HANDWRITING - History
A good handwriting is an essential skill that every child must acquire because it forms a very important aspect of education at all levels. Seeing is Believing. Elegant handwriting became a sign of social status.
Someone's quality can be seen from their writing. The art of writing closely relates to someone's outlook.
Handwriting has been around since man first picked up a stick and drew a symbol in the dirt to communicate with another human.
"The earliest means of writing that approached pen and paper as we know them today was developed by the Greeks. The first examples of handwriting (purely text messages made by hand) originated in Greece. The Grecian scholar, Cadmus invented the written letter—text messages on paper sent from one individual to another". Only the most wealthy citizens of ancient societies were literate enough or had enough time to value and understand handwriting, so the skill was not widely known. When handwriting became wide-spread, it was the fastest form of communication across great distances.
But now, the study showed that, people preferred to use slower communication channels and handwritten messages for their most important correspondence.
"Writing by hand is a slow process; the slower the better, actually. The physical act of slipping lines of wet ink onto paper is an almost organic connection between the writer and the word. And when one takes the time to emphasize shape, size, and proportion, one is lingering with those words, giving them time to percolate in the mind and settle in for the long haul. Using a computer gets the job done, but it is nothing like a meditative act." The simplicity of writing by hand allows one to think about the words and messages they are writing, thus making a handwritten letter the most intimate form of non-verbal communication available.
People valued handwriting for its permanency and beauty. Typewriters and computers threatened the age of handwriting, reducing and changing its use in modern society by many people. However, the fine art of handwriting remains a skill we each learn as children. Technology may have changed how we write and communicate with each other, but handwriting is still all around each of us. Every time we sign our names, send a letter, jot a note, pen out a grocery list, or simply scratch a reminder to ourselves, we employ the art of handwriting regardless of new technology. Handwriting is traditional. It is functional. And it is necessary.
"Those who study handwriting issues maintain that the handwriting process offers powerful advantages to children and that time spent on handwriting development improves students' abilities across the curriculum. Teachers supports that early consistent teaching of handwriting is crucial to success in school. Ignoring handwriting has been shown to retard fine motor coordination and produce less detail-oriented students.
Handwriting requires the motor coordination of multiple joints in the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder to form letters and to arrange them on the page. Holding the pen and guiding it across paper depends mostly upon sensory information from skin, joints and muscles of the hand and this adjusts movement to changes in the friction between pen and paper.
How To Help Your Child Practice Their Handwriting
One of the things that needs to be remembered when working with your child is that practice is really the key to having good handwriting. The more you practice the easier it will be to form letters properly and to have a legible hand.
1. Make them understand the basics to good handwriting. Good handwriting is formed from three basic ideas.
i) The letter formation. ii) Sizing of letters. iii) Spacing is the third part of good handwriting.
2. Make it a priority in your life.
3. Start as early as possible.
4. Give them lots of opportunities to play.
i) Finger painting (Hand eye coordination).
ii) Working with clay or dough (Often both hand eye coordination and strengthening)
iii) Climbing bars at the play ground (Mostly strength)
iv) Tracing pictures out of a coloring book (hand eye coordination)
v) Video games-It is true that most parents don't want their kids playing very many video games, but there are advantages to it. If you are concerned then pick educational games and set time limits. (This improves both strength and hand eye coordination, but is especially good for hand eye coordination).
vi). Be encouraging.
vii) Gently correct any mistakes that they make.
viii) Use practice paper.
ix) Let them practice on a blackboard or whiteboard
x) Make handwriting part of other activities.
xi) Model correct handwriting.
xii) Check posture.
xiii) Read.
xiv) Sing.
xv) Encourage drawing.
xvi) Give little bites.
xvii) Spark creativity.
xviii) Ask & Discuss
5. Give them lots of opportunities to play.
i) Finger painting (Hand eye coordination).
ii) Working with clay or dough (Often both hand eye coordination and strengthening)
iii) Climbing bars at the play ground (Mostly strength)
iv) Tracing pictures out of a coloring book (hand eye coordination)
v) Video games-It is true that most parents don't want their kids playing very many video games, but there are advantages to it. If you are concerned then pick educational games and set time limits. (This improves both strength and hand eye coordination, but is especially good for hand eye coordination).
Handwriting is necessary to each of us. The most important aspect of improving our handwriting is practice. "Today is a good day to start on a future of legible and even good handwriting! Good handwriting not only does it help the brain develop, it can also improve grades and confidence."
