To read a cursive word, read it letter by letter at first, then as a whole. You know the letters from Reading Cursive Letters and the joins from Joining Letters.
- Find the start of each letter. Joins come between letters, so look for the slant lines.
- Watch the high joins after b, o, v and w: the next letter starts up at the middle line.
- Say the sounds, then the word. Does it make sense in the sentence?
Key idea
Read each letter, check the tricky joins, then read the whole word and see if it makes sense.
Why it works
Guessing from the first letter leads to mistakes: brown could be read as brain. Checking each letter gets it right.
Worked example: Read it
The picture above shows two words. What are they?
- The first word: b, r, o, w, n. The join after o stays high.
- The second word: b, e, a, r.
- Together: brown bear.
Answer: brown bear
Common mistake
Guessing a word from its first letter. Read every letter, especially after b, o, v and w, then check that the word makes sense.
For the grown-up. Short notes in cursive (a lunch-box note, a grocery list) make good daily reading practice.