Getty-Dubay Italic

Homeschool Handwriting Curriculum

Innovative Italic Handwriting: The Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Program has won its share of accolades. Sonlight added it to the product line when one of co-founder and president of Sonlight, Sarita Holzmann's, sons, whose handwriting was atrocious, began making noticeable strides from the first day.

Its cursive characters are almost identical to its print characters, so the transition from print to cursive is easy. The attractive text is similar to calligraphy. (A student won a national writing contest with this style.)

Caveat: Because schools don't use the nonstandard italic method, some children may not initially recognize copy written in a more traditional cursive.

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Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting

Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting K

$49.89
Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting

Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting 1

$43.89
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Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting 2

$43.89
Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting

Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting 3

$44.65
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Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting 4

$44.65
Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting

Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting 5

$38.90
Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting

Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting 6

$38.90

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Frequently Asked Questions

Provide answers to commonly asked questions

Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Schedules

Potential Advantages
  • Its cursive characters are almost identical to its print characters (which, in turn, are quite similar to the traditional "ball-and-stick" characters). There are some very minor variations between the print and cursive characters: cursive adds some strokes to join the letters, but the letters' shapes, and the pen or pencil strokes required to form them are identical in all 26 lower-case letters, and in 25 out of 26 capitals.
  • Both of these factors together mean that the transition from print to script is easy-and once a student learns the cursive style, s/he is less likely to revert to printing.
  • At least one national writing contest was won recently by a student who used the italic method. Translated: the text looks good. Many people say it reminds them of simple calligraphy.

Potential Disadvantages
  • Italic handwriting is not like conventional looped cursive. Many public, private, charter and homeschools teach italic, but it is not the looped, ornate writing that you might think of as the cursive handwriting that children should learn. Italic is simpler—kids and parents find it easy to read because it is more like what they see in type.
  • Children who study italic may be unfamiliar with how to write using conventional looped cursive, but they can learn how to read it with the help of supplements in the Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series Book G (and soon to be in Books B, C, D and F).
  • This is a secular curriculum. Parents should know that the books for older students contain science and history content.