Has anyone tried teaching cursive writing to their younger kids (starting at age 5 or before)? Schools in many countries teach cursive writing before printing. The theory is that it's easier for little kids to make the loopy shapes of cursive writing than the blocks required to print (think: what were the very first shapes your kids drew: rounded or carefully, deliberately angled?).
My eldest son (age 7) goes to a French immersion school where the kids start cursive writing in kindergarten. Some kid in his class could write his name in cursive in the pre-K year, and Henry was very excited by this and wanted me to teach him. I wrote his name in script and was amazed at how quickly he picked it up (first try).
So his handwriting was gorgeous by early-mid 1st grade. His printing was still pretty ropey then and was pretty much like everyone else's in the class. The kids write very long sentences in cursive, even in 1st grade.
I'd also add that we've found that language immersion schools (some public school districts have these) are great alternatives for bright kids, *especially* if they don't know a word of the language when they start school. Not understanding the language means that 1. they have a challenging classroom environment because they have to **figure out what teacher is saying**, even if it's just "Color the octopus blue." 2. Also, they learn something that could serve them all their lives, and 3. they get extra development in the language areas of their brains.
