The handwriting of 756 eleventh grade students was evaluated to determine whether their handwriting styles would be characteristic of the manuscript or cursive styles they had been taught. Subjects had been taught Zaner-Bloser manuscript in primary grades with a transition to cursive in third grade. Analysis of handwriting samples revealed a wide…

In a longitudinal study comparing two different methods of handwriting instruction, the manuscript and cursive styles of D'Nealian and Zaner Bloser were compared. Subjects were 86 first and second graders, from four classrooms in a rural Illinois school district, taught according to only one or the other of these methods since kindergarten. A…

Outlines the research on handwriting instruction, explaining the importance of handwriting instruction, the controversy over manuscript and cursive writing, and the uniqueness of left-handers. Discusses ways to make handwriting instruction more interesting. (SRT)

This paper argues against teaching children to make letters using circle-stick writing. It contends that the circle-stick method requires continued pen/pencil lifts hindering rhythm or flow in the writing process and that there is little carry-over value into cursive writing as the two scripts are totally different. D'Nealian print, one type of…

A study was conducted to establish a process for evaluating the difficulty of different handwritten letter forms. A criterion for calculating difficulty scores was delineated and four sets of letter forms were evaluated: manuscript, cursive, italic, and D'Nealian. Using the criterion, small letters were given a score of difficulty, the sum of…

A study was conducted to determine the ability of kindergarten children to match manuscript, cursive, italic, and D'Nealian handwritten letters to typeset letters, their ability to read letters in these five styles, and the relationship of reading and matching abilities. Children were asked to match typeset distractors to lower case letters…