Write Like A Pioneer

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    Overview

    Boost print handwriting fluency with this practice workbook that alternates between pencil-and-paper copy work and physical exercises that build the hand, finger, and core strength needed for confident writing. A Christian worldview and American history theme give students something meaningful to write, making Write Like a Pioneer a workbook that addresses the whole child: mind, body, and spirit.

    For students who have completed a foundational handwriting course and are ready to build manuscript skills. Designed for grade 2, suitable for grades 1-3.

    A Look Inside

    SKU M454-1
    Manufacturer Master Books
    Weight (in lbs) 1.05
    Title Write Like A Pioneer
    Subtitle Practicing Manuscript Handwriting with Pioneer Passages
    Series Write Like A
    ISBN 13 9781683444541
    Binding Paperback
    Page Count 198
    Publisher New Leaf Publishing Group, LLC
    Dimensions (in inches) 8 1/2 x 11

    Improve print handwriting through pioneer passages and body strengthening exercises — for grades 1-3.

    With Write Like a Pioneer, you'll connect handwriting practice to content that actually matters, so your child is absorbing something meaningful while they develop legible, consistent manuscript handwriting. Creative expression, fun facts, full-color illustrations, and a wide variety of hand, finger, and body strengthening experiences make this workbook fun for kids!

    A Whole-Child Approach with a Biblical Emphasis

    Write Like a Pioneer takes a whole-child approach to print handwriting, engaging the mind, body, and heart to create a lasting learning experience. Yes, your child gets plenty of practice forming letters. But they also build fine motor strength and coordination, mature in focus and patience, and reflect on history, character, and spiritual themes through the carefully selected passages.

    A Christian worldview permeates this practice workbook. Your child will copy scripture passages, read the examples of American pioneers who followed God's lead, and repeatedly see themes of prayer and Christian faith.

    What Your Student Will Gain

    • Develop legible, consistent print handwriting with correct letter formation and spacing.
    • Build stamina and muscle memory, making manuscript writing automatic so children can eventually focus on meaning more than handwriting.
    • Improve attention to detail through proper alignment, size, and spacing.
    • Connect handwriting practice with history by engaging with stories of American pioneers, famous trails, and early frontier life.
    • Strengthen Christian faith through Bible passages and references to godly character.
    • Build the physical foundation for writing through hand, finger, and core strengthening exercises.

    More Than a Handwriting Workbook

    Each lesson pairs copy work with physical exercises that build the strength and coordination the body needs for confident, lasting penmanship. Your child will copy quotes from real American pioneers and explorers alongside fun exercises like stretching rubber bands, stringing pony beads, rolling playdough, practicing with hole punchers, and more. These aren't filler activities. They build the gross and fine motor skills that make fluent print handwriting possible.

    How It Works: Simple, Flexible, Open-and-Go

    With Write Like a Pioneer, you'll spend just 30 minutes per day twice a week to give your child the necessary practice and skill development for clear, confident print handwriting. Follow the clearly laid out 36-week schedule or opt for the accelerated one-semester pace, also included.

    Check the supply list for any household objects you may need week by week: rubber bands, pony beads, playdough, a dry-erase board, and more. An Answer Key provides solutions to the mazes and matching activities along with grading suggestions.

    It's fully open-and-go and all-in-one. Your child writes directly in the workbook where all directions for the parent are also included.

    Readiness Benchmarks

    Designed for grade 2, but suitable for grades 1-3.

    Write Like a Pioneer assumes students can make large-motion movements with their arms, grasp and hold a writing tool, participate in guided reading, and engage with written content for ten minutes or more. For students who need a foundational handwriting course first, start with Handwriting A to Zoo before beginning Write Like a Pioneer.

