Learning Cursive with Memoria Press {Review}

You have probably seen me mention Memoria Press classical education materials a few times on this blog.  We have used their homeschool curriculum for several subjects including science, history, and foreign language.  I was recently given the opportunity to review their penmanship curriculum for grades 1-4.  I have liked it so much that I have added it to Rachel's regular homeschool studies.  She has been learning to write in cursive with the New American Cursive 2 (Famous Americans) book from Memoria Press.



New American Cursive is a form of cursive that uses a simplified letter style.  All of the letters actually look like their manuscript counterparts.  It is a great way for beginners to learn cursive.

I especially love the way that Memoria Press makes learning cursive fun by calling letter strokes Smiles, Grins, and Jumps.

It also explains which line to draw the strokes on by comparing the lines on the page to a "Letter House" with the top line being the Third Floor, the dotted middle line is the Second Floor, the bottom line is the First Floor, and the part that drops below the line is the Basement.

Rachel is left-handed so I appreciate the way that this workbook is spiral-bound at the top so she isn't having to struggle with binding on the left side of the page getting in the way of her writing hand.  The workbook is also great in that it gives constant reminders about the importance of correct pencil position and paper placement.  I continuously struggle with getting her to hold her pencil correctly so these reminders are helpful.

Rachel has never tried to learn cursive so this was her first experience with it.  With that in mind, I realize that I should have probably chosen the New American Cursive 1 book for her since she is just starting out.  I have to admit that I was just in love with the fact that the New American Cursive 2 (Famous Americans) book offered quotations from famous Americans for writing practice passages.  But there is also a New American Cursive 2 (Scriptures) book that uses Bible scriptures for writing practice.  It looks wonderful too.  I'm really glad that I chose the Cursive 2 book.  It has a lot of review in it and so we started out spending a lot of time on that part so she could learn the basic strokes.  She has picked it up really well.  

The only curriculum you need to purchase is the New American Cursive 2 workbook for $22.95.  It is consumable and intended to be used by one student.  The worksheet pages teach the strokes so there is no need to buy a teacher manual.  As a matter of fact, Rachel does her cursive work independently just by reading the workbook pages on her own so I don't have to "teach" that subject to her at all.  The workbook includes 125 short writing exercises to learn and practice her skills.  She completes one page a day and is progressing well through the program especially considering her lack of experience.

Rachel is still working through the book so we will be continuing to work on this through the summer.  I looked ahead at some of the work she will be doing soon.  

The Homeschoool Review Crew was given the choice of review products.  I chose the New American Cursive Penmanship program but other members of the crew chose to review their Traditional Logic and Classical Composition programs.  If you would like to read reviews from crew members on any of these three products, just click on the banner below.



We enjoy using Memoria Press curriculum in our homeschool.  Here are some other reviews we have done for some of their other products:

• The Book of Trees: Learning Botany with Memoria Press
• The Story of the Thirteen Colonies & The Great Republic / 200 Questions About American History From Memoria Press {Review}
• Learning Latin with First Form Latin by Memoria Press