Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series Book A Fourth Edition

This is a wonderful resource for handwriting!

Produces a nice handwriting, we do one page a day as a f/up to book A. So my kindergartner has completed both A & B. This book does a lower case letter, then capital. I like that it has a couple of lines to just write the letter, then a sentence, this keeps it from getting too repetitious. Each page takes about 10 minutes to complete- just perfect in my opinion for handwriting

I looked at a lot of handwriting scripts (and tried a few with my children) before settling on Getty-Dubay. It is simple, aesthetically pleasing, and the cursive version is much simpler than most cursive scripts. I'm familiar with books A, B and C (neither of my children have advanced to D yet, but one is close). I don't have the instruction manual, but don't feel the need for one as each lesson page is pretty self explanatory. I like that Book A is arranged by letter family (so i, j and l are first) and that the lowercase is introduced first. My kindergartner tends to write in all caps and this program has helped him use more lowercase letters. (Book B is arranged alphabetically, which I think is good for older students or those who've completed this book and are ready to move on).

I highly recommend purchasing the Blackline Masters CD for extra practice. The half sheets it contains reinforce the basic lesson with letter repetition rather than whole words).

We have been using "Italic" for the past several years and could not be more pleased with this product At the time I chose this series my son was in 2nd grade and really struggling with letter formation There was very little consistency in his letter size and formation and very little carry over from the program we were using I was dreading teaching him cursive because I knew he would feel as though he were learning a completely new alphabet when he didn't even have print mastered I decided to try the Italic program because of the consistent letter formation from print to cursive The transformation was amazing The books were very easy to use and the instruction was (and still is) embedded within the student's book I had my son do about 6 lines everyday and had him go back over his work each day to encourage him to grade his own writing He picked the best letter or word from each line and placed a star over it In the early days I would also occasionally have him pick the worst letter erase it and redo it The books give more than adequate practice in each letter without becoming boring or monotonous I now have 3 sons working through these books and have consistently seen results that are wonderful They all have beautiful elegant handwriting that always elicits comments from those who see it The handwriting style taught in these books goes beyond producing legible writers; it produces writers that have a lovely appealing style Though I consider nice handwriting invaluable the fact that this series is very inexpensive is a great plus (Especially for families with multiple children) It is even less expensive than the program I was using that was definitely not working Though there is a teacher's manual available I did not purchase it so I cannot speak to its effectiveness Our results have been sparkling with using only the student books Some critics of this program cite the fact that if a child does not write standard loopy cursive that reading it will be difficult I have addressed this issue by regularly having our sons dictate journal entries which I write into their journals with my standard loopy cursive They then read them out-loud back to me We have had great success using this method The website for Portland also offers assistance with this by having a section showing all the popular handwriting styles side by side with Italics It is easy to print off and place in your child's notebook should they need a quick referenceOverall I give this program an A+++ for value results and ease of use Often a person's first impression of us comes from our handwriting and I feel confident is saying that Italics will not disappoint

This is the best handwriting curriculum on the market! My son was having fine motor trouble and this was a lot easier than any other program for him to use! When we began this program his handwriting was terrible! Now he has readable handwriting!! There is no teacher prep and the teacher's book is optional in my opinion I do have it but don't use it A great value for the price!!

This is the only handwriting curriculum we have used My girls are 6 & 7 and have completed books A and B thus far There is virtually no prep work on my part The girls are even encouraged (by the curriculum) to check/critique their OWN work once they complete the 'lesson' We chose this style because the transition to cursive is minimal and it is very legible I do have the Instructors manual that accompanies this series Other than tips on correct posture pencil grip and paper position I haven't used it much My 6yo child is a perfectionist and she LOVES these workbooks My 7yo is not a fan of anything that requires effort (to put it lovingly) but her writing is very nice regardless I expected to move through these books at 1 per year but we completed books A and B in 5 months I bought the blackline masters for both books but have found that copy work is a more effective and fun way to practice I have had my girls doing copy work for several months to refine their skill and we are already ready for book C I am very pleased with this curriculum and will continue to progress through it!