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Read Cursive Fast
With READ CURSIVE FAST, now anyone who can read print can read cursive. This carefully paced manual includes step-by-step instruction, along with fun practice reading passages and historical documents that systematically teach you to read cursive. The techniques in READ CURSIVE FAST have succeeded with children, teens, and adults with and without disabilities. Anyone can learn to read cursive, even if they do not write by hand at all. Learn to crack the cursive code so that you can read handwritten notes and our nation's historical documents.
“This will be an amazing resource.” — Jonathan Dubay, owner of Handwriting Success
“The inclusion of the history of each letterform is, in my opinion, an excellent touch. Many of the children and adults I have worked with have asked about the origins of certain letterforms. The ability to read primary source documents is the major reason many people cite for teaching cursive writing. You have provided an excellent foundation for students in grade 4 and up to ‘decipher’ the materials required for today’s social studies classes.” — Kathleen Wright, Founder and Executive Director of the Handwriting Collaborative, Workshop Presenter, and Independent Educational Consultant
“We really enjoyed this book. My eleven-year-old had fun with it and did really well. My seven-year-old had no problems reading the cursive words in the first few chapters. The book is well organized, has a good pace, and provides historical context and vocabulary for understanding letter forms. We found it enjoyable and rewarding.” — Myles Miller, father of 2 and member of the handwriting improvement group “Rock Your Handwriting”
“This book is similar to the teaching I had as a young child to learn cursive writing. It will help a child to improve both their penmanship and abilities to read cursive.” — Temple Grandin, Author, The Way I See It
“This will be an amazing resource.” — Jonathan Dubay, owner of Handwriting Success
“The inclusion of the history of each letterform is, in my opinion, an excellent touch. Many of the children and adults I have worked with have asked about the origins of certain letterforms. The ability to read primary source documents is the major reason many people cite for teaching cursive writing. You have provided an excellent foundation for students in grade 4 and up to ‘decipher’ the materials required for today’s social studies classes.” — Kathleen Wright, Founder and Executive Director of the Handwriting Collaborative, Workshop Presenter, and Independent Educational Consultant
“We really enjoyed this book. My eleven-year-old had fun with it and did really well. My seven-year-old had no problems reading the cursive words in the first few chapters. The book is well organized, has a good pace, and provides historical context and vocabulary for understanding letter forms. We found it enjoyable and rewarding.” — Myles Miller, father of 2 and member of the handwriting improvement group “Rock Your Handwriting”
“This book is similar to the teaching I had as a young child to learn cursive writing. It will help a child to improve both their penmanship and abilities to read cursive.” — Temple Grandin, Author, The Way I See It
138 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2021
3 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 31, 2023
One of my fondest memories of childhood is discovering that cursive letters existed. I was in Kindergarten, and I was familiar with the regular letters of the alphabet, lower and upper case, and I thought that was all there was to the world. Then my next door neighbor, who was a few years older, showed me her homework, and I was amazed to discover I couldn’t decipher it.
“What is THAT letter?”
“It’s an ‘m’.”
“But that can’t be right! It has three humps!”
“Yup.”
“Why??”
“It just is.”
I was frustrated with that answer, of course. But the realization that somehow, for some reason, there was a whole additional alphabet out there — that there were more than two dozen more letters to befriend — was so explosive that I vividly remember over forty years later.
It turns out, of course, there is a reason, and Gladstone explains it all step by step, simply, graphically, and engagingly in her wonderful book. In an encouraging, courteous style, she leads you systematically and efficiently through the letters, explaining the origins of each and showing you how to recognize them. Throughout the book, she peppers exercises, demonstrations, and fascinating historical notes and examples that keep the pages turning.
It is not surprising that many people have trouble reading cursive. According to the prototype theory of meaning, when people learn to read, they learn a prototypical letter-form (or a few closely related ones) for each letter; and when they are reading letters, they try to match each letter on the page with the prototypical letter-forms in their minds. The further the forms on the page stray from their prototypes, the harder they are to read. But when you are reading cursive, there is an extra layer of interpretation, because the letters flow together and twist and flourish according to the motions of the hand as it writes.
Handwriting recognition has long been recognized as a challenging task for machines, as well. Up until twenty years ago, OCR (optical character recognition) really worked well only on block printed letters. Many researchers in artificial intelligence felt that if a program could be written to reliably recognize characters (whether handwritten, or even just in ornate fancy fonts) — to be able to recognize, within the swirls and loops of ornate writing, the soul of the letter “A” — that program would truly display something approaching human intelligence. And in the early 90’s, early neural net models (the precursors of the architecture underlying modern chatbots) provided a breakthrough. These models, which are composed of layers of virtual neuron-like nodes interconnected somewhat like an organic brain, were the first computer models powerful and flexible enough to reliably learn (after viewing millions of examples) to read cursive handwriting. It is no trivial task!
