Teaching Italic Handwriting in Homeschool with Getty-Dubay®
Now that my son has a solid grasp of print handwriting, we starting to think about the transition to cursive handwriting. I was looking for a system that would make learning cursive simple and practical, and that’s why I was so excited to discover the Getty-Dubay® Italic Handwriting Series from Handwriting Success™. This program is designed to make teaching italic handwriting in homeschool easy. Keep reading to learn if this form of cursive writing is right for your child.
I received compensation and workbooks from the Getty-Dubay® Italic Handwriting Series in exchange for my honest review, but all the opinions in this post are my own.
What is Italic Handwriting?
Italic handwriting is an alternative to the traditional style of writing letters. There are both print italic letters and cursive italic letters.
This style of writing is not new; cursive italic is actually based on a traditional style of handwriting that was developed during the Italian Renaissance!
The differences between traditional manuscript and Italic are most pronounced during the transition period when kids are learning cursive.
Cursive handwriting is any style of handwriting where the letters are connected. When a person writes in cursive, the letters flow easily from one to the next.
There are two types of cursive. In traditional looped cursive, many of the letters are formed differently to include extra loops that are not present in the print letters. When writing with cursive italic, kids simply join the letters that they already know.
Why Teach Italic Handwriting?
Teaching italic handwriting is a great way to help kids develop good handwriting quickly. Here are some of the benefits of teaching italic handwriting to your child.
Same Letter Forms
One of the biggest benefits of choosing italic handwriting is that kids don’t need to re-learn the alphabet when they learn to write in cursive. Because each cursive letter is written using the same basic shape as the print letter, the process of learning cursive is simple. Kids have already had plenty of practice with the letter shapes, so it makes sense to use the same letter shapes for cursive as well. This saves time when learning cursive letters.
Benefits of Cursive, the Easy Way
Cursive italic handwriting is a good choice because it still gives kids many of the benefits of learning cursive, without all the work of learning new letter shapes. Practicing cursive italic handwriting is a good way to help kids develop better handwriting and be able to write much faster than they could with print letters.
Practicing cursive italic is also a great way for young children to develop their fine motor skills. Research has also shown that learning cursive is beneficial in helping kids develop attention to detail, improve literacy skills like spelling, and develop neural connections.
Practical
Italic handwriting is a practical way to help kids learn a useful form of handwriting, without having to spend time re-learning the letter forms. Cursive italic handwriting is faster than writing in print but easier than writing in looped cursive.
What is Getty-Dubay®?
Getty-Dubay® Italic Handwriting is a series of resources designed to teach Italic handwriting. Getty-Dubay® offers a sequential series of workbooks and print materials. They also offer an app for a tablet and stylus, fonts, and other resources to help families teach handwriting.
Getty-Dubay® has been popular with homeschool families since 1979. Since it has been used for over 40 years with many positive reviews, many parents who learned to write using Getty-Dubay® are now using these resources to teach their kids.
These resources were created by Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay, who are both college professors, handwriting teachers, and calligraphers.
Learn more about Getty-Dubay® here.
Tips for Teaching Italic Handwriting with Getty-Dubay®
Choose the Correct Level
The Getty Dubay® Italic Handwriting Series includes seven handwriting levels, designed for kids from kindergarten through sixth grade.
Book A is for kindergarten. It introduces the shapes of the capital and lower case letters.
Book B is for first grade. In this book, 1st grade students will practice uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and numbers, while writing short sentences.
Book C is for 2nd grade. By the end of book C, kids will transition to cursive italic writing.
Book D is for older students in 3rd grade. This book includes more practice with cursive italic, as well as a history of the alphabet and how each letter form was developed.
Book E is for fourth grade. In this book, 4th grade students will complete practice pages writing about science topics.
Book F is for fifth grade. Kids will continue to practice cursive italic writing. The letter height is reduced from 6mm to 4mm in book F.
Book G is the final book in the product line. In this book, your 6th grader will explore the history of writing as well as learn about how cursive capital letters were developed.
Learn more about the books in the Italic Handwriting Series.
Practice Handwriting Daily
It is important for kids to practice a skill like handwriting regularly. Regular practice will help kids remember the new letters they are learning and continue to improve their handwriting. I love that this homeschool handwriting curriculum includes lots of interesting practice sentences to make handwriting practice engaging, even for an older child.
As a busy homeschool parent, I love that the workbooks include all the directions and examples that my son needs to complete the pages independently. I can hand the workbook to him and walk away and he is able to complete the practice exercises by himself.
I also love that the pages include notes for the student to help them check their work. My son sometimes likes to rush through his handwriting assignments just to get them done, but these notes challenge him to slow down and make sure he’s doing his best work. They include reminders about how to make the letters, helpful hints, and specific things kids should look for when they check their work.
My son loves the way that Getty-Dubay® makes handwriting practice fun. The books include interesting words and sentences for him to copy. There are also illustrations on most of the pages. These make it more handwriting practice more engaging for him.
Try the Handwriting Success™ App
The Getty-Dubay® complete handwriting curriculum for kindergarten through 6th grades is now available as an app. All you need to use the app is a tablet with a compatible stylus. The app is easy to use and a great alternative to handwriting workbooks.
Learn more about the Handwriting Success™ App and try it for free!
Check out the Bonus Content
One of my favorite parts of the Handwriting Success™ program is the bonus content that is available for free when you purchase a book. We have especially enjoyed using the worksheet creator. My son often likes to choose his own words to practice for handwriting, and he always likes it when I make my own handwriting worksheets for him using words he is interested in.
I love how easy it is to create my own worksheets that align with his passions, or with topics we are studying in our homeschool. All I had to do was type in the words, choose the style and size of text, and hit print. My worksheets about construction trucks were his favorite, and I love that I could create and print a custom worksheet in less than 2 minutes.
The website also includes helpful videos, printable blank handwriting paper, and more.
Check out all the bonus special content.
Use the Fonts
Getty-Dubay® also offers downloadable computer fonts that correspond with the italic handwriting that students learn in the books. I love that I can use these fonts to create even more handwriting practice for my kids. My son loves the activities I can create for him using the fonts.
It is also helpful to use the fonts for other things I am printing so that my kids can get some extra practice with reading cursive handwriting. We can use the fonts for the directions on worksheets and other things we print, and this gives my kids lots of extra practice.
Try the Getty-Dubay® fonts for yourself for free!
Practice Calligraphy
Getty-Dubay also offers resources for kids who want to explore the art form of calligraphy. This is a great way for kids to explore the artistic side of handwriting.
Try Getty-Dubay® for Yourself
I love that Getty-Dubay® makes an alternative to traditional cursive writing accessible to homeschool families. If you are looking to help your child experience the benefits of cursive without the struggle to learn a whole new set of letters, I would highly recommend the Getty-Dubay® Italic Handwriting Series.
Learn more and get a copy of the Getty-Dubay® Italic Handwriting Series for your child.
