Patriotic Penmanship: A Laurelwood Books Review

Handwriting and copy is an important and necessary element in education.  Of course it might not always be every child's favorite thing to do (certainly isn't my son's), but it is wonderful when you find curriculum that is both useful and well themed.  Patriotic Penmanship from Laurelwood Books is just that.  This workbook combines famous quotes, portions of poetry and Bible verses with handwriting practice to produce a well-rounded educational experience.  

Patriotic Penmanship is available in all grade levels, but for this review we received the 1st grade level workbook in manuscript style.  In the upper grade levels, cursive is an option as well as manuscript.  Grade 1 is divided into 30 two-page lessons and each lesson includes a quote or verse, a different letter of the alphabet and number for the first 26 lessons.  The remaining 4 focuses on key words.  All lessons have multiple tracing options and plenty of room to practice on your own.  At the beginning of the book are two pages of just alphabet practice and then a sample alphabet is present  on the bottom of every lesson.

We have used programs that allow us to print copy work off of the computer and that was convenient for multiple uses, but through using Patriotic Penmanship I realized how much I like the entire 30 lessons being in one bound book.  I guess because I often feel a bit scattered with the different hats I'm wearing, having just a thin book to pick up and contain was simple and nice.  These workbooks are considered consumable and intend for each student to have their own.  Thankfully, each workbook is $13.95, a reasonable price for 30 lessons of great quality handwriting practice.

The timing of when we started working on this was nice too because it led up to the 4th of July.  The quotes are an interesting mix of known statesmen like Abraham Lincoln, Robert E Lee and Benjamin Franklin, Bible verses and important authors like Robert Louis Stevenson and Christina Rosetti.  Each quote and author provide good opportunities for further discussion about history, poetry, character and daily living.  My son is very much a boy in that handwriting and copy work isn't his favorite thing to do although he certain does need the practice.  At first I was more hopeful that he would finish a lesson quickly and without any push from me, but I was disappointed.  However, when I broke the lesson up and also placed a larger emphasis on the quote or the author, he responded better.  One of my absolute favorite things about homeschooling is the encouragement to adapt to my child's needs of the moment!

Regardless of your curriculum or grade level, Patriotic Penmanship is a great supplement and tool to build other lessons around.  Laurelwood Books publishes many other resources that you might be interested in like State the Facts, Scripture Scribes and Olim, Once Upon a Time in Latin. Several Crew members reviewed these products too.  Click the banner below to read their reviews.

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