Pentime Manuscript Grade 1 (Book 1)

These materials are graded specifically and include both instruction and practice.

This program is designed to teach children handwriting with a minimum of assistance. Eight black and white workbooks help students master the skill of manuscript writing, transition into cursive, and continue to build cursive skills using smaller and smaller lines. In the first workbook, students focus on writing the individual letters on wide lines with a dotted midline. The correct strokes are shown (and numbered) for each letter along with plenty of space for children to practice. The second book continues practice of upper and lowercase letters but adds words and sentences as well. In place of stroke guides, a dot on each letter shows children where to start forming the letter. The third book (Transition) reviews manuscript for 35 pages and then jumps into cursive handwriting for the remaining 60 pages of the book, where students learn the strokes for individual cursive letters and practice connecting them. The rest of the series allows children to fully master cursive writing as they continually practice by writing the letters and copying longer and longer paragraphs on increasingly smaller lines (rulings gradually decrease from 1/2" in Grade 3 to 5/16" in Grade 8). Paragraphs range from fun sentences to Bible verses (close to the ASV version) to excerpts from essays on nature. Captions in the older grades provide interesting facts, and pretty border sheets to color are scattered throughout. - Steph