Practice Six Movement Exercises for Cursive

These exercises in pencil movements may be taught very early to students an entire year prior to learning cursive. Parents and/or teachers may actually guide the child's hand with their own as they learn to make the six movements while holding a crayon.

Each of these Exercises should extend across a sheet of drawing paper.

1. Practice the Sliding Movement. Move the hand and arm together across the paper making a series of lines similar to those shown in example 1. above.
2. Practice the Combined Movement. Move the hand and arm as before but make the slanting lines by extending and contracting the fingers. Example 2. above shows the Combined Movement.
3. Practice the Muscular Movement. An Exercise in which the muscle of the forearm is employed; the wrist is kept rigid. Example 3. above.
4. Practice Combined Movement. The upward strokes are made with this movement and the downward strokes with the finger. Example 4.
5. Practice Combined Movement. The upward strokes are made with this movement and the downward strokes with the finger. Example 5.
6. Practice the Triple Movement. The upward strokes are made with the sliding movement; the down strokes with the finger movement; and the ovals by rolling the arm lightly on the fleshy part of the forearm while moving the fingers independently.