Sunday, September 20, 2009

old fashioned

The school where I teach is considered a "traditional" school. In other words, they teach with full classroom instruction and focus on reading, writing, and arithmetic. Some kids thrive but those that struggle come and see me. I'm the "fun" teacher. I'm the teacher that has small group instruction and I tweak things to help the kids "get it".
I have always found it interesting when third graders would ask if they can write in cursive on a paper (and would be so excited when I would say "sure, why not?"). I always feel like I'm sharing the secret of the holy grail when I tell the kids how much fun it is when you get older and you can "change" the way you write and experiment with new loops and lines. I'm such a rebel to encourage such wildness,eh?
I just found out how kids in most schools are losing the art of writing and penmanship skills. This saddens me because handwriting is such a peek at a person's background and a skill that is necessary (computers or not) as you get older and your signature is required for all those adult papers we need to sign away our lives on. Not to mention the love we all have to receive a hand written letter in our mailbox. Don't you comment on a perfectly penned paper when you see it? If you do--look at these:
I am so grateful that Betsy Dunlap kept up with her penmanship skills and experimenting when it came to finding her style. Gorgeous, yes?

Along with Jenna Hein:

Calligrapher extraordinaire who makes every envelope and card a piece of art.
If you do have young children...please practice their penmanship skills, even if they complain. Just like playing a musical instrument...they'll thank you later.





2 comments:

Sarah's Fab Day said...

It's so funny that you wrote this because I'm thinking...I have to practice my kindy's writing tonight. Well every night. There's nothing cuter than seeing your little's Denealian handwriting all scrolly ready to someday learn cursive. I love it.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree- it tells so much about someone! It's almost a lost art thanks to computers. Sad, isn't it? I just found your blog and I absolutely love it!!
xoxo
Teresa