handwriting

Just like maths and apostrophes if the first teaching they receive is competent it won't have to be unpicked later!!
How do I start a thread, by the way?

dj- as a rule of thumb boys tend to be a little slower than girls in learning handwriting and less likely to be so neat.

Nonnie - in some schools the peaceful handwriting lesson has gone, hw is no longer a separate section at KS2. I've helped 2 grandsons to improve their formation at junior school age. I always emphasise that correct formation will make their writing quicker (it does!) as they are usually more interested in that than in 'neater'!

Eriel the three line method is how I was taught and I draw pencil lines for DGS on a blank sheet. I don't know why schools stopped using books like this. When not just scribbling a note my handwriting is IMHO very good.

I think one problem is that there are so many 'correct' ways, depending on the authority and now the school, Nonnie.

Best small children begin with big zigzag, arcade, garland and loop patterns. Then show them how lower case letters are formed from these movement. Group, for instance, i, j, l, r, t, u, w, y, then n, m, h, and so on.
Forming letters from the right starting point will help greatly when they begin to join handwriting,
Sorry if that's didactic or unclear. It important to start correctly or habits have to be undone - much harder!
Start with pencil. Berol do a range of good inexpensive handwriting fibre tip pens. They include pens shaped to the fingers for both right and left handers.
Apologies for 'going on' but I have been able to 'rescue' children with poor handwriting by helping them to form their letters correctly, makes it all much smoother.
Please DON'T try to get children to write smaller. Big is best at first as handwriting invariable gets smaller as they get older. If someone has trouble keeping on lines let them write over 3 lines at first to get the ascenders and descenders in the right proportion.

I have rarely seen handwriting taught well in the last 15 years, during which my job involved visiting primary schools and observing behaviour. Very few teachers seem to have any idea how to teach left-handed children, nor do they have proper equipment for them. Even basic stuff, like not sitting a left handed child to the right of a right handed child (so elbows don't clash) was often not done - and then teachers wondered why there was always trouble at writing times on that table. Also, far too many pre-school settings think they are doing the children a favour by "teaching" them to write - again often done badly with no proper teaching of how to hold a pencil or how to form letters. Once bad habits are set up it is very difficult to correct a pencil hold or letter formation.
As for keyboard skills, I asked our IT department about 10 years ago for recommendations for programs to teach typing, and was told not to bother because "in 10 years time we will all be using voice recognition software"!

We are trying to teach my grandson to use joined up writing. He takes for ever. His sister is much faster and picked it up by herself.
All my grandchildren write very neatly. Their ages range from 22 to 8 and they have been to different schools, different counties.
I agree about ballpoints, Greyduster. I use 0.7 gel pens or a fountain pen, and 2B pencils with my grandson. He does use the computer a lot, but most of his work is on paper. Not sure if that's my problem or his, but his mother teaches him joined up writing using worksheets.
Obviously if you teach your grandson, you have to make sure that your own handwriting is legible. His sister is very good at criticising grown up mistakes.

My handwriting has gone down the tubes since the advent of word processing, (although I did win a two and sixpence National Savings voucher in a competition at school!) but I do write letters now and then and try and use a fountain pen I've had for years. I don't think that using ball point pens does handwriting any favours - I have a theory that you are likely to write more slowly with a fountain pen or a pencil and therefore are less inclined to scribble. However, my theories are usually a complete load of old tosh ! I do lament the fact that the fountain pen seems to be falling into disuse, although they aren't very convenient.

I know what you mean Nonnie I'm always showing 6 yr old the correct way to form letters. Unfortunately the next time I watch him write all nannies tuition is forgotten.

I am glad I can use a PC rather than hand write as I have appalling writing. I had polio and was off school and missed out on joined up writing so blame that.

I worry about my GC as they just form the letters any way they like and are not taught the 'correct' way to do so. Can anyone explain the logic behind this please?

My handwriting has deteriorated, largely down to arthritic fingers, but also because I write much less than I used to. That I ever wrote essay answers in exams lasting 3 hours at a stretch I find hard to believe!
But one thing I have noticed is that different generations can have their unique "hand", my late MIL and her cousin who was DH's godmother had virtually identical handwriting and were very close in age. Our 3DDs all have very similar writing, with just the tiny differences I associate with their personalities. I suppose it has to do with how they were taught and deplore any suggestions of discontinuing teaching handwriting!!
As a PS I used to be amused by handwritten school reports, particularly those decrying a pupil's handwriting but which were themselves virtually impossible to decipher!

I used to used a computer for as much as possible - easy to do with iPads and smartphone as well as laptops - and my handwriting descended into an awful scrawl so now I'm trying to use pen and paper as often as I can. It would be awful if paper and pen became obsolete - no more love letters, for example!

I still write one or two letters, plus thank you notes, birthday and Christmas cards.I have noticed though, from looking through old letters, that my Grandparents had beautiful copperplate handwriting.Mine is alright, but not the same, and our DC seem hardly to join up the letters at all!In spite of good education and having good jobs,it's obvious that handwriting is fast going out of fashion.