THE CROWN COLLEGE OF THE BIBLE

FINALS PROJECT FOR PENMANSHIP

A PROJECT SUBMITTED TO

MRS. EVANS

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE

ED 212

PENMANSHIP

BY

TELIA HILDEBRAND

POWELL, TENNESSEE

DECEMBER 9, 2020
 FINALS PROJECT FOR PENMANSHIP

Handwriting is part of our identity. Before this class, I did not understand that sentence; I

did not grasp the importance of Handwriting and more specifically, cursive. Even before this

class, I would have agreed that cursive should still be a part of handwriting instruction in

schools, but I didn’t know why and I definitely didn’t think it should be taught first because just

based off of looks alone, cursive seems so complicated. I now understand the value of

handwriting instruction and cursive as a first in that. When I see that our nation’s most beloved

and important documents are written in cursive as well as our signatures, which are a part of

what identifies us in this world, I gain a greater understanding of the treasure that is cursive.

When cursive is taken out of schools as a first instruction in handwriting and replaced with

manuscript, a part of our history as a society is forever being erased. When our future generation

is no longer able to read our most important documents or write their own signatures, a part of

our future freedom hangs in the balance. This is partly because if the emphasis of learning

cursive is lost, then the importance of reading those documents is lost as well.

The first thing that I am taking away from this class is that “learning styles” have nothing

to do with real, dynamic learning. An article given in class titled “Different Strokes For Different

Folks? : A Critique of Learning styles “, was a particular piece that hit on this subject. The

reason the idea of learning styles has been thumbed as truth without even looking at the research

against it, is because from the outside, it makes sense. In other words, people it is logical to say

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that everyone is different, than to say that people all learn better in different ways almost seems

to come hand in hand; this statement is misconstrued, however (Stahl. Different Strokes for

different Folks?. Pg. 1). I mean “misconstrued” to say that while it is true that people have ways

in which they prefer to do things (VAKT), their personal preference has nothing to do with how

well they learn something. In 1978, Tarver and Dawson conducted a series of 15 different studies

matching “visual” learners to sight words, and “auditory” learners to phonics. These tests would

show whether or not conforming reading instruction to fit the learning style of the child would

help them learn better and faster; They’re results showed no positive results in using learning

styles as a major factor in learning (pg. 2).

Not only has the myth of Learning Styles been busted through many cases of study and

research, but you must also always think logically how learning styles could poorly effect your

classroom. Learning styles are not reliable because you will never get the same results over and

over. It is also unreliable because as a student matures and changes, so may his preferred method

of learning causing valuable teaching time to be lost for the sake of having to learn to rearrange

your entire method of teaching to fit the student’s preference (which could change again the very

next week)( pg. 3-4) One must therefore only consider what METHOD to use in teaching for the

appropriate age, not the preference.

The second thing I am taking from this class is that the main goal for good handwriting

instruction is NOT perfection, but legibility. While I was never given a concrete form of cursive

instruction, my mother taught me in her own way. Because of this lack of understanding on my

mother’s part (not to say she wasn’t a dynamic teacher) , some letters I wrote were “bad” and

some were “good” and that’s as far as it went; She failed to tell me WHY my letters were good

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or bad. Your Handwriting Evaluation Worksheet is something I will definitely be keeping around

in my handwriting instruction as a teacher because it is so simple yet invokes so much higher

learning values. Even as an adult, I was greatly helped by the evaluation sheet because I was

reminded of what the goal of my handwriting was and I was therefore made to make a plan on

how to accomplish that goal (Higher level Learning ) (See “Costa’s Levels of Learning”). I also

prompted to reflect of my work and evaluate it against the criteria. As a teacher, you are not

looking for perfect elegance in your student’s writing; handwriting is your child’s own unique

mark and so if the goal was to be perfect, then the goal is never achieved and the child will lose

their individual writing identity. You job as a teacher is to make sure they are staying within the

lines of the guidelines that handwriting calls for such as: slant, paper position, posture, and pencil

hold and then the product will usually meet that goal of legibility. (For Further study, see:

Peterson. Teaching Cursive: Position Problems to Avoid., and: Peterson. Directed Handwriting:

The Muscle Memory Story. And: Sheffield. Handwriting: A Neglected Cornerstone of Literacy.

