| Handwriting |
Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting Available from www.bfhhandwriting.com Handwriting is about more than the shapes of letters and numbers—much more! Often we instruct with the exemplars in workbooks only. Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting, or BFH, addresses all essentials of legibility and age-appropriate speed. Handwriting is complex. Maybe it is as, or more complex than reading. In addition to visual recognition and understanding, graphomotor skill is required for writing. A message, even a beginner’s single letter is formulated in the mind, and transmitted through fine motor muscles to paper. Older writing must include syntax, spelling, punctuation, etc. Shapes of characters are, of course important. Equally important are pre-writing activities. Many are in the BFH publications. Happily, the activities are play, and help to instill a love of writing. For examples: Collect small pebbles, pennies or beads and put them in a can. Poke holes in play dough or cookies before they are baked. This strengthens hands and fingers, and it focuses on the index finger, the digit that should control writing lines. Gently guide young hands to move in the same directions we use to read and write. Scribble, make patterns and pictures in the sand, shaving cream and the steam on windows. Early movements should be free and flowing. Both a comfortable hold on a writing tool, and rhythmic movement is critical to fluency, the ultimate goal for handwriting. Inspire enjoyment of writing with the CD (no workbooks!) that one can edit. The text can be anything of personal interest. BFH exemplar characters are simple and attractive. Introduce them along with playful activities. Lowercase letters are designed to flow, and move easily from those that beginners learn one-by-one, to cursive writing. Throughout the ages there have been other cursive methods. Conventional cursive, often called just “cursive,” is the most well known in the Unites States and some western countries. It’s origin is the copperplate engraving that influenced calligraphy and handwriting from the late sixteenth century into the nineteenth century, when it was simplified, yet retained loops to allow every letter in words to join (an arrhythmic movement in multisyllabic words). Print-script or manuscript is often taught to children in early grades. The top-to-bottom, left-to-right directions are right, but the letters are also arrhythmic. The greatest problem with these characters is that children form habits of movement for two or more years. Then the habits must be undone and retrained for the different shapes and directionality of conventional cursive. Italic is another cursive. BFH is based on italic. It developed in the Italian Renaissance when design was all-important. Good design is more than an individual’s sense of beauty. It must be functional as well. Lowercase letters can join, but there is no requirement to join every letter. The rhythmic movement that is inherent in italic letterforms yields consistent size, shapes, spacing and slant. BFH teaches rhythmic writing with letter-related patterns for warmup exercises. Because the program emphasizes rhythm, and the efficient way to position the body, hands, fingers and paper, individual handwriting is allowed to develop and it retains legibility into adulthood. Yes, all BFH publications include illustrated instructions for left-handers. So far, this is mostly about beginners. Older students can acquire legible, fast handwriting too. They should first become aware that poor handwriting almost always stems from the way they were taught, or not taught. Often a tense, inefficient pen hold is the culprit. Problems may lie in the way letters are formed. Habits need to be undone. The best way to do that is with short daily practice with Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting at your side. Want to know more? Please call me, at 410-2762-0836 or e-mail me at Swansbury@verizon.com, and please visit my web site: http://www.bfhhandwriting.com/ Nan Jay Barchowsky
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