Writing
Penmanship
First graders learn correct stokes to form individual letters. Practice with large arm motions, writing in the air, before taking pen in hand. Actually, don’t take pen in hand. Begin with an elephant-sized pencil. I liked Getty & Dubay’s Italic penmanship curriculum. Handwriting Without Tears is also very good.
Regardless of which writing style you choose, it is important not to begin too soon. Starting young and practicing extensively is not what is needed for kids to have good penmanship. A key element is waiting until kids have enough muscle development to sit properly and hold the pencil correctly. Muscle development can be achieved through lots of playing on the monkey bars!
Once letters are easily formed, words and sentences can be copied from favorite books. For continued penmanship in the upper grades, consider A Reason For Writing.
Composition
Grammar is typically considered essential to good writing, and the two elementary-level programs I like best combine these subjects.
We tried English For The Thoughtful Child with a couple of my children. It seems like a good combined grammar/introductory writing curriculum for second graders, but didn’t work very well for me. I suspect that’s more my fault than the fault of the curriculum.
I have found Shurley English to be very easy to implement. This written for first through seventh grades, but I wouldn’t count on using it every year. There is quite a bit of repetition! There is one weakness to this curriculum: the concluding paragraphs (as taught for these essays) are too weak. The rest of the writing is good, though, and kids can learn to improve this aspect of their writing in the future.
I think a good option might be to alternate these two: Shurley English level 1 in first grade, followed by English For the Thoughtful Child in second grade, Shurley English level 3 in third grade, English for the Thoughtful Child 2 in fourth grade, and Shurley 5 and/or 6 in the fifth and/or sixth grades.
After that, I recommend Jump In: A Workbook for Reluctant and Eager Writers as a two-year junior high level writing curriculum. This curriculum is great!
