National Handwriting Day
I can't lie beautiful calligraphy on a wedding invitation is like heaven to me. I've always been fascinated with penmanship. Specifically, the different ways people express themselves and how it can allude to personality traits. I for one typically write in all or sustained capital letters which IS not code for yelling rather it's just my preference aesthetically. After doing a bit of research I've read that writing in all-caps can mean that the writer is egotistic and uncomfortable talking about their personal life - yikes! This is even more interesting as my father and also his father preferred to write this way; perhaps, genetics can be linked to handwriting. Regardless, I prefer to think my all-caps lettering means I'm creative which sounds much nicer than egotistic! If you're interested in learning about what your handwriting says about you, check out this book.
In celebration of National Handwriting Day, I thought I would take the opportunity to share my TAKE on tools to help the littles develop their handwriting skills. We're at different stages of development in our house. For our eldest we've mastered capital letters but need to focus more on the lower case which is an important lesson to myself - as a parent we need to model good penmanship and I for one, need to curb my usage of all-caps! Our middle child is in the midst of mastering how to hold a writing tool correctly and learning the letters in his name. Regardless, of what stage your child is currently in these tools always prove to offer an educational activity and many are perfect on-the-go!
I'm obsessed with Kid O Magnatabs both the upper and lower case versions. The kids love to use magnetic stylus pen to trace the letters and all of the beads within the tabs are self contained. These boards are a little pricey but extremely well made and great sensory fun!
Priddy Books makes an amazing selection of wipe clean books and flash cards. These are perfect as they can be used again and again and are quite durable. Our favorites vary from focusing on the Alphabet, Numbers and Sight Words.
For a bit of nostalgia I love this red and blue ruled newsprint paper. Nothing beats teaching your children to write their letters with a pencil, eraser and the same paper you used a child. In my house a fun pencil and eraser go a long way in exciting my children to practice their letters.
As an adult obsessed with beautiful lettering I think I could use this Spencerian Penmanship copy book in my life. Most likely I would daydream about Mr. Darcy while practicing but I'm sure I could make good use of this to improve my rarely used cursive!
Once your littles have mastered their lettering don't forget to write someone special a letter and drop it in the mail. Happy National Handwriting Day!