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Have you ever noticed how hard it is to read most handwritten notes or letters these days? Perhaps due to the advancing computer age in which we live, many teachers or parent educators simply do not spend sufficient time cultivating their student’s handwriting skills. In the days before laptop computers, e-mail, and mobile printers it was commonly understood that handwriting prowess was of great importance and, in fact, was one of the marks of a well-educated person. Although technology has somewhat diminished the role of penmanship, the fact still remains that quality handwriting skills are in some respects more vital than ever.

It is precisely because we now live in a much more impersonal age that is dominated by high-tech machines, that the warmth and charm of “old-fashioned” handwritten notes or letters must not be undervalued. What’s more, we live in the era of big government bureaucracies with their ever increasing appetite for information. The growth of government agencies has initiated a never ending stream of documents and surveys which ordinary citizens are required to complete in printed fashion. For these reasons, and others, it is naïve for parents to reach the conclusion that penmanship skills are no longer worth pursuing diligently.

Parents who desire to help their children achieve handwriting proficiency must begin by establishing the proper physical environment in their place of instruction. To make penmanship instruction a meaningful activity, the following preliminary steps should be taken:

1. Provide adequate lighting for the student that minimizes shadows or glare. Natural lighting is ideal, but quality overhead lighting is fine as well.
   
2. Obtain a suitable writing desk that permits the student to sit comfortably with both feet on the floor while his elbow is bent at the proper angle. Be sure that the desktop is large enough to permit the student to rest his forearms on the surface of it.
   
3. Purchase a good comprehensive handwriting book with plenty of lined practice paper. It is also helpful to obtain a poster for your classroom that clearly shows the precise stroke pattern for each letter in the alphabet along with the numbers one through ten.
   
4. Invest in a good set of pencils that fit your student’s hand well. Some teachers also purchase an extra large eraser. Colored pencils can also come in handy when students are learning to write a letter with multiple strokes for they can put each stroke in a different color.
   
5. Make a miniature sandbox for your student to use by filling an old cake or pie tin with two inches of sand. This sandbox will permit younger students to practice their letter formation while increasing their fine motor skills.

After parents have obtained the preliminary supplies for their penmanship instruction, they can begin to move confidently into the teaching process. The fundamentals that should be stressed consistently include good posture, proper paper position, the correct pencil grip, neat letter formation in relation to the top line and baseline, adequate spacing between letters, and the optimum speed or rhythm of the writer. Although the purpose of this article is not to set forth a detailed teacher’s plan for handwriting, a few additional suggestions will be given at this point concerning each of the above mentioned fundamentals.

Good posture --- The student should sit with his back straight, not leaning to the right or left, yet bent forward slightly with his forearms on the surface of his desk or table. The writing surface should be slightly higher than the student’s waist, and care should be taken to ensure that the student can sit with both feet on the ground.

Paper position --- The position of the paper is connected to the student’s posture. The paper should be placed directly in front of his eyes and under his writing hand. The non-writing hand is placed at the top of the paper to hold it still, while the paper itself is slated at a 30-45 degree angle so as to permit the student to see his work without leaning.

Pencil hold --- Most students work well with a standard #2 pencil that has a fairly sharp point. The student’s thumb and index finger should grasp the pencil, letting it rest on the middle finger. The last two fingers should arch under the middle finger to give it support, while the hand rests on its side. Generally speaking, low or medium pressure when gripping a pencil produces better writing with less fatigue. If your students grip is proper, it should be rather easy to pull the pencil out of his hand.

Letter formation --- Instructors should familiarize their students with the significance of the three primary ruled lines, commonly known as the top line, midline, and baseline. Time should also be spent on teaching children how to form the most common circles and loops. In addition, students need to be given help to understand how to properly put space between each letter.

Speed or rhythm --- A common problem that instructors must address stems from the tendency of children to write too quickly or without any rhythm in terms of their stroke tempo. Care must be taken to encourage students to develop a smooth and flowing tempo to their writing before they seek to write with greater speed.

Contrary to the opinion of some, time spent on handwriting instruction is time well spent. A truly well trained student will have the capacity to write neatly and in such a way as to convey his own personal style and attention to detail. High tech communication certainly has its place in the modern age, but it will never totally eclipse the need for the skill of handwritten communication.

"'Christ in You...'" from Dale Krebbs

The Saints Who Slept