Handwriting Research and Resources
Everything you need to know about handwriting instruction is packed into this 176-page, softcover book.
Handwriting Research and Resources contains
- independent educational research and resources.
- teaching techniques written by experts in the field of handwriting.
Sample Excerpts:
Handwriting Instruction: Key to Good Writing
Cheryl Murfin Bond
The mental processes involved in handwriting, experts point out, are connected to other important learning functions, such as storing information in memory, retrieving information, manipulating letters, and linking them to sound when spelling.
Good handwriting and the ability to write strong compositions…go hand in hand. That’s what a study of Seattle first-graders revealed to researchers at the University of Washington and University of Maryland. The study’s findings and related research at other institutions across the nation lend weight to theories linking poor handwriting skills in young children to learning disabilities in older kids…The research conducted at the University of Washington supports the researchers’ position that the mechanical process of handwriting should be taught in tandem with the more creative process of composition. When the two are taught together…skills in both areas improve more readily than when handwriting and composition are taught at different times of the day or week.“Handwriting should not be taught just for the sake of teaching handwriting as an isolated skill,” says UW Professor of Education Virginia Beringer. “It should be taught as a tool for written communication. Every time a child practices letter formation as warm-up, they should be given the opportunity to compose and use the tool for a purpose.”
“Handwriting Instruction: Key to Good Writing” by Cheryl Murfin Bond. Seattle’s Child & Eastside Parent, Oct., 1998.
The Effect of Handwriting Style on Alphabet Recognition
Debby Kuhl and Peter Dewitz
Since letter recognition is one of the most critical skills for early reader’s success, having difficulty with this skill can have a damaging impact on early reading achievement.
The data reveals that D’Nealian manuscript causes more confusion than does traditional manuscript and interferes with the ability of students learning D’Nealian manuscript to read traditional print…D’Nealian manuscript makes letter recognition harder for all students, and the problem is especially critical for the weaker students in kindergarten. Low-achieving students are dramatically affected by D’Nealian manuscript and are being impaired in learning the skill fundamental to the reading process, i.e., letter recognition.
Excerpts from Kuhl, D., and P. Dewitz. “The Effect of Handwriting Style on Alphabet Recognition.” Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Meeting, April 1994, New Orleans.
Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print
Marilyn Jager Adams
After children have become thoroughly familiar with letters and their names, reading and writing activities follow far more easily.
Solid familiarity with the visual shapes of the individual letters is an absolute prerequisite for learning to read…The goal is to ensure that the letter shapes are highly familiar and discriminable to the children before they are faced with the tasks of learning the letters’ sounds or, more generally, of learning to read words. After children have become thoroughly familiar with the letters and their names, reading and writing activities follow far more easily.
Excerpts from Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning About Print by Marilyn Jager Adams, © 1990, by the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, published by the MIT Press.