As homeschooling parents often discover, there is no one right way for a child to learn to write. We often try various methods, curricula, tools, and motivations. What might work beautifully for one child may, for another, bring tears—our child’s and our own!
My older daughter, now 20-years-old, learned to write her own way. I modeled writing, showed her the "regular" way to form letters, explained that there was a reason for this, and encouraged her to follow the model. Still, she insisted on her own way. For instance, she would start the lower case "e" at the "tail" and circle clockwise, the opposite of the “normal” way.
Initially, Caitlín found printing to be tedious—in part because she was making it more difficult—but her need to express herself through writing kept her putting her thoughts on paper. Then, several years ago, she decided she wanted better handwriting, and the italic method of Barchowsky Fluent Hand was her choice tool.
Caitlín used the program in her own way, not following step-by-step, but choosing what worked for her. Weeks later, with her handwriting improved to her satisfaction, she was finished with the resource. Typing is now Caitlín's favorite mode of written expression, but she continues to keep a daily journal written in her own hand, the one she developed in her unique way, that was just right for her.
Copyright © 2010 Shay Seaborne. All rights reserved.
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