There Will Be A $5.00 Charge For Whining: Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting (Homeschool Review Crew)

Does your child have horrendous handwriting? Do you, yourself, struggle with writing beautifully?

Recently, we had the opportunity to review Perfect Reading, Beautiful Handwriting by Everyday Education, LLC. This is an easy program that not only teaches reading, but handwriting, as well.

We received a downloadable version of the book. It contains 60 lessons and is phonics based. Now the handwriting portion of the book teaches Italic handwriting. Josiah is dysgraphic and I have been reading how Italic handwriting is actualy easier for those with dysgraphia to master.

At the front of the book, we are given a nice set of suggested schedules, tips and hints for posture and pen hold. We are also given a brief history of italic handwriting.

The beauty of this book is that the owner of Everyday Education, Janice Campbell, used the book for her first son when he was learning how to write. When it was time for her second son to learn how to write, she was disappointed to find the book was out of print. She was later able to bring the book back to print. Much to our benefit!

Because this book is a “learning to read” book, as well, there are several chapters of the book that teach phonics. I fully plan on going back and using some of these chapters for review. Josiah is dyslexic and because the book uses handwriting to teach phonics, I think it will help him tremendously.

The handwriting instruction begins in Chapter 6. The students are first instructed to write straight, as you can see below.

Gradually, we start to slant. There are quite a few exercises and even a few blank pages that feature lines that help just with writing in a slant.

There is also a section that helps students write smaller. I know that with dysgraphia it is often hard for writers to write their letters uniformly.

The lessons progress and pretty soon this is what we are copying.

Isn’t that beautiful? I’ve been inspired to work on the course myself. I used to do calligraphy when I was a lot younger and I think this would be a fun mother/son project. As for Josiah, he likes that the lessons aren't super long and that this style of handwriting doesn't seem to hurt his hand as much.

Just a little note about Everyday Education. You can find all kinds of great resources there. I have particularly enjoyed reading through Janice's blog. Her "How to Raise a Boy" series was right on.

You can connect with Everyday Education via the following social media outlets. Don't forget to click on the banner below to read more reviews.