    Table of Contents

    • Course Description
    • Master Supply List
    • Suggested Daily Schedule
    • Lessons
      • Lesson 1
        • Alabama: Samuel Dale
        • Alaska: Sheldon Jackson
      • Lesson 2
        • Arizona: James Ohio Pattie
        • Arkansas: William H. Rector
      • Lesson 3
        • California: John Sutter
        • Colorado: Zebulon Pike
      • Lesson 4
        • Connecticut: Thomas Hooker
        • Delaware: Peter Minuit
      • Lesson 5
        • Florida: Henry Flagler
        • Georgia: James Oglethorpe
      • Lesson 6
        • Hawaii: Henry Ōpūkahaia
        • Idaho: Henry Spalding
      • Lesson 7
        • Illinois: George Rogers Clark
        • Indiana: William Henry Harrison
      • Lesson 8
        • Iowa: William Salter
        • Kansas: Charles Sheldon
      • Lesson 9
        • Kentucky: Lewis Craig
        • Louisiana: Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville
      • Lesson 10
        • Maine: George Weymouth
        • Maryland: Cecil Calvert
      • Lesson 11
        • Massachusetts: Priscilla Mullins Alden
        • Michigan: Étienne Brûlé
      • Lesson 12
        • Minnesota: Henry Schoolcraft
        • Mississippi: Hernando de Soto
      • Lesson 13
        • Missouri: Nathan Boone
        • Montana: Jim Bridger
      • Lesson 14
        • Nebraska: John C. Frémont
        • Nevada: John S. G. “Snowshoe” Thompson
      • Lesson 15
        • New Hampshire: Captain John Mason
        • New Jersey: John Fenwick
      • Lesson 16
        • New Mexico: Kit Carson
        • New York: Peter Stuyvesant
      • Lesson 17
        • North Carolina: Virginia Dare
        • North Dakota: Father Pierre-Jean De Smet
      • Lesson 18
        • Ohio: John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed)
        • Oklahoma: Will Rogers
      • Lesson 19
        • Oregon: Marcus Whitman
        • Pennsylvania: William Penn
      • Lesson 20
        • Rhode Island: Roger Williams
        • South Carolina: Eliza Lucas Pinckney
      • Lesson 21
        • South Dakota: Jim Bridger
        • Tennessee: Daniel Boone
      • Lesson 22
        • Texas: Sam Houston
        • Utah: John Muir
      • Lesson 23
        • Vermont: John Greenleaf Whittier
        • Virginia: John Smith
      • Lesson 24
        • Washington: Ezra Meeker
        • West Virginia: David Brainerd
      • Lesson 25
        • Wisconsin: Samuel Mazzuchelli
        • Wyoming: Jedediah Smith
      • Lesson 26
        • The Appalachian Trail: America’s Mountain Pathway
        • The Oregon Trail: The Journey West
      • Lesson 27
        • The Santa Fe Trail: Trading on the Frontier
        • The California Trail: Gold Rush & Settlement
      • Lesson 28
        • The Cumberland Gap: Gateway to the Frontier
        • The Wilderness Road: Daniel Boone’s Mountain Passage
      • Lesson 29
        • The Natchez Trace: From Footpath to Frontier Road
        • The Pony Express: Carrying the Mail Across the West
      • Lesson 30
        • The Lewis & Clark Trail: Exploring the Unknown
        • The Chisholm Trail: Cowboy Pathways
      • Lesson 31
        • The National Road: America’s First Federal Highway
        • The Gateway Arch
      • Lesson 32
        • Building a Home: Living Off the Land
        • Pioneer Wagon Life: Traveling in a Covered Wagon
      • Lesson 33
        • Log Cabins: Building Shelter on the Frontier
        • Pioneer Food & Cooking
      • Lesson 34
        • Frontier Schools: One-Room Learning
        • Pioneer Waterways: Travel by River
      • Lesson 35
        • Stagecoach Travel: The First Cross-Country Transportation
        • Mountain Men: Exploration & Survival
      • Lesson 36
        • Hunting, Trapping, & Trading Posts
        • Frontier Missions: Sharing the Gospel in New Lands
    • Teaching Resources
    • Answer Key
    A Fun and Creative Writing Adventure
    Review by Kathleen C
    As a homeschool mom, I'm always looking for ways to make writing more engaging, and Write Like a Pioneer was a wonderful addition to our homeschool. The pioneer-themed activities made writing feel like an adventure instead of just another assignment.

    I loved how the lessons encouraged creativity while also helping develop important writing skills. The historical setting kept my child interested and led to some great discussions about what life was like for early American settlers. It was a fun way to combine language arts with history.

    If you have a student who enjoys hands-on learning, storytelling, or history, Write Like a Pioneer is a great resource that brings writing to life in a unique and memorable way.
    Fun Patriotic Resource
    Review by JC
    Masterbooks just keeps putting out great resources for handwriting. This particular print practice book has some activities to build hand strength and coordination to warm up for the actual writing. It reminds me of A to Zoo, but early America themed. This is a nice way to introduce kids to some famous people in history and the things they said while getting some handwriting practice in. Like the other practice books, there is no instruction for formation, so your child would need to do A to Zoo or another print program that teaches formation first.
    Great next step!
    Review by Rachel
    What a great addition to Masterbooks handwriting lineup! This will pair up so well next to an American History curriculum like America’s Story! I love when you can connect different aspects of learning like this! This book offers short and concise lessons along with practice and hand strengthening activities. I love that it’s more than just pages and pages of copywork. I also love that what they are writing connects to the same subject matter and if you happen to also be covering American History (which is usually what is being covered at this age) the connections are invaluable! The two day a week schedule also makes it completely doable and easy to implement!
    Great Companion to pair with Other MB Resources!
    Review by Charity
    I am so excited to use this copywork practice with my 3rd grader as we study the pioneers in the last half of America's Story Volume 1 and throughout Volume 2. 


    This course is divided up into three main units which can be mixed and matched to go along with other course studies if desired. The first unit, The United States of America, is the longst since there is a lesson for each of the 50 states. We may bring in some elements from Master Books Elementary US Geography course with this section. 

    We are expecially excited about the second unit, Key Trails for American Pioneers as we are wrapping up our study in Daniel Boone and will be moving on to Lewis and Clark and other key frontiersmen. Sometimes we will do our handwriting practice while we listen to the audiobooks for America's Story, or a story from the What a Character series and I think the Famous Pioneers and Frontiersmen volume will pair well with this section of handwriting pages.

