A Reason for Handwriting Teacher Guidebook (KL10) Copyright 2008 new edition. Not scheduled anywhere, so nothing needs to change. (6.4.08)
RFH Publisher's recommendations for using the Transition Worktext
Option #1: If you introduce cursive in the Middle or End of 2nd grade - order Transition for grade 2 (omit Manuscript B) and order Cursive C for grade 3.
Option #2: If you introduce cursive in the 3rd grade - order Manuscript B for grade 2 and order Transition for grade 3 (ommit Cursive C).
(5.07.07)
RFH - book B? [6.26.06]
The publisher of A Reason for Handwriting recommends skipping book B (manuscript/printing) and going from Manuscript A to Transition. Sonlight agrees with this recommendation and does not carry book B.
If a customer wishes to have more practice in manuscript before moving on to cursive, Transition could still be a good choice. Approximately half of the Transition book reviews/practices manuscript. This could be stretched out to as much as a year of handwriting practice for a student not yet ready for cursive.
LA K and RFH The RFW schedule jumps around to coordinate with the LA K letter of the week. Each week the kids do the coordinating lower & upper case Letter of the Week and then on review weeks they do some of the extra practice type pages.
'Hand copy memory verse' [11.05]
'Hand copy memory verse' listed on Friday's on the schedule means to copy the Sonlight memory verse for that week for their handwriting assignment for the day.
Changes to Reason for Handwriting in 2004
changes to series include: added color, new illustrations, added discussion questions to apply scripture, simplified cursive font (especially Q), 2nd - all manual, 3rd - all cursive, transition - both, publisher recommends skipping B - which is why SL doesn't sell it.
Details on RFH transition book
Manuscript
- Lessons 1-10 = practice lessons
- Lessons 1-27 = review of upper case and lower case letters
Transition Lessons
- Lessons 1-5 = vowels (from Cursive C book)
- Lessons 2-26 = remaining letters (from Cursive C book)
- Lessons 27-45 = Practice of capital and lower case, beginning group letters
Cursive
- Lessons 1-27 = cursive practice (capital letter, with words, then Bible verse)
NOTE - Though there is repetition of the letters studied from other books, the words and Bible verses are entirely different.
Comments: RFH is definitely geared for classroom use, but can easily be used for homeschoolers. They provide enough practice for those that need a lot of practice, but give the teacher the freedom to NOT assign work the student doesn't need. If a child does well and does not need all of the other repetition, then the parent will have to decide which workbook will fit their student and they may not have a full year of handwriting.
The Transition Student Workbook is designed to offer maximum flexibility in making the transition from manuscript to cursive handwriting. Extra Manuscript Lessons and extra Cursive Lessons allow you to begin the transition process at the time your school deems most appropriate. (From introduction to Transitions workbook)
(Updated 9.24.08)
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RFH transition book has 2 weeks of review, 27 weeks of manuscript, 9 weeks of learning cursive, and then 27 weeks of cursive in the ONE book? Sl schedules 2 pages a day. Manuscript Review lessons are 3 or 4 lines a day (half a page) 1 word or letter on each line, copy as many times as you have room for; transition is 15 lines a page, smaller lines. And then the Cursive section is back to half a page each day. 7 lines on the half page. 1 letter (upper and lower case) and 3 words.
The Transition book uses the same printing lessons as Book B and the same cursive lessons as Book C.
Recommendations from RFH:
Option #1 If you introduce cursive in the MIDDLE or END of 2nd grade: [This is Sonlight's recommendation and why we do not carry book B.] Order Transition for grade 2 (omit Manuscript B) Order Cursive C for grade 3
Option #2 If you introduce cursive in the 3rd grade: Order Manuscript B for grade 2 Order Transition for grade 3 (omit Cursive C)