Handwriting...penmanship...has been on our radar for years.
In the last few months, Cap has wanted to work with the kids more formally with handwriting. I was not opposed to the idea and since I had "more time" (in part because I don't work outside of the home, but also in part because I am much more of an unschooler than Cap and so it often appears that I'm not "doing" anything with the kids) I said I'd take it on.
I think there might have been a conversation in there about the difference in our own handwriting. He thinks my handwriting is beautiful. I do like my handwriting. Furthermore, I can distinctly remember my handwriting go through different stages over many years as I thought about it, practiced, and honed in on my now signature style, which became my style, sometime during college or right after.
(I wonder if there has been research done on right brained-ness and "prettier" handwriting...)
Handwriting is one of those things that people often have a 'feeling' about one way or another. It's not neutral. For this reason alone, I support any effort to foster a gentle awareness and being around children and not only their own handwriting, but their relationship to their own handwriting and the handwriting of others.
Last night, I decided to reincorporate some "table activity" back into my time with the kids. This morning, I pulled out the D'Nealian workbooks I'd ordered from Amazon a couple of months ago.
I learned specific tidbits of information about how to teach/we learn handwriting from two of my past passions: working with kids with ASD (autism spectrum disorders) and being a Waldorf-inspired homeschooler.
I'd learned about D'Nealian handwriting when I taught in a progressive public school system in Massachusetts (I was a special education teacher co-teaching with a general education teacher and our class was comprised of 'typically developing' kids and kids on the spectrum...yes, it was awesome). One of the things I never forgot about D'Nealian was that the way letter formation is taught makes continuing on to learning cursive writing pretty much a no-brainer.
Things that made learning about and making/practicing lower case D'Nealian letter a's fun for the kids this morning:
• the novelty of the pre-printed worksheet
• presenting new pencils with a flourish (I remembered a stash the kids had forgotten about)
• the 'directions' (can be seen in the above pic) to be said out loud as you form the letter (it's fun, but it's also auditory feedback connecting to visual and motor processes...synchronized neuro vibrations feel good :-)
• keeping it short
Why handwriting now?
We didn't do it sooner because we didn't want to interfere with either kid's creative writing process. They both started to write, primarily, through drawing their own comics. Especially for Gem, for whom neither fine motor skills or expressive communication are strengths, it was critical to give him space and time to explore the possibilities of creating comics as a form of self-expression. And in order to do this, we needed to pull back from giving him too much interruptive feedback.
Although it may seem redundant...or, whatever the opposite of killing two birds with one stone might be, to teach handwriting to kids who can write already, the redundancy may work in their favor. The pressure of learning a new skill is off. Sag has a bit of the perfectionist in him. It's all tangled up (at age 8, sigh...) with younger sibling stuff...feeling like he will never catch up and the injustice of it all.
So, working on relearning how to form letters (especially since they are also better able to cognitively appreciate the advantage of moving into cursive writing more easily) feels more fun-and-games like rather than a tensed up ball of if-I-don't-ace-this-handwriting-stuff-I'm-up-a-psychic-shit's-creek.
Now that the kids are using their writing in other formats and are very comfortable with the act of writing, we are helping them focus on things like handwriting, punctuation, letter size, spelling, grammar, readability, etc.
And so it goes.
In the last few months, Cap has wanted to work with the kids more formally with handwriting. I was not opposed to the idea and since I had "more time" (in part because I don't work outside of the home, but also in part because I am much more of an unschooler than Cap and so it often appears that I'm not "doing" anything with the kids) I said I'd take it on.
I think there might have been a conversation in there about the difference in our own handwriting. He thinks my handwriting is beautiful. I do like my handwriting. Furthermore, I can distinctly remember my handwriting go through different stages over many years as I thought about it, practiced, and honed in on my now signature style, which became my style, sometime during college or right after.
(I wonder if there has been research done on right brained-ness and "prettier" handwriting...)
Handwriting is one of those things that people often have a 'feeling' about one way or another. It's not neutral. For this reason alone, I support any effort to foster a gentle awareness and being around children and not only their own handwriting, but their relationship to their own handwriting and the handwriting of others.
Last night, I decided to reincorporate some "table activity" back into my time with the kids. This morning, I pulled out the D'Nealian workbooks I'd ordered from Amazon a couple of months ago.
I learned specific tidbits of information about how to teach/we learn handwriting from two of my past passions: working with kids with ASD (autism spectrum disorders) and being a Waldorf-inspired homeschooler.
I'd learned about D'Nealian handwriting when I taught in a progressive public school system in Massachusetts (I was a special education teacher co-teaching with a general education teacher and our class was comprised of 'typically developing' kids and kids on the spectrum...yes, it was awesome). One of the things I never forgot about D'Nealian was that the way letter formation is taught makes continuing on to learning cursive writing pretty much a no-brainer.
Things that made learning about and making/practicing lower case D'Nealian letter a's fun for the kids this morning:
• the novelty of the pre-printed worksheet
• presenting new pencils with a flourish (I remembered a stash the kids had forgotten about)
• the 'directions' (can be seen in the above pic) to be said out loud as you form the letter (it's fun, but it's also auditory feedback connecting to visual and motor processes...synchronized neuro vibrations feel good :-)
• keeping it short
Why handwriting now?
We didn't do it sooner because we didn't want to interfere with either kid's creative writing process. They both started to write, primarily, through drawing their own comics. Especially for Gem, for whom neither fine motor skills or expressive communication are strengths, it was critical to give him space and time to explore the possibilities of creating comics as a form of self-expression. And in order to do this, we needed to pull back from giving him too much interruptive feedback.
Although it may seem redundant...or, whatever the opposite of killing two birds with one stone might be, to teach handwriting to kids who can write already, the redundancy may work in their favor. The pressure of learning a new skill is off. Sag has a bit of the perfectionist in him. It's all tangled up (at age 8, sigh...) with younger sibling stuff...feeling like he will never catch up and the injustice of it all.
So, working on relearning how to form letters (especially since they are also better able to cognitively appreciate the advantage of moving into cursive writing more easily) feels more fun-and-games like rather than a tensed up ball of if-I-don't-ace-this-handwriting-stuff-I'm-up-a-psychic-shit's-creek.
Now that the kids are using their writing in other formats and are very comfortable with the act of writing, we are helping them focus on things like handwriting, punctuation, letter size, spelling, grammar, readability, etc.
And so it goes.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI thought I would add my 2cents. I switch my DD to Handwriting w/o tears in third grade-ish because of dyslexia/dysgraphia. WOW! It work out really well. I started the twins on it when they showed interest in writing too. It combines print and cursive writing which is how I tend to write anyway but we tend to be left brainers here.
Fer
Hey Fer! I've heard great things about Handwriting W/out Tears. Thanks for sharing that.
ReplyDeleteIn our fam, I am RB, Cap is LB, Gem is LBish, and Sag is RBish. :-)
I love getting comments...thanks!
Hi,
ReplyDeletedue to dyslexia I am not totally sure which brain we are. I just know we are not the norm. All three girls are art and music talented. They think outside the box too.