Handwriting Font Favorites?

[GypsyHomesteader]

I was wondering what the general consensus was on fonts. I know that there are several but specifically fonts that are in the more popular program. What is the favored font? I lean towards D'Nelaian and GD Italics. I don't like ball and stick at all.

 

What about everyone else?

[Mystie]

I like italics because the letter shapes don't change when they move on to cursive.

[eternallytired]

I love Getty-Dubay, though I think their first book is poorly arranged for instruction.  (I actually just ranted about this on my blog!  If you want the short version of how I changed it up, you can skip to the end. :001_smile:)  It's a lovely enough font that I'm sticking with it for my third kid anyhow.  (First two kids did it concurrently.)

[GypsyHomesteader]

Even if you don't really care will you still vote which one you like the best? :) Please?

[Mystie]

I actually used Beautiful Handwriting for Children instead of GD to teach Italics: http://www.pennygardner.com/italicsbk.html

[Ellie]

Technically, those are "hands," not "fonts." 🙂

I prefer a traditional hand, like Zaner Bloser. Also, I prefer the way ZB teaches (e.g., first the different strokes, then the letters which use each stroke/combination of strokes). And I prefer learning a traditional manuscript first, and then doing italic or other style (especially cursive) after.

[goldenecho]

So, for printing, I really like the Handwriting Without Tears font.   (I don't like their cursive font).   New South Wales is similar, as is the font used by Progressive Phonics and Logic of English

The only problem is it's hard to find resources outside of HWT that use is this font.

I like it better than D'Nealian because it's simpler.   Doesn't have the curved bottom t that my dyslexic son always confused for an f.  The rest of the curves didn't bother me but they were unnecessary.   But oh my word do I like that it forms the b and d differently (not just the same way but in reverse).   And that it has an a  (and b, p, q, b and d) that don't require your pencil to leave the page.   My son really had trouble lining up thing that required taking the pencil off the page.  His ball and stick a literally looked like a circle and stick AND that stick could cross the a pretty close to the middle sometimes and the line was often longer than that the "a" and made it look like a "d" or a a "g."   The HWT style was so much simpler.

 

[Hunter]

I have come to hate all handwriting workbooks. I prefer to spend a lot of time with a student teaching clock face manuscript, so they are prepared to copy regular typed text, instead of a handwritten model page. Handwriting curriculum are cheap to create and lock people into more of their curricula. I feel trapped when a student cannot copy anything but handwritten models.

 

IF, and that is a BIG IF, a student shows general ability to multitask, then I will start teaching them to join the clock-face letters. Cursive requires thinking about multiple letters at a time to choose the correct join. Many learning disabled students need to finish one letter before thinking about the next letter.

I also no longer teach uppercase cursive. Modern language contains too many acronyms that look very strange in cursive capital letters.  Using manuscript uppercase with cursive lowercase is just fine as long as the slant matches.

I make sure the cursive hand matches the slant of the manuscript hand. If I am going to teach slanted cursive, then I need to teach a slanted manuscript. I prefer to teach a vertical cursive and manuscript, because I have tutored a disproportionate number of lefties. GIFTED lefties can learn to write right-slanted cursive without smearing it, but it means turning the paper almost upside down.

 

I'm going to stop talking. My nickname was "the handwriting nazi" for awhile. Every student thanked me, but they did not always enjoy my "torture".

Edited June 7, 2021 by Hunter

[Clarita]

23 hours ago, Hunter said:

I have come to hate all handwriting workbooks. I prefer to spend a lot of time with a student teaching clock face manuscript, so they are prepared to copy regular typed text, instead of a handwritten model page. Handwriting curriculum are cheap to create and lock people into more of their curricula. I feel trapped when a student cannot copy anything but handwritten models.

What is the difference between a handwritten model page vs. a typed text page? (that makes it so a student can't copy anything but handwritten models)

Right now I handwrite letters for my son to copy when he wants to do handwriting stuff. Does this mean I should incorporate typed things to copy as well as my handwritten stuff?  

[Hunter]

41 minutes ago, Clarita said:

What is the difference between a handwritten model page vs. a typed text page? (that makes it so a student can't copy anything but handwritten models)

Right now I handwrite letters for my son to copy when he wants to do handwriting stuff. Does this mean I should incorporate typed things to copy as well as my handwritten stuff?  

Handwriting a page takes time and preparation. There is such freedom once a child is prepared to copy from a typed page. It is like teaching a child how to make his own bowl of cereal, and how to make a sandwich. Once a child can do those two things, his ability to feed himself relieves us of having to feed him every few hours without a break. When a child can copy from any book, you can be on the phone and simply open a book and hand a child paper and pencil and silently mouth "copy this!"

Only certain curricula prepare a student to write letters that are not modeled. Workbooks train a child to copy the model. Spalding teaches a child to master writing individual letters from very specific spoken instructions about clock faces.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Hunter

[Hunter]

Curricula companies do not have a first priority to teach your child. Curricula companies have a first priority to sell curriculum. Curricula company want to make you dependant on them. Curricula companies design a curriculum that does NOT teach a child to teach himself. Curricula companies do NOT enable students to apply the skills immediately. Curricula companies promise that a child will be able to apply the skills after many YEARS of purchases from them.

Even Spalding is mess since the author died. Spalding was ONE book. Now it is a multi-year curriculum designed to trap you in the curriculum for many years before you can graduate from it with any ability to apply what was learned.

First I thought the expanded cursive handwriting instructions in the 6th edition were helpful, but that was only because I have been trained to expect workbook-like instruction. A student that has mastered Spalding manuscript only needs to learn to join and tweak the manuscript letters. He does not need brand new different instructions for each cursive letter. The focus should be on what is the same, not what is different.

[Not_a_Number]

11 hours ago, Hunter said:

Workbooks train a child to copy the model.

I mean... not really. They start by having a child copy the model, because you're trying to get the muscle memory down. Once the muscle memory is down, they should be able to do other things. It's possible this doesn't always work, but I think it usually does. 

[Hunter]

Scripted handwriting instruction requires some muscle memory of a very few simple shapes or strokes, but mostly it relies on memory of the SCRIPT. 

Teachers make corrections verbally by repeating the script, not by reintroducing a visual model.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Hunter

[Not_a_Number]

6 minutes ago, Hunter said:

Scripted handwriting instruction requires some muscle memory of a very few simple shapes or strokes, but mostly it relies on memory of the SCRIPT. 

Teachers make corrections verbally by repeating the script, not by reintroducing a visual model.

But what's wrong with the visual model if that results in muscle memory being formed? 

The thing I've seen go wrong is having no handwriting instruction at all, lol. DD8 went to kindergarten and they totally refused to tell her if she formed any letters wrong. She wound up reversing letters she didn't reverse before after kindergarten and we had to remediate. 

But both the kids just formed letters from pictures until they remembered, then they formed letters by themselves 🤷‍♀️. This worked fine with and without workbooks and I've now done it with DD8 with two different languages. I can imagine it doesn't work for everyone (what does?), but is that actually common? 

[Hunter]

Scripted instruction