Cursive Learning Resources in English and Spanish

Last March, a reader asked me on Facebook if I would share some cursive writing resources in Spanish. Specifically, she was looking for a workbook that had complete sentences in Spanish. A little research yielded quite a few resources, and that has remained on my schedule for months. So enough is enough already, and I thought I'd go ahead and share sites and books in both English and Spanish for those of you whose children are learning to write in cursive.

This post contains affiliate links.

I was fascinated to read about why handwriting is so important for children and how it directly affects impulse control. After reading the article, I thought that adding handwriting lessons would also be an important part of a social emotional learning (SEL) curriculum, which is important in both home and school classrooms.

This article on Psychology Today about Why Cursive Handwriting Is Good for Your Brain is also a great read and why I think it is so important for children. Too many schools are dropping it from their curriculum.

And now the resources. These are just a few of the resources I've found. There are MANY others. If you have some you'd like me to add, just let me know in the comments.

English Cursive Writing Resources

• Handwriting Without Tears
  
  
• Zaner-Bloser
  
  
• Peterson Directed Handwriting
  
  
• Donna Young's Cursive Handwriting Lessons - Cursive Z
  
  
• Joy of Handwriting
  
  
• School Zone - Cursive Writing Workbook
  
  
• Teaching Cursive! This Method Works
  
  
• Wacky Sentences Handwriting Workbook (Reproducible): Practice Writing in Cursive (Third and Fourth Grade)
  
  
• Activity Village: Cursive Handwriting Worksheets

Spanish Cursive Writing Resources

• Handwriting Without Tears
  
  
• Zaner-Bloser
  
  
• Caligrafía para Primer Ciclo
  
  
• Aprendo Caligrafia / Learn Calligraphy: Tecnicas para escribir en forma bella y personal / Techniques for writing in beautiful and personal form
  
  
• Dibujos para pintar: Hojas de caligrafía para imprimir
  
  
• Informática para docentes : Recursos | Fichas de caligrafía
  
  
• Fichas para niños : CALIGRAFÍA PARA NIÑOS - FRASES - FICHA 1
  
  
• Spanish cursive handwriting workbook | Caligrafía en cursivo EDITABLE
  
  
• Spanish Homework - Penmanship - TAREA Caligrafía A-Z from Lectura para niños

Bilingual Tools:

• Amazing - Incredible Handwriting Worksheet Maker
  
  
• Writing Wizard

Other Posts You May Enjoy

• Handwriting Without Tears Spanish Sample Pack
  
  
• Free DIY Handwriting Worksheets
  
  
• Nacho Aprende, Lee y Colorea
  
  
• Beautiful Mundo: Secular Spanish Curriculum

last updated: 5/12/2022

Free DIY Handwriting Worksheets

Last year, I mentioned a site for helping your child learn to write. That has been a great resource for me, but my only issue with it is that the cursive option isn't that great because the letters are not joined together.

This post contains affiliate links.

How to Create Your Own Handwriting Worksheets

Enter the Amazing - Incredible Handwriting Worksheet Maker! This program allows you to design your own handwriting worksheets and their cursive option connects the letters perfectly. And it also uses the same cursive style that I used growing up, which I prefer to teach my kids.

And the best part? This one recognizes foreign letters, accents, and punctuation marks! Woot!

Test it out yourself and see what you think...

Tips for Teaching Your Child Handwriting

If you are just beginning to teach handwriting, I recommend the following:

• Make it fun, not serious. Let your child experiment and make mistakes. Don't look for perfection to begin with because you want them to enjoy the process and get comfortable holding a pencil.
  
  
• Start with simple exercises. Give your child a blank paper and a pencil or crayon. Have them fill the paper by drawing swirls and loops, or lines, or circles. Think about the strokes used in forming letters. Just let them experiment and explore and figure out how to make them.
  
  
• Do it together. Sit with your child with your own paper and model what you want them to do. They can draw on their own paper and then both of you hold up your finished product when you're both done.
  
  
• Stay away from technology... as much as is possible. Using paper and pencil is critical for brain development, including the areas of impulse control. Images and activities on screens happen way too fast and lead to impatience and a desire for instant gratification. Give your child the gift of living in the moment. And enjoying it.
  
  
• Be happy. There's no wrong way to learn. Make the experience enjoyable or they'll hate the process.

Videos for Teaching Handwriting to Children

There are also many videos online that share tips or techniques for handwriting. Below are two that I have found to be the most helpful. 

The first is from FirstCry Parenting and has 10 concrete tips that all parents should consider.

The second video is from Handwriting Heroes. The best advice they give (in my opinion) is to start with lowercase letters, grouped by common strokes. 

Additional Tools for Teaching Handwriting

If your child struggles with the proper way to hold a pencil, these pencil grips are an easy and gentle way to train fingers for the correct position. The best part is that they can be used on both right and left hands.

Channie’s Quick & Neat Alphabet Writing Pad gives children visual blocks to help guide them as they learn to write.

Gamenote Double Sided Magnetic Letter Board is a fabulous interactive way to teach children the correct steps in letter formation. Click the link and watch the video to see it in action.

These wooden boards are a simple, natural way to teach letter writing. The Double-Sided Alphabet Tracing Tool is a favorite among Montessori educators.

Other Posts You May Enjoy

• Cursive Learning Resources in English and Spanish
  
  
• 12 Ways to Promote Early Literacy in the Bilingual Home
  
  
• First Day of School for Struggling Writers