I was very pleased with Horizons Penmanship. We used only the Grade 4 set after our son had already learned how to write. We bought this set because he needed practice with both print and cursive. I love that he was copying Bible stories and the book provides a good amount of practice. It is printed on quality paper and was user-friendly. I did have the teacher's guide, but I could see that it was not necessary and I rarely consulted it. Now my daughter needs practice with both print and cursive and this is the set I am getting for her. We were very pleased.

I have searched long and hard for a good Zaner-Bloser handwriting course. This has come the closest, but it is more than just handwriting. Instead of all copying, they want the student to create their own answers. I don't feel that is appropriate for handwriting. Grade 4 is all parables. The 4th and 5th lesson for each week is to copy the whole passage they have been working on for the week. Copying it twice in 2 days is a lot for a student that has to work hard at handwriting. I am not at all impressed with the teacher book. It is necessary to have the 4th and 5th day copy work, but other than that, it is a waste. The book also broke apart when I copied the first lesson. The book is not spiral, even though the picture shows it is. My students have improved with this, but it is very frustrating to both the students and the parents.

I ordered this curriculum from the publisher and am disappointed. In order to use, one must have the teacher's manual. For me, that makes a simple handwriting class to costly. The student must answer questions in sentences and paragraphs using good handwriting (not just copying). If this is going to combine as a Bible program that might be fine but if you just want a simple handwriting program, this is not it.