Gladstone’s book allows you to read cursive with a lot less effort than that! First, she gives “code crackers” in which the prototypical print letters are superimposed on the cursive letters, showing exactly how they are derived from the prototypes; and she gives enough examples for each letter so that the student gets a good sense of how the variations may appear. Second, she shows how the letters are written and encourages the student to draw along and practice, so that they feel the motion of writing in their own hands. In this way, both aspects of cursive writing recognition are strengthened, and the student is engaged through multiple modalities.
Gladstone's book on how to read cursive handwriting is an essential guide for anyone seeking to truly master this skill. Through her clear and engaging explanations, historical insights, and practical exercises, she demystifies the art of cursive writing and helps readers unlock a whole new world of communication. In a world where cursive handwriting seems like a lost art, Gladstone's book is a refreshing reminder of its beauty and importance. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned reader, her expert guidance will leave you feeling confident and inspired.
“What is THAT letter?”
“It’s an ‘m’.”
“But that can’t be right! It has three humps!”
“Yup.”
“Why??”
“It just is.”
I was frustrated with that answer, of course. But the realization that somehow, for some reason, there was a whole additional alphabet out there — that there were more than two dozen more letters to befriend — was so explosive that I vividly remember over forty years later.
It turns out, of course, there is a reason, and Gladstone explains it all step by step, simply, graphically, and engagingly in her wonderful book. In an encouraging, courteous style, she leads you systematically and efficiently through the letters, explaining the origins of each and showing you how to recognize them. Throughout the book, she peppers exercises, demonstrations, and fascinating historical notes and examples that keep the pages turning.
It is not surprising that many people have trouble reading cursive. According to the prototype theory of meaning, when people learn to read, they learn a prototypical letter-form (or a few closely related ones) for each letter; and when they are reading letters, they try to match each letter on the page with the prototypical letter-forms in their minds. The further the forms on the page stray from their prototypes, the harder they are to read. But when you are reading cursive, there is an extra layer of interpretation, because the letters flow together and twist and flourish according to the motions of the hand as it writes.
Handwriting recognition has long been recognized as a challenging task for machines, as well. Up until twenty years ago, OCR (optical character recognition) really worked well only on block printed letters. Many researchers in artificial intelligence felt that if a program could be written to reliably recognize characters (whether handwritten, or even just in ornate fancy fonts) — to be able to recognize, within the swirls and loops of ornate writing, the soul of the letter “A” — that program would truly display something approaching human intelligence. And in the early 90’s, early neural net models (the precursors of the architecture underlying modern chatbots) provided a breakthrough. These models, which are composed of layers of virtual neuron-like nodes interconnected somewhat like an organic brain, were the first computer models powerful and flexible enough to reliably learn (after viewing millions of examples) to read cursive handwriting. It is no trivial task!
Gladstone’s book allows you to read cursive with a lot less effort than that! First, she gives “code crackers” in which the prototypical print letters are superimposed on the cursive letters, showing exactly how they are derived from the prototypes; and she gives enough examples for each letter so that the student gets a good sense of how the variations may appear. Second, she shows how the letters are written and encourages the student to draw along and practice, so that they feel the motion of writing in their own hands. In this way, both aspects of cursive writing recognition are strengthened, and the student is engaged through multiple modalities.
Gladstone's book on how to read cursive handwriting is an essential guide for anyone seeking to truly master this skill. Through her clear and engaging explanations, historical insights, and practical exercises, she demystifies the art of cursive writing and helps readers unlock a whole new world of communication. In a world where cursive handwriting seems like a lost art, Gladstone's book is a refreshing reminder of its beauty and importance. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned reader, her expert guidance will leave you feeling confident and inspired.
February 13, 2022
Read Cursive Fast is a Great Tool for a Tutor, Teacher, or Teaching Parent.
Gladstone has wisely separated writing cursive from reading cursive. The book does NOT ask the student to write. This book provides a way for a student who wants to be able to read cursive to analyze the letterforms. Her historical notes, examples, and simple exercises are straightforward and clear. There's lots of white space, and both sentences and paragraphs are short. It's not dumbed-down, though! Gladstone has gotten rid of all the nonsense and gone straight to the relevant information. If you have a student who asks to learn how to read cursive, walking through this book with them should do the trick.
Gladstone has wisely separated writing cursive from reading cursive. The book does NOT ask the student to write. This book provides a way for a student who wants to be able to read cursive to analyze the letterforms. Her historical notes, examples, and simple exercises are straightforward and clear. There's lots of white space, and both sentences and paragraphs are short. It's not dumbed-down, though! Gladstone has gotten rid of all the nonsense and gone straight to the relevant information. If you have a student who asks to learn how to read cursive, walking through this book with them should do the trick.
December 9, 2022
Just finished reading 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝘾𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙨𝙩 and have to say that this innovative book for the many who struggle to make sense of cursive handwriting is like no other I have read previously. Ms. Gladstone has managed to provide a logical, step-by-step method of discerning each of the handwritten letters of the English alphabet---both upper and lower cases. As an educator, I recognize the unique value of this book, especially for the individuals I serve with dysgraphia and/or dyslexia. Already, I can think of students from age 10 and up as well as many adults who will benefit from reading this helpful text.
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