There are a variety of handwriting styles: cursive, manuscript, Italic, D'Nealian, Victorian, and New South Wales. See samples of popular handwriting styles. A school district usually decides to teach one style. If you have a child who is not yet attending school and is ready to write, call the school office or contact the kindergarten teacher to learn the handwriting style used. You always have the option of teaching your child another style, but it might be a needless frustration for the child.

Homeschool parents have more options. Take time to familiarize yourself with the various styles. Most start with a manuscript form for the first several years, then move into a cursive form. Some start with cursive. When my coauthor, Marie, was a child in the 1920's, she learned cursive first. Manuscript was used for map or poster labeling. Several handwriting curriculums have reintroduced the concept of teaching cursive from the start.

Whatever handwriting style your children use, help them develop the habit of holding the pencil in a tripod grip.

Handwriting Charts

There are many styles of handwriting, each with its own letter formation -- see them all in one place on our sample page of handwriting styles. The following list includes online sources of handwriting style charts. For a complete selection of charts, visit a teacher-parent school supply store. Some of the large discount retailers carry a good selection of handwriting style charts.

Manuscript, Cursive (Zaner-Bloser)

HandwritingForKids.com -- charts and demonstrations on how to form the letters -- a generous, well-organized site! This site has many variations on manuscript and cursive writing, including the popular style developed by Zaner-Bloser.

manuscript - uppercase
manuscript - lowercase

cursive - uppercase
cursive - lowercase

Spanish

lined paper

Peterson-Handwriting.com -- another great place to get charts and demonstrations on forming the letters. Peterson has lots of products for teaching handwriting. (These demonstrations are not Zaner-Bloser.)

manuscript - uppercase
manuscript - lowercase

cursive - uppercase
cursive - lowercase

Modern Manuscript and Modern Cursive - D'Nealian

D'Nealian introduces slanted letters right from the beginning and has gained popularity in many school districts in the United States. Products similar to D'Nealian are sold as "Modern Manuscript" and "Modern Cursive".

D'Nealian - manuscript and cursive chart
D'Nealian - manuscript only

www.janbrett.com
look under "Activities Pages", Alphabet

Handwriting Without Tears

Handwriting Without Tears was developed by an occupational therapist. This style is simplified, and does not have a slant. The Handwriting Without Tears program has lots of products for writing readiness.