A few months ago I posted a question concerning which letters, uppercase or lowercase, to use when teaching my daughter to read and write. All of your suggestions helped tremendously and now she can read/ write her name and cat and can spell/ read a few others.Some of you brought to my attention that there were different styles of handwriting used to teach writing....I knew that and used one of the styles when I was younger, but had forgotten. So, I started asking around to see what each school uses. The answers have been "it's up to the teacher" or "we don't teach a style". That was not what I was hoping to hear! Do you think it is beneficial to the child to learn handwriting by using a style? Should I pick one I am comfortable with and teach my daughter anyway? Have you noticed any difference in handwriting later down the road from a child that was taught using a particular style compared to one without any style?
Hi C.,
I have heard really good things about HWT. Another one to look at is called Italic Handwriting. I have used it for 12 years with my children, and I really like it. It makes it very easy to transition between print and cursive, but both are very simple, and not overly fancy or anything. You can find it at timberdoodle.com for pretty cheap, too.
Teaching a method of writing is important. Handwriting needs to be taught and personal Style is what develops. Often illegible handwriting leads to set back in academic acheivement. When i starte dto investigate i found that this issue needsto be address and sooner the better.
I founded Write to Shine to help children develop those hand muscles and work on mastering Handwriting.
The Write to Shine®program is here to provide Handwriting Tutoring individualized to the child's need based on the highly acclaimed Handwriting Without Tears® program to teach writing readiness, printing, or cursive.
Handwriting workshops and education is available for schools, parents, and community groups in the form of workshops, in-services, or presentations.
S.
Certified Handwriting Specialist
www.writetoshine.weebly.com
I can tell you from teaching 3-6 grades that handwriting changes from grade to grade and teacher to teacher, so I would recommend not stressing about a specific style. I have used and would recommend handwriting without tears as well.
I just wanted to point out that what ever style you choose might not fit with the style she learns in school...everything is so different now from when I was a kid...it is very hard to keep up with! I have encountered the same thing recently with my 10 yr old nephew who has to use cursive for everything this year...and trying to help him with certain letters...LOTS of things have changed since I was taught (and I am only 32) there are lots of extra "tails" on letters that used to not have them and some are just down right different...like the Upper and lower case "Q/q" and the upper and lower case "G/g"....and not all the letters have all the loops they used to...like the lower case "k" ...it used to be a line with what looked like a uppercase R half way down...remember? it used to loop? now it is just the straight lines making the "k" but with a little "tail" (as they call them at my kids' school) or swoosh at the end?
Whatever you decide I am sure will be fine...just be prepared to have her re-learn some letters the way the teacher/school will want her to write them.
It is confusing stuff? The lower case "f" doesn't have the loop anymore either...it is just a regular version of the "f" but with the same "tail" at the bottom last stroke. If you really look at the way they are teaching cursive these days, you can tell it is a dying art, the way we used to do it! Now a days its all just printing with "flares or tails" at the end of every letter?
My son is in first grade and has never put the tails-calles serifs on the letters nor has he been taught to do that. Basic block letters is what he's been taught. Think helvetica.
My son just finished Handwriting Without Tears, he is in 3rd. It is a no nonsense way to teaching handwriting that connects letters, they are neat even for a 9 year old with other things that are much more important, like Star Wars.
The D'Nealian way uses all the curls and tails and is hard to master in 2nd and 3rd.
My daughter is in 6th, she can write using the D'Nealian form and it is very pretty, she cares and is all about how things look.
Teach your daughter block printing then get HWT.
.
Oh, you've touched on one of my BIGGEST pet peeves... the way they teach our kids to print drives M. NUTS! What ever happened to the standard block print that we were taught as kids. Now, all of their letters have "little tails" on the end and it does nothing but make their handwriting look sloppy. When I asked the teachers about the "new" style, they told M. it made the transition to cursive easier. I personally don't believe the transition should be easier. Printing is different than cursive writing and both should be taught correctly. I'm not sure if there is a standard, nation-wide, as to how the letters should be printed, but here, I've J. had to bite my tongue and allow the "tails" to irritate M. to no end. However, I have decided that this summer I will be working with my 6 year old on learning to print correctly and I guess I will deal with the consequences of letters being marked wrong when she goes back to school next year. And I will do the same when she begins learning cursive if I feel they aren't teaching that correctly either. I'm not sure if I'm making the best decision, but I believe that, in this day and age, when so much is done on computers and with texting, that it is still important to have legible, neat handwriting. Yes, I know I sound like a bit of a zealot, and I very well might upset my daughter's teachers, but there is nothing wrong with being able to write letters that look basically J. like what I see when I type. So, if you're concerned about the teachers being happy with what she writes, I would go to the school and ask for a print out of the alphabet in the style they teach, but if you want her to learn to print correctly, then start teaching her the correct way to print now.