In today's fast-paced computer age, handwriting seems like a forgotten art. However, solid handwriting skills remain crucial for our kids— and for good reason. While overall student confidence and early academic success often directly relate to handwriting. Children are texting, tapping and typing on keyboards more than ever, leaving less time to master that old-fashioned skill known as handwriting.
Handwriting is faster. Researchers who tested second-, fourth- and sixth-graders found that children compose essays more prolifically — and faster — when using a pen rather than a keyboard. And also shown that forming letters by hand may engage our thinking brains differently than pressing down on a key.
The benefits of good handwriting endure throughout our entire lives. In fact, studies show that mastering handwriting sets children up for other learning successes. Handwriting builds self-esteem, helps children have an organized approach in managing tasks and enhances people's ability to communicate.
Several studies show that children with good handwriting feel more confident and proud of their work, and other studies demonstrate that legible papers receive higher grades than illegible ones. Students who don't master neat letter formation are at a disadvantage, which can negatively impact a child's grade on spelling tests, math quizzes and essays.
What is handwriting?
If language by eye we called as reading and by ear is listening and by mouth is speaking, then handwriting can be called as the language by hand as told by Virginia berninger.
Reading = Language by eye
Listening = Language by ear
Speaking = Language by mouth
Writing = Language by hand
Defining 'good handwriting' :
The three factors which determines and define the term good handwriting or fluency, legibility and speed.
Fluency is the ability to carry out the motor movements required for handwriting smoothly, easily, comfortably and readily.
Legibility is the ease with which the reader (and the writer) can discern the handwriting on the page and is directly related to how well formed the letters are.
Speed is the rate at which handwriting is produced in relation to a student's developmental stage.
And to achieve these three factors we need to engage our body, , mind and soul
The body, mind and soul of handwriting
To achieve fluency, legibility and speed we need to engage the:
The Body: Getting the position and the motor movements of handwriting physically correct.
The Mind: Understanding the construction of handwriting and the meaning of the language we are writing. The Soul: Enjoying the process, developing a sensual and aesthetic appreciation of handwriting.
Body, mind and soul
'Good handwriting is so
important for getting your
ideas across.
For me, writing includes
the heart and the head as well
as the hand.'
Roger McGough, Poet
Someone's quality can be seen from their writing. The art of writing closely relates to someone's outlook.
Handwriting has been around since man first picked up a stick and drew a symbol in the dirt to communicate with another human.
"The earliest means of writing that approached pen and paper as we know them today was developed by the Greeks. The first examples of handwriting (purely text messages made by hand) originated in Greece. The Grecian scholar, Cadmus invented the written letter—text messages on paper sent from one individual to another". Only the most wealthy citizens of ancient societies were literate enough or had enough time to value and understand handwriting, so the skill was not widely known. When handwriting became wide-spread, it was the fastest form of communication across great distances.
But now, the study showed that, people preferred to use slower communication channels and handwritten messages for their most important correspondence.
"Writing by hand is a slow process; the slower the better, actually. The physical act of slipping lines of wet ink onto paper is an almost organic connection between the writer and the word. And when one takes the time to emphasize shape, size, and proportion, one is lingering with those words, giving them time to percolate in the mind and settle in for the long haul. Using a computer gets the job done, but it is nothing like a meditative act." The simplicity of writing by hand allows one to think about the words and messages they are writing, thus making a handwritten letter the most intimate form of non-verbal communication available.
People valued handwriting for its permanency and beauty. Typewriters and computers threatened the age of handwriting, reducing and changing its use in modern society by many people. However, the fine art of handwriting remains a skill we each learn as children. Technology may have changed how we write and communicate with each other, but handwriting is still all around each of us. Every time we sign our names, send a letter, jot a note, pen out a grocery list, or simply scratch a reminder to ourselves, we employ the art of handwriting regardless of new technology. Handwriting is traditional. It is functional. And it is necessary.
"Those who study handwriting issues maintain that the handwriting process offers powerful advantages to children and that time spent on handwriting development improves students' abilities across the curriculum. Teachers supports that early consistent teaching of handwriting is crucial to success in school. Ignoring handwriting has been shown to retard fine motor coordination and produce less detail-oriented students.
Handwriting requires the motor coordination of multiple joints in the hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder to form letters and to arrange them on the page. Holding the pen and guiding it across paper depends mostly upon sensory information from skin, joints and muscles of the hand and this adjusts movement to changes in the friction between pen and paper.