    The final unit is on the Pioneer Lifestyle with quotes from famous pioneers such as LIW, Eliza Spalding, Catherine Beecher, and more, giving a perspective into  the everyday life of the pioneers.

    I do wish there was a cursive version of Write Like A Pioneer and a print version of Write Like A Patriot to make these courses more helpful for family style learning, but I am still very excited to use this historical themed handwriting series with my students this year.

    I love having the pdf version of this course so that I can resize athe pages to make the handwriting lines more customized to my older student. We print black and white and it hasn't caused many issues as we are able to pull up the pdf if we need to reference the colored version.
    Beautiful timely handwriting course!
    Review by Michelle C.
    Write Like a Pioneer is such a beautiful handwriting course, not to mention how timely it is with the United States celebrating 250 years. With its suggested two-day-per-week schedule and variety of activities, it can be adapted and used for a wide range of ages. It teaches the whole child, providing physical movement activities to strengthen fine motor skills in addition to handwriting warm-up activities such as mazes, tracing, and drawing.
    Along with quotes from American pioneers, each of the 50 states is mentioned, making it a great course to use alongside a 50 States study. Write Like a Pioneer is colorful, patriotic, and engaging. I definitely recommend it!
    Excellent Manuscript Practice!
    Review by Becky V.
    I was looking for a new option for my incoming second grader to continue with handwriting practice when I came across Write Like a Pioneer. This is exactly what I was looking for! I love that my daughter can continue to practice her handwriting while also learning more about America’s history with a Christian worldview. This workbook focuses on the 50 states, key trails the pioneers used in expansion, and pioneer lifestyle.

    This is set up to use twice weekly over 36 weeks. Each lesson contains a short passage to read, exercises to help further develop fine motor skills, a fun warm-up activity, a selection to copy in manuscript, a get creative activity, and fun facts that relate to the passage. It really does not take long, but it gets the job done in a fun and interactive way! It is set up in the same way that Write Like a Patriot is (cursive), so my daughter is excited to be doing a book like her older brother’s!

    One note for those who purchase the PDF to print - we prefer to print in color, but it does use up a lot of ink due to the red banner that runs down the side of each page!
    A bridge between A to Z and Catch on to Cursive
    Review by Building on the Rock
    Write Like a Pioneer is a fun way to engage with American history while practicing handwriting skills. The pioneering theme would match well with America’s Story 1 and the highlights for each state would also complement Passport to America. In Unit 1, the focus is on the United States of America. Short blurbs for reading include interesting facts of a pioneer from each state and the Native American tribes that lived in the State. Exercises for each day increase motor skills and core strength. Exercises come in the form of using tongs, stretching rubber bands, working with play dough, and writing on a white board while standing. Simple warm-ups prepare the hands for the copy work in the Write sections. Warm-ups can be a short maze, tracing lines, dot-to-dots, simple drawings, or coloring. Unit 2 covers different trails used by pioneers. The Appalachian Trail, the Lewis and Clark Trail, and the Pony Express are just a sampling of the 12 trails covered. Pioneer Lifestyle is the theme for Unit 3. Be sure to check out the Teaching Resources at the end of the book that provide extra activities, practice pages that focus on the alphabet and numbers, an alternate schedule for those who would like to cover the course in one semester, a map of the United States, story pages, names of state and capitals and abbreviations, and a completion certificate. I am thankful for a print handwriting book to use between A to Z Handwriting and starting Catch on to Cursive.
    So helpful
    Review by LD
    I love that Masterbooks is putting out more handwriting practice books. This one engages motor skills as well helping with dexterity and hand-eye coordination. I love the extra practice because as a mom with several children with dyslexia/dyscalculia, one course was not enough. I love that I can use a trusted publisher/curriculum that I already use, for more handwriting instead of having to search countless others for something to help my kids out.
    Such a fun way to practice penmanship!
    Review by Sara G
    We really love this approach to penmanship! This course is two days a week, and goes through 3 units: states, key trails pioneers used, and unique lifestyles that sustained them. Each lesson within the unit includes a bit of reading, physical activity, a warm up and quotes for them to copy. Theres are also creative exercises to keep minds stimulated and fun facts which everyone loves. I am starting this with my kiddos as we go through America’s story for our history component and it complements VERY well. Everyone can use a bit of penmanship practice, and my kiddos love all the components of this course-they don’t realize how much they are actually learning from a penmanship course! This course is a winner!
    Love this!
    Review by Jen
    This writing curriculum is perfect to pair alongside learning the 50 states as well as early pioneers and the westward expansion of the United States. Each lesson incorporates a warm up that helps the child with hand strength and coordination as well as copy work for manuscript writing. I absolutely love the whole child approach with this. This is geared for 2nd and 3rd grade but I do think that if you have an older student who may need some practice with manuscript, this would be a fun way to incorporate it. I also appreciate that this can be done in 18 or 36 weeks. I highly recommend this course!

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