Improving handwriting for child

[Pen_andy]

Hello

 

my daughter (12 years with very small hands) writes with a fountain pen in school (Lamy Safari, one with F nib, the other M, she likes the pen ), but her handwriting is quite inconsistent and generally not nice. Her capital letters and ‘’high’ letters (l, f, k, b) are barely larger than the small letters. Also, her letters look quite different, depending on preceding and subsequent letters. Generally she writes very small but in cursive. All attempts at improving things have been fruitless, and the recent online learning has not helped penmanship.
 

I wonder whether anyone has any ideas? I was thinking of a pen with either a B or even BB nib, maybe a stub, would force her to write larger and control her writing more? If in school she has to write at quite some speed, though, to keep up. 
 

Thanks

 

Andy

[knarflj]

My first thought was that perhaps French-ruled paper would help her keep her letter heights correct and consistent.  

[Pen_andy]

Tried that (with German 5-lined paper, same effect) and she does it there, but then when going back to single lines she reverts to her bad old habit 

[arcfide]

Does she want to change it? I think motivation and getting an actual desire to put the effort into changing will be key. Otherwise, when given the chance, she'll have the tendency to revert back to her old habits as they are more comfortable. 

[Pen_andy]

She sees the problem with her handwriting, but let’s say her desire to change is limited. Hence my thinking whether a pen with certain characteristics would ‘force’ some change. 

[arcfide]

Hrm. I don't know her personally, so I wouldn't be able to tell, but it's been my observation that the desire to change can come from a change of equipment, but often it's not the equipment alone, but something else that goes along with the equipment that can make the difference, such as getting into the possibilities of writing calligraphy or the like. If she is at all artistic, then maybe exploring hobbies like Bullet Journaling or calligraphy or hand lettering might do something for her, and in that case, getting pens that would work for those pursuits might inspire her to explore what she can do. 

 

There's also the issue with speed. If she always has in the back of her mind the need to write fast, then nothing is going to make that better, since she'll always revert back to her old habits when she feels the pressure. Finding a place where she can enjoy writing and take things slow might be important for her to train her handwriting, especially if the only time she gets to write much is in school. 

 

It might also help to see a sample of the writing, as that would help identify just how "bad" the situation is. 

 

There are cursive handwriting styles like Briem or Getty-Dubay Italic cursive that enable you to write with a large x-height but a very small ascender height and still retain significant legibility, and that might be a style of writing that appeals to her, and would lead to a very nice looking handwriting if she's naturally inclined to short ascenders and descenders. They also make calligraphy more accessible if you are interested in broad edge calligraphy. 

 

As far as cursive goes, something as simple as exploring brush lettering with an inexpensive brush pen might be enough to get her to explore and appreciate more distinct letter forms. 

 

My instinct is to say that going to a B or BB nib or even a stub nib probably won't make much of a difference if it isn't connected with something else that helps to address the root cause of what is driving her to take shortcuts in her writing. I suspect that she might not have found a way to write legibly at speed yet, and so having time to explore legible writing at a leisurely pace and then progressively work at building up speed might work, but it's not clear to me how you might do that while maintaining her interest. 

 

Here's another thought, have you tried using paper that is significantly larger ruled than she is used to? If she's using 6mm or less line spacing, she might feel more freedom to extend her writing if she's given more generous line spacing, such as 8 or even 10mm. That could free her up to write with a smaller x-height while increasing her ascenders and descenders. 

 

What sort of cursive does she use? I assume that you are UK based, which has had quite a lot of traditions of cursive, and some of them are more suited to long ascenders than others, and more likely to encourage "squat" writing than others. 

[Grayspoole]

Your daughter’s motivation is the essential element here (I’m a parent of two daughters).  

 

If the idea of practicing cursive forms on ruled papers isn’t generating much enthusiasm, perhaps she would like to explore calligraphy? If so, I feel this will ultimately improve her everyday cursive writing. Many young people are doing all sorts of fun calligraphy projects...making cards, writing with paint makers on decorative items, on fabric, and so on. If this idea appeals to her, I would get her bright and metallic calligraphy markers, decorative papers.  A set of Pilot Parallel pens in different sizes is inexpensive and can be used for all sorts of calligraphy. Lots of online tutorials.

 

[ParramattaPaul]

I think your idea of having her try a broad nib pen has merit.  It may be that her writing issues may be the result her perception of a line width and space relationship. 

[txomsy]

Speaking for myself.

 

Predicate by example. What drove me always to nice writing was first and foremost seeing the authority figures use it. Parents, teachers... The teachers' part may no longer be so, sadly, which may also likely explain why they now hesitate to teach handwriting as well.