How To Help Your Child Practice Their Handwriting
One of the things that needs to be remembered when working with your child is that practice is really the key to having good handwriting. The more you practice the easier it will be to form letters properly and to have a legible hand.
1. Make them understand the basics to good handwriting. Good handwriting is formed from three basic ideas.
i) The letter formation. ii) Sizing of letters. iii) Spacing is the third part of good handwriting.
2. Make it a priority in your life.
3. Start as early as possible.
4. Give them lots of opportunities to play.
i) Finger painting (Hand eye coordination).
ii) Working with clay or dough (Often both hand eye coordination and strengthening)
iii) Climbing bars at the play ground (Mostly strength)
iv) Tracing pictures out of a coloring book (hand eye coordination)
v) Video games-It is true that most parents don't want their kids playing very many video games, but there are advantages to it. If you are concerned then pick educational games and set time limits. (This improves both strength and hand eye coordination, but is especially good for hand eye coordination).
vi). Be encouraging.
vii) Gently correct any mistakes that they make.
viii) Use practice paper.
ix) Let them practice on a blackboard or whiteboard
x) Make handwriting part of other activities.
xi) Model correct handwriting.
xii) Check posture.
xiii) Read.
xiv) Sing.
xv) Encourage drawing.
xvi) Give little bites.
xvii) Spark creativity.
xviii) Ask & Discuss
5. Give them lots of opportunities to play.
i) Finger painting (Hand eye coordination).
ii) Working with clay or dough (Often both hand eye coordination and strengthening)
iii) Climbing bars at the play ground (Mostly strength)
iv) Tracing pictures out of a coloring book (hand eye coordination)
v) Video games-It is true that most parents don't want their kids playing very many video games, but there are advantages to it. If you are concerned then pick educational games and set time limits. (This improves both strength and hand eye coordination, but is especially good for hand eye coordination).
Handwriting is necessary to each of us. The most important aspect of improving our handwriting is practice. "Today is a good day to start on a future of legible and even good handwriting! Good handwriting not only does it help the brain develop, it can also improve grades and confidence."
In today's fast-paced computer age, handwriting seems like a forgotten art. However, solid handwriting skills remain crucial for our kids— and for good reason. While overall student confidence and early academic success often directly relate to handwriting. Children are texting, tapping and typing on keyboards more than ever, leaving less time to master that old-fashioned skill known as handwriting.
Handwriting is faster. Researchers who tested second-, fourth- and sixth-graders found that children compose essays more prolifically — and faster — when using a pen rather than a keyboard. And also shown that forming letters by hand may engage our thinking brains differently than pressing down on a key.
The benefits of good handwriting endure throughout our entire lives. In fact, studies show that mastering handwriting sets children up for other learning successes. Handwriting builds self-esteem, helps children have an organized approach in managing tasks and enhances people's ability to communicate.
Several studies show that children with good handwriting feel more confident and proud of their work, and other studies demonstrate that legible papers receive higher grades than illegible ones. Students who don't master neat letter formation are at a disadvantage, which can negatively impact a child's grade on spelling tests, math quizzes and essays.
What is handwriting?
If language by eye we called as reading and by ear is listening and by mouth is speaking, then handwriting can be called as the language by hand as told by Virginia berninger.
Reading = Language by eye
Listening = Language by ear
Speaking = Language by mouth
Writing = Language by hand
Defining 'good handwriting' :
The three factors which determines and define the term good handwriting or fluency, legibility and speed.
Fluency is the ability to carry out the motor movements required for handwriting smoothly, easily, comfortably and readily.
Legibility is the ease with which the reader (and the writer) can discern the handwriting on the page and is directly related to how well formed the letters are.
Speed is the rate at which handwriting is produced in relation to a student's developmental stage.
And to achieve these three factors we need to engage our body, , mind and soul
The body, mind and soul of handwriting
To achieve fluency, legibility and speed we need to engage the:
The Body: Getting the position and the motor movements of handwriting physically correct.
The Mind: Understanding the construction of handwriting and the meaning of the language we are writing. The Soul: Enjoying the process, developing a sensual and aesthetic appreciation of handwriting.
Body, mind and soul
important for getting your
ideas across.
For me, writing includes
the heart and the head as well
as the hand.'
Roger McGough, Poet