Numeral Writing as an Introduction to Cursive Writing

Looking for a way to introduce Cursive Writing to students? Here’s a place to start – Numeral Writing!

Most people pay scant attention to cursive writing skills This inability can be a major barrier to success for students. Imagine completing written tasks for children in elementary classrooms without the skills! Students are forced to rely on their printing skills when cursive is not carefully taught.

Generally in elementary schools today, there is little formal instruction as to how one creates letters or numbers. There is even less supervised practice. As a result, many students have time-consuming cursive writing skills and write only when absolutely necessary. They do not do much better writing numerals.

There are a number of common errors such as students writing numerals from the bottom up instead of from the top down. These patterns are generally ignored with the result that the students remain slow numeral writers. Worksheets and homework take much longer than necessary and are demoralizing for many children.

How do your kids write numerals?

The teaching of writing skills has numerous component skills which make up the composite behaviour. Each of these component skills can be measured and taught if necessary.

In Part 2 of this series, we’ll look a little more closely at how to use Numeral Writing as an Introduction to Cursive Writing. But for now, think about how many cursive writing problems wouldn’t even arise if students were just introduced to the new skills in the best way possible? Imagine all that frustration and confusion gone – for the students and the teachers and the parents!