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Writing
Image by gibsonsgolfer
I wish I had an example for a couple of months ago and one from two weeks ago. I used to take pride in my cursive writing skills. Two weeks or so we did a session on printing and writing to work on fine motor control. Let’s just say it wasn’t good with squiggles only trying to look like words. this is now. Still a ways to go.
30 minutes of solid writing
Image by aaipodpics
I tried a looped cursive writing style I learned in school, all those years ago. It isn’t very good yet, because I haven’t used it for so long.
There is a system to it, which I know, but forget while writing. I sometimes even forget what letter I’m drawing while I’m writing, leading to messing up the form of that letter. I suppose you have to think about drawing the letter a second before you actually draw it to get the best result.
Since it doesn’t seem much faster or clearer than handwriting in print (which is supposed to be clearer, since many forms state one should fill out in print), it doesn’t seem to make much sense to use cursive handwriting.
However, there is this idea that one should think about what one writes a second or so ahead of it being written (I mess up my letter form most of the times if I don’t). In my own experience, with handwriting in print, you can write each letter as you think of it. It might be this subtle difference in how you put down your thoughts in writing that might improve one’s creative writing skills. It makes sense to me that the more time is available to you for processing your thoughts before you solidify them in writing, the better formed those thoughts will be, even if it’s just one single second more time. Of course, this may be different for different people. It is even possible that this is just a good mental image to have, for educational purposes, and has nothing to do with what actually is happening inside the brain. It would be truth (it applies), but not fact (it doesn’t happen).
Since most of life is about subtleties and tweaks and almost never about big decisions and sweeping changes, I suppose a more elaborate method of writing should help in a modest way to improve one’s writing skills through penmanship. I’m not too sure about this, though. It could be just the old man in me yelling at me that things should stay the same, and, by the way, to get off the lawn.
It would be a pity when handwriting as a requirement for basic education and literacy will be lost in the push to be ever more efficient. Typing is much faster than handwriting and most people in the workforce are required to type in front of a computer. I could see handwriting be pushed aside in favor of speed and usability (typed text becomes instantly available once stored online).
Practicing writing skills
Image by ACPL
Gabriella and Francisca at the writing table as mom offers encouragement