have found that the scratchiness helps a child feel how they are forming the letters. Then we moved back to the book and followed the instructions in the book, and from the video. In fact, when I watched the video I took notes about how each of the four lesson days should progress. Every other lesson day we began with the finger tracing page, and a wipe off board or wipe off page from the book.
The method didn't get boring for my daughter at all! She focused on how to hold her pencil properly and whenever she felt her hand getting tired, she'd stop and do "hand exercises." These are taught in the book.
So... does CursiveLogic work?
Remember this one had a little bit of cursive experience before. She worked really hard because she is under the recommended age and wanted to show our readers that kids her age CAN learn cursive! The front of the book has a page for the student to write the alphabet in manuscript before beginning the lessons. We chose to use one line for "before" cursive, and the second for "after" cursive.
That grin says it all. She was quite pleased with how much she improved. Now she can look over her writing and point out where the letter formation was great, and what she can work on. I've taught my other children cursive with other methods and didn't seen them write this nicely after so few pages of work! Since she's my last child, I'm hoping you'll help keep CursiveLogic in business until grandchildren come along!
The book uses one side of the pages for lowercase and the backside for uppercase. We have flipped the book over and are working through the uppercase lessons.
How did we use The Art of Cursive?
When this package arrived, everyone wanted to try out The Art of Cursive coloring book! My three older children already know cursive, so I explained how this was a fun, relaxing way to practice good penmanship. I wanted to see their best work, to show that they do know how to write well. All of the children picked two or three pages they wanted to claim, so we cut pages out of the book and handed them out.
We used various markers and colored pencils. This paper is also nice and thick. Markers bled through a bit when colored with heavily, but not everyone colors heavily!
I love the quotes on the pages, and on the back for tracing and copywork practice.
This is a fun book for any child who likes to color and has already learned cursive. It's also a great gift to a child who has finished the CursiveLogic workbook. Or, it's a good book for adults to use. I love the swirls and other cursive formations in the images and find them fun to complete.
CursiveLogic has offered my readers a discount code for the CursiveLogic Quick-Start Pack, but it's only good until March 31, 2018! Now you can start learning CursiveLogic today!
Where to find CursiveLogic:
Your cursive learner did great! Such beautiful writing. Keep up the good work. And your older girls' coloring pages are lovely! - Lori
ReplyDeleteThat chalkboard idea is a good one; I'll have to do that with my son that's finding cursive challenging. CursiveLogic has been doing some very good things for him, and I think that a chalkboard will help him make even more practice. Thank you!
ReplyDelete