The Educator (Volume 45) - IAMPETH

'. should
Teaching Letter Forms and Creating Interest
in Handwriting
By MYRA O. HERRICK, State Normal School, Ypsilanti, Mich.
Young people in Junior High School and on through
college get very little encouragement with their writing,
in fact so little is done about it that they are no longer
writing conscious. Practically all that has been accomplished
through the grades is lost. Sometimes they confront
us with the argument that they have to write so
rapidly taking notes in lecture classes that it is impossible
to write well. Of course, notes taken in class are
to be read only by the wi-iter,
each one could use shorthand.
and it would be well if
But when the notes ai-e
to be written up in notebooks either for the instructor's
inspection or for permanent reference, then the writing
be legible and good. It is only courtesy to write
I well when others have to read it. Sometime in our lives
I we
find it necessary to write, and write plainly, if no
j more than to sign checks, and we should know how to do
' it the correct way. The old idea that one's signature
I case
should be practically illegible is wrong. Even in the
of attempted forgery, a very plain,
signature is more difficult to imitate than
irregular and illegible.
well-wi-itten
one that is
These are only a few arguments for good writing that
might appeal to the young mind who in this age of typeand
haste has forgotten his grade training in
handwriting and has succumbed to the rather erroneous
idea that good writing is not modern and not necessary.
' writers
The handwriting instructor of these modern, young
people should appeal to them with a workable method.
Give them something with which to help themselves.
If one be puzzled as to letter formation, and young
people often are these days, have some scheme whereby
he can test his Jetters and at least approximately correct
forms.
The familiar oval or parts of it with the slant stroke
passing through it form parts and in some cases all of
the small letters of our alphabet. Show this to the class
by numbering the important sections as per diagram.
From this figure we get the most commonly used strokes.
y 2 / ,
Strokes
3 ^. 2 / .
3 ^-^/y=yny
3 ^-^/^=X.yU
Sometimes these strokes are longei as in
3^^. 2 /3 ^ -^Jy
Now a student may check his letters with this figure
and reasonably approach correct form. If the letters
slant too much it means they are taking their strokes
from an oval that slants too much. Example of this:
15
Simple classification of heights of letters will aid
students to think in terms of quarter, half and threequarter
space heights. Use the blackboard to show these
illustrations. Draw lines to represent the three-eighths
inch spacing on paper usually used for handwriting lessons.
Show a few quarter-space letters such as i, a, m,
etc. There are eleven of these and five more the same
height above the line but that have one-half space loops
below. Small r and s are slightly taller.
^^ ^y .-t^t^t:^
y^^y y>y yJy-
^T^TTj
Now have the class think of half-space letters. Usually
they find d and t easily, but flounder when trying to find
more of them. Show them small "p", writing the three
letters so the class can see them together. Since there
are only three half-space letters, give the students a key
word which contains those three letters and no other
tall ones, such as the word "stupid". It is helpful and
easy to refer to a key word when in doubt.
Next take up the three-quarter space letters. The
small "I" forms the foundation for all five of these
1-letters as we may call them. The 1 is made first then
something else added to it to make another letter, such as
1 and v combined to make b; I and a hill from an n or
m to make h, I and the loop of the small q to make f.
If the I is not made clearly and well the other 1-letters
viz. b, f, h, k, will be poorly made. That is, make a good
foundation by crossing the two strokes of the 1 at the
height of the small i.
and the resulting letters will be sleek and streamlined
as;
Hy-
when crossed too near the line, the letters will be awkward
and bulky as;
For these three-quarter space letters we can select a
key word which contains all five, such as "halfback",
and which will be easily recalled by the students.
Frequent review of these helps will fix them in mind
so the student will refer to them whenever he finds something
wrong with his letters. It will help make \vm
more wi-iting conscious and independent, and he will have
the feeling of being able to remedy his mistakes, which
is important to the young student as well as to the
teacher.