Handwriting: A Challenge And A Joy
Handwriting is a subject many of us often tend to take for granted
. We teach a basic alphabet, and as long as our students handwriting is legible, we dont make good handwriting a priority. However, handwriting is a critical component of communication. Lets accept the challenge and enjoy the results of teaching our students a lasting handwriting skill, whereby legibility will flow at age-appropriate speed.
Your first challenge is the selection of an appropriate handwriting program. Both learning and teaching should be a happy experience. You want to create a love of writing, to give full rein to self-expression on paper. You may first be attracted to a program where the characters (letters and numerals) are similar to those you learned or use in your own writing. Is that program the best? Look closely at other programs. Do the characters look like they will be easy for a young child to write? Do they look like they will develop from the essential legibility into the speed one needs as an older student and adult?
Learning to read and write are similar, but not the same. Reading is about recognizing letters and their groups that make words and sentences. Writing is more challenging. One must recognize the characters. Then, one must learn how to form letters, put them into words, and transmit messages from mind-to-hand-to-paper.
It helps if characters are simple. The writing lines should conform to the natural movements of the hand and fingers; it should be easy to move a pencil or marker to write the shapes of the characters. It helps to understand handwriting issues that affect legibility and speed, and this article attempts to help.
Start With Play
Postpone letter and numeral instruction until children are ready. Handwriting is a complex skill that develops gradually, from thoughtfully, carefully constructed characters to eventual automaticity. We seem to be teaching children to write at earlier and earlier ages. However, they first need to gain an understanding of communication, how their speech can also go to paper, how to put letters together for words, and how to write numbers for counting, adding and subtracting.
So, while you are playing with the activities described below, you may want to show a child how to write his or her name. Names are important to us, so learning to write them is a path to understanding. Please use a capital with lowercase letters following. Its important to teach the correct way first and then never need to change it.
Children need the physical tools to write. Think of hands and fingers as tools. Babies use them to reach for and capture your finger, toys, food, and lots of things that that they shouldnt! Their tools look like fists or claws. Children need to develop the muscles in their hands so their tools become adjustable. The fist needs to change so the index finger can rest on top of a writing instrument with the thumb and third finger supporting a pencil or marker. More on this later in Posture Play: Joy.
There are two basic elements of effective handwriting: rhythm and posture. Left on their own most children have rhythm. Give them a metal pot and an old spoon and you may cover your ears to escape the rhythm! The goal of handwriting instruction should be to harness natural rhythm and apply it to handwriting. Let movements flow into writing lines.
Rhythm Play: Joy
Let children scribble and draw. They can follow wherever their imagination takes them. They may watch a parent or teacher write. It looks cool because the activity seems important to the writer. If children scribble, and pretend to write, there is no pressure to replicate letter shapes. The lines just flow.
As an introduction to letters, I like to use warm-up patterns that relate to the movement of the hand for basic letter formations. One that is similar to a zigzag is excellent for developing consistent spacing, stroke direction, and letter size. A second that does that looks like a row of lower case "Us" and helps with the formation of lowercase letters that move counterclockwise, those you see with the pattern. A third relates to clockwise formations.
Patterns can be written in sand, rice, finger paint, or whipped creamtasty, but shaving cream is an easier cleanup. Be sure the index finger is doing the writing. Pretend your finger is a plane or a bird making patterns in the sky. Put large sheets of paper on an easel or the wall for drawing, scribbling, or patterns. This is the gross motor play that supports fine motor writing.
Posture Play: Joy
Movements for any activity require specific posture, whether crawling, walking, running, or playing a piano, kicking a ball, riding a horseand writing. Apply any appropriate analogy as you encourage a good hold on writing tools. Fluent handwriting cannot happen with tight, tense muscles.
Posture is more than proper body position. Its about building hand and finger strength to hold writing tools effectively. Try not to teach letters and numerals too soon. There are sixty-two different shapes to master and children easily become anxiousanxious hands often have a death grip on pencils. An anxious grip looks more like a fist, often with the thumb wrapped around the fingers. The hand needs to be relaxed; look for an open palm. The index finger should dominate the writing. Poor pencil holds become habits that can cause pain when students are older and write for extended periods.
Little hands need to become strong enough to hold a writing tool and move it around with ease. As children draw, one can gently guide the index finger into a dominant position on a crayon or marker. Its much easier to guide the hand when children are focused on their own drawing, rather than when they are trying to form letters correctly.
