The Palmer method of teaching cursive is one of the oldest methods of teaching cursive still in use today. It was developed in the late 19th century by Austin Palmer. Palmer was concerned with speed and endurance, and his method involves using the muscles of the arm and shoulder to write, not just the hands. Once the most popular system of handwriting in the United States, the Palmer method fell out of favor during the later 20th century.
The Zaner-Bloser method of teaching cursive was developed in 1904 by Charles Zaner, who founded a college of penmanship, and his business partner Elmer Bloser. It is one of the most popular methods of teaching cursive used in the United States today. The method covers both print and cursive writing, and it guides children to make letters by a series of numbered arrows around the practice letters, which indicate which strokes come first and which direction to make the stroke.
Developed by Donald Neal Thurber in the 1970s, the D'nealian method is relatively new compared to the Palmer and Zaner-Bloser methods. However, it is widely used in public schools across the country. The D'nealian method teaches students to write slanted print letters, so that the transition to cursive will be a simple matter of joining the letters together. The student lifts the pencil from the paper as little as possible with this method.
Published in 2009, Linda Corson's method for teaching cursive has already gained a wide following among educators and homeschoolers. The method involves grouping letters that require similar strokes into the same lesson. Letters that are not related to other letters get their own lesson. Corson claims her method will teach a child to write in cursive over 56 days, practicing 10 minutes a day.