 

Second, once she sees you use good writing and hears you praise nice writing (specially hers), then comes the realization that good writing comes with also faster writing. Let her try different scripts. Do not emphasize any special shape or ductus or, mostly, consistency. Just let her try and realize how it works for her.

 

A trick that worked when I was training for the nat'l swimming championships was that our coach would never complain (BTW, I caught a conjunctivitis at the last week and didn't make them). He had been an olympic himself. He would just give us loads of "work" to do (thousands of meters swimming in one or the other style). I don't remember him ever pointing a fault in our style, but occasionally he would point as a suggestion some subtle point, like don't spread that much the legs, or why don't you use that swimsuit more often... and improve our work little by little. At the beginning you'd do it because he was the authority, but when you know you've got to go 3km in each style, any minor improvement quickly becomes very significant and you learn to value and heed any small advice.

 

From what you say, she already has loads of work to do. Let her keep in the back of her head that nice writing is a praiseworthy goal because you use it, try to improve your style and praise others' (and mostly hers) work. And let her continue writing. And some time let it slip that rhythm improves speed and comfort. Then that consistency in the height also helps (a good example is the introductory italic cursive in operina.com). Then when she gets it, let it fall that a higher contrast improves readability, and that l's, h's, b's, d's can be as pointed and stick like as one wants as long as they can be identified clearly. Then maybe she will notice that looping may help write ascenders faster, etc...

 

Like a swimsuit, you can give her a special pen for special tasks. She is in an age where she is trying to define herself, trying to differentiate and integrate at the same time, careful, and will be each day more self-conscious of aesthetics. She will try clothes, make-up, and who know what... she is in to be lured into trying italic, engrosser's script, roman capitals... to embellish her notes or write letters to friends. So, why not give her a pen with a 1.5mm stub to write titles? And red ink, of course. And let it lay around a small booklet of writing styles (I found that Left Handed Calligraphy by Vance Studley was short enough and had enough script to attract my left-handed son) for her to try.

 

Oh, and a booklet on doodling/sketching. Something like Botanical Line Drawing, or other alike. The thing is never to criticize, avoid confrontation, proceed little by little, and trust that with the amount of writing she has to do and her hormones building up a strong drive for self-esteem, any occasional little advice is bound to work and in the end it will all add up as long as she finds it enjoyable and motivating.

 

That said, I still haven't succeeded with my sons, so don't take any of this seriously, for -judging from my results- it may all be plain bull-expletive.

[Carrau]

I agree with several other comments here, that she herself must be motivated to do the work to effect the change.  Recognizing the need for improvement and having the motivation to do so are distinctly different.  The suggestions to get her interested in something that will lead to self-motivation are sound ideas.  She may not appreciate attempts to manipulate her into by changing nibs, unless that’s something she wants.  Too much pressure/cajoling may cause her to lose interest completely.  Give her time to find her way.

[Pen_andy]

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. She sees writing very utilitarian and has no real interest in arts and crafts, so going down the calligraphy route is not really going to work. 
 

My idea was to be a bit sneaky and make her change as a different nib will not allow her to do certain things. In terms of setting an example, I write quite a lot (10-20 pages a day, mix of text and maths), but not in best handwriting though. The teachers have said nothing about her handwriting, except that it is quite small at times. 

[ParramattaPaul]

1 hour ago, Pen_andy said:

Thanks for all the thoughtful replies. She sees writing very utilitarian and has no real interest in arts and crafts, so going down the calligraphy route is not really going to work. 
 

My idea was to be a bit sneaky and make her change as a different nib will not allow her to do certain things. In terms of setting an example, I write quite a lot (10-20 pages a day, mix of text and maths), but not in best handwriting though. The teachers have said nothing about her handwriting, except that it is quite small at times. 

Just a thought,  has she had an eye exam?

[Pen_andy]

6 minutes ago, ParramattaPaul said:

Just a thought,  has she had an eye exam?

Yes, 2 weeks ago. She wears glasses and her sight is very good with them. She does everything small, e.g. drawings in art lessons. 

[ParramattaPaul]

1 hour ago, Pen_andy said:

Yes, 2 weeks ago. She wears glasses and her sight is very good with them. She does everything small, e.g. drawings in art lessons. 

With that, I suspect it is a matter of taste for her in that she likes 'small'.

 

I can say I started writing smaller at school because I appreciated, and wanted to imitate the neatness of the print in texts, etc.

[JLC_]

Just wanted to share a cool handwriting competition for whoever may be interested.

 

iWRITE | Students Factory iWRITE is the International Handwriting Competition in two Languages, English & Arabic. Competition is classified into two categories; School and General Category. It is freely open to all from anywhere in the world to submit their entries online on our website. Participants are requested to write the same quote published by us every year on our website. iWRITE is the first step Students Factory takes towards the gamification approach, other activities are coming soon.

 

See you there!