We were taught to begin all cursive letters with an upward stroke, with even a preceding tail on letters like a and o, as shown here -- http://www.howtowriteincursive.org/tag/cursive-writing/.

That was a bad idea. Much better: graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/09/08/opinion/OPED-WRITING.1.pdf, briem.net, italic-handwriting.org, studioarts.net/calligraphy/italic/hwlesson.html, BFHhandwriting.com, handwritingsuccess.com, Lexercise.com, HandwritingThatWorks.com, freehandwriting.net/educational.html

Briem has been criticised for creating "zig zag" handwriting that's hard to read if the writer writes at speed.

And you need to include the http:// if you want those to be links.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2009/09/08/opinion/OPED-...

http://briem.net

http://italic-handwriting.org

http://studioarts.net/calligraphy/italic/hwlesson.html

http://BFHhandwriting.com

http://handwritingsuccess.com

http://Lexercise.com

http://HandwritingThatWorks.com

http://freehandwriting.net/educational.html

You pull it on the upward strokes too. Have you used a fountain pen for long periods of time? The nib acts as a spring (in fact it's called a "feder" in German, which coincidentally can mean "spring" though it also means "feather" which, of course, is the sense in which it is used) if you push on it. Little kids learn with a special kid's pen which has a very strong nib because they tend to push down hard and to push on the pen.

I don't know if they still require it, but as of 5 years ago my kid was still required to do his schoolwork with a fountain pen (until grade 8).

I have used a fountain pen and no you don't "pull it up". You'd have to rotate the entire pen for each letter which would be impossible.

Take a look: https://youtu.be/q6rfoRiWa8A?t=77

Pen is always at the same angle so a lot of the time it is being pushed up the page (or up-right).