Top 6 Steps to Improving Your Penmanship
Over the past three or four months, I’ve received several inquires about how to help a child, or an adult, improve their penmanship skills. Here are the Top Six Steps I recommend.
PRINTING PERFECTION
If you feel that your handwriting, or penmanship, is sloppy or incorrect – first work on making your printing better. For some people printing works better, just make sure to keep it clean. Keep ascending letters – l, h, b, d; and the descending letters – g, j, y, z; short and lift the pen from the paper between the writing of each letter.
LOOSEN YOUR GRIP
If you hold your pencil or pen in a tightened grip you are more likely to scrunch the letters together, making it more difficult for the reader to decipher. Plus, it makes you more nervous and more prone to mistakes.
DON’T GET LOOPY
Many people get “unnecessarily loopy and tangled” when using penmanship. Avoid excessive loops, embellishments, and flourishes – at least until you are comfortable with the beginning stages of cursive writing. Start with the basic format of cursive writing.
USE EXAMPLES
For younger students it is a wise idea to use example worksheets to show what the words should look like, when properly put together. And yet, these same worksheets can prove very useful and handy for adults. Don’t be ashamed or embarrassed to use a great tool.
TRACING
As is the case with learning, or relearning, a skill – we tend to look for examples to emulate; creating better handwriting is no different. Either online or in a workbook, find samples of cursive writing. Start by tracing over the words, not with a pencil or pen, but with a highlighter. This way you are able to clearly see where to focus your efforts. Another great tool is to use a wipe board of cursive writing – so you can practice again and again.
SLOW DOWN
Take your time. Nothing great was achieved in a day. The faster you write, the less control you have over the writing. If this is the first time learning cursive/penmanship/handwriting try with learning the letters first, moving on to small words, then larger ones, and then sentences.
In closing, remember to take your time. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was great penmanship. By practicing for 10-15 minutes at a time, once a day, you’ll see an improvement in just a short time.
Also see article on Ehow
http://www.ehow.com/how_4851202_have-better-handwriting.html
ADDENDUM
In September, the New York Times wrote an article on penmanship. Here is that article.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/09/04/opinion/20090908_opart.html