I think cursive is a waste of time, personally.
SiaSL- I googled "Handwriting without tears" and just bought it online, probably from amazon.com It was cheap. I have my first grader do a page a day. It's not difficult and his handwriting is soooo much better.
Practice, practice, practice.
I do want him to have reasonable handwriting.
SiaSL- what part of california are you from? We are in N. CA.