Homeschool Cursive Curriculum | What Worked For Us

After a few years of barely focusing on handwriting, I realized we had a problem. When I asked my son to write an essay by hand, it took him hours. The letters didn’t flow, his pen lifted off the page constantly, and writing felt slow and frustrating.

That was the moment I decided we needed to take cursive seriously.

My goal wasn’t just neater handwriting. I wanted him to write more efficiently. Before we started, I timed how long a short writing task took. A few weeks into consistent cursive practice, I timed it again. He was about 20% faster, and his writing looked more confident too.

Here’s what we used in our homeschool to make that shift happen.

**Disclosure: I was compensated for my time to write this post. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. I only share resources that I would use with my own family and those that I believe other homeschool families will enjoy. There may be affiliate links in this post.**

How To Teach Cursive Writing

The only way we could teach cursive writing in our homeschool is with a curriculum. I learned cursive a long time ago, and to be honest, it isn’t the best.

I wanted to teach Freddie the correct way to write that would not only look amazing but be quick!

If you are in the same position, carry on reading to see how to teach cursive to your kids with this homeschool curriculum. Trust me our top 3 methods have helped no end.

This approach worked well for an older student who already knew print but needed more speed and flow. If you’re starting cursive in early elementary, you might prefer a slower, more multi-sensory program.

Handwriting App

Yes, that’s right, you can teach cursive writing on an iPad! In fact, any time spent on the iPad during the school day is a win for Freddie.

The Handwriting Success™ App provides a complete handwriting curriculum for K-6 at the touch of a button. Anyone with a tablet and compatible stylus can download it and try it for free.

Download the free app here to try it for yourself on IOS and Android. Freddie really enjoyed using the handwriting app, and his handwriting definitely improved. However, as I am old-school I needed him to write with a pen and paper too!

Cursive Workbooks

If you are more old school like me the thought of practicing handwriting on an iPad is a step too far. (Don’t get me wrong though my 12-year-old son preferred the iPad method.) Then I highly recommend the cursive workbooks from Getty-Dubay.

The Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting method has been a homeschool favorite for 40 years, and I can see why.

The cursive workbooks are aimed at grades K-6. The first 3 books are basic italic and the last 4 books are cursive Italic. Below is from the Book E collection which is aimed at 4th grade, personally though this was a great place for him to start in 6th grade as he had not done it before.

I was impressed with the lessons and I also like in the front of each book is an informal assessment so you can easily see progress. The children write in the book before taking the lessons and then at the end of the book they write the same sentence.

Check out the best homeschool literature curriculum!

Make Your Own Cursive Worksheets

We create a lot of our own worksheets and I love that you can do this with Getty-Dubay.

Download these amazing handwriting fonts from Getty-Dubay and create your own cursive worksheets.

We use Canva so much in our homeschool, we pay for the pro option as it gives us that little bit more that we need. However, for the first few years, we used the free option.

All you need to do is extract the zip file and add them straight into Canva. Please note though this is for personal use only, so I can not send the Shakespeare cursive practice we created.

But with Canva it is easy to recreate yourself.

If you are looking for even more homeschooling curriculum reviews check out all of the others we have reviewed over the years.

Last Updated on 23 October 2025 by Clare Brown