Play with clay or any malleable materials. Cut paper. Make collages. Push holes in garden dirt to plant seeds. Make a little pad by collecting scraps of paper and holding them together with a clip, or just hang up favorite drawings with clothespins, collect tiny pebbles into a box. Oh, there are so many fun ways to get those hands strong and moving!
As you introduce letters, take it easy. Keep lessons short and varied. Heres a sample just for a starter: Stand and point the index finger in the air. Air-write a letter, chanting or singing as you go. Chanting reinforces correct directional movements. Next, finger trace the letter on a childs back, and ask him or her to guess the letter. Then go to a desk or table with paper and write three or four warm-up patterns. Then practice the letter, writing it no more than four times. The first one may be the best, and you dont want children to become frustrated as they keep trying to write a better letter. It seldom happens. You could also use a silly picture like this bird for a practice paper. Hold the paper with the non-dominant hand, and practice rhythm with a good marker hold.
For Older Students and Adults
Handwriting problems rarely have anything to do with an individuals ability to write legibly or quickly. With a bit of guidance, and understanding of what makes letters legible or illegible, students can easily correct the problems.
How can a challenge become a joy? It will come with the realization that the problems rarely have anything do to with an individuals capability to write legibly and fast. Even those with physical handicaps can have satisfactory handwriting. Again, simplicity and easy, natural movements rule.
The older student needs to address the formation of letters, their shapes, slant and direction of strokes, so letters will flow, joining with legibility. Simplify letter formations as much a possible. The simplification will need to be relevant to the handwriting program you originally chose. Of course, if it was not you who made the choice, or if you think your program was faulty, you may need to search for a better program.
Often the hurdle to overcome is pen hold. Tension never works, and it is not always easy to relax. Keep practice sessions short so one is able to write before becoming too tense. The alternate pen hold shown here helps many people. It will feel weird at first, but keep at it for ten or fifteen minutes, and it can work. The index finger is still in control with the thumb and third finger supporting the pen, but the pen rests in the web between the index and third fingers.
Print-Script and Cursive
In the United States and elsewhere a form of print-script is usually taught to beginners. Letter strokes start at the top and move left to right. The letters are stiff, and without flow, but at least they conform to reading. For about three or four years, from pre-kindergarten through first or second grade, children develop habits of movement. Then there is usually a short period when they happily learn grown-up writing, conventional cursive. Problem is, established movements for print-script must be undone and retrained because letter strokes no longer move in the same directions, and some morph into different shapes. Often the cursive novelty wears off and students revert to what they first learned. The best outcome happens if one adjusts the print-script, joins up some letters, retains legibility, and gains speed. Sadly, too many struggle with confusion about how to form letters, and serious handwriting problems set in.
Of course, some programs teach conventional cursive only, so the confusion is not a problem. When students are required to print, they usually adapt.
Parents and teachers with children between the ages of about 8 to 11 may face rebellion when they try to improve handwriting. It seems that it is an age when they just dig in their heels and say, No! Solution: Wait. Soon there is a point in time when the student will welcome help. The wake-up call comes to him or her with realization that grades suffer if an essay cannot be read, or its difficult to take legible notes. The writing may be slow, so it takes too much time and effort to put a students great thoughts onto paper.
Handwriting instruction should hold a solid place in your curriculum. Young children use pencils extensively in their schooling. They will take pride in a legible hand that moves at age-appropriate speed. It contributes to their self-esteem.
Communication by technology does, or will, play a large role in the lives of older students and adults, but there are quick notes to oneself or others, as well as handwritten notes of thanks, sympathy, or congratulations, that not only are thoughtful but also have a significant, positive impact on the recipient. Accept the challenge of teaching your students to develop excellent handwriting skills, and enjoy the lifelong rewards of those efforts.
Nan Jay Barchowsky is a handwriting specialist. She has worked as an instructor, consultant, and tutor for thirty-five years. Her italic based program was developed within elementary classrooms. Nans company has published handwriting materials for all ages. Please see www.BFHHandwriting.com.Nan welcomes comments and questions.
Copyright 2010, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared in the Winter 2010-11 issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, the trade magazine for homeschool families. Read the magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com or read it on the go and download the free apps at www.TOSApps.com to read the magazine on your mobile devices.
by: Nan Jay Barchowsky
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