And: Wolf. Recognized Correct and Incorrect Writing Grips)

The third and probably the biggest takeaway I have gotten from this class is that cursive

truly is the best and easiest way to start in Handwriting instruction. Up until the early 1900’s,

cursive was the only handwriting that was taught all over schools. It was in 1922 that a lady

named Margaret wise came up with a sort of manuscript italic modified handwriting system. Her

goal was to come up with a system that would connect easily with the fountain pen that was

popularly being used during that time. It was at this time that a very widely known school,

Horace Mann School, took Wise’s italic manuscript and integrated it into their school’s

curriculum. It was only two years after Margaret created this manuscript however, that she

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publicly retracted it as being the best way to teach children. Horace Mann School, not wanting to

have a large profit dip through loss of curriculum, kept Wise’s method for the first through

second grade. By the 1950’s, a whopping 84% of schools in America were teaching manuscript

first in modified versions of Margaret’s (Discoveries, National Institute For Learning

Disabilities. Does It Make A Difference?:An Historical Perspective.). While Manuscript may

have the ‘look’ of an easier way to write, especially for younger ages, consider these statistics:

Manuscript has 9 starting points and final strokes versus Cursive’s 1 general staring point and

one final stroke. Manuscript has 5 different directional patterns, while cursive has just one. Just

from that information alone, one can see that cursive is the easiest method as a first handwriting

instruction as far as patterns and strokes.

Not only this, but cursive also relates easiest to the dynamics of communication, meaning

it presents flow in its method unlike manuscript. With manuscript, you have so many stops and

starts which actually acts against the way your brain process information as well as how

communication is patterned; Our brain works best in rhythmic, fluid, motions which is exactly

how cursive is structured. Study after study shows, as well as just experience from being about

young children for a small period of time tells us that children struggle with hand-eye

coordination. The perfect circles and straight lines of manuscript are nearly impossible for early

aged children to attain. That is why cursive is easier for them; The fluidity and slant actually

correlates to how their young minds operate (Dr. Phyllis Rand. A Beka Book: The Benefits of

Teaching Cursive First.).

In closing, I am confident to say that this was one of my favorite classes I have taken in

the four years I have been at Crown. While I learned a lot in Teaching Reading and Teaching

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language Arts, I did not find the passion in it as I have in this class. For me , everything that was

taught in this class clicked right away. I never knew how important handwriting was until now,

and I feel like I have been given lots of practical evidence for that value of it, as well as many

helpful and simple tips and exercises that I can use for my class. As far as a suggestion goes, I

would try to be clearer on board writing photos. I do not believe that you made it clear enough

in class that you were wanting board pictures using the A Beka Cursive, and so I never took

pictures of my work for that. Other than this however, I really cannot find anything that I would

do differently. I absolutely loved the peer teaching, and it was one of the first times that I can

honestly say I felt like I was becoming a real teacher. Your feedback was always very helpful,

and I appreciated that you let the person that was peer teaching that week turn in their other

assignments at a later date. That really helped me collect my thoughts on the lesson better and I

felt more focused and prepared.

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 REFERENCES

LastName, FirstName. Date of publication. Title of Book: Subtitle of Book. City of publication:
Publisher.
1. Hanna, Joni. 1998. Does It Make A Difference?. Bellevue, WA: NILD.
2. Rand, Phillis. 2015. The Benefits of Teaching Cursive First. A Beka Book.
3. Stahl, Steven. 1999. Different Strokes For Different Folks? :A Critique of Learning Styles.
American Federation Of Teachers.
4. Sheffield, Betty. 1996. Handwriting: A Neglected Cornerstone of Literacy. The Orton
Dyslexia Society.
5. Peterson. The Peterson Strategy: Position Problems To Avoid. Peterson Directed Handwriting
6. Nelson, Rand. 2007. The Muscle Memory Story. Peterson Directed Handwriting
7. Wolf. Recognized Correct and Incorrect Writing Grips. Los Angeles, CA. The Pencil
Grip.com
8. Costa, Arthur. Costa’s Levels of Thinking. Art Costa.