04 Handwriting - Print

$75.00

Recent research suggests a link between ease in the application of the mechanics of writing and ease in capturing thoughts in written form at a rate commensurate with one’s thoughts.  We have long known that ease with these mechanics is largely dependent upon how much they are practiced.  Unfortunately school curriculums currently give little time for the practice of printing and often ignore cursive entirely. The key to good  handwriting is well coached practice that starts with proper positioning of body and pencil, a positive attitude towards improvement, mastery of making straight and curved marks, and an understanding of the optimal balance between neatness and speed.

When you order this product, you will be provided with a link to download a PDF version of the product. You WILL NOT receive a printed version of the product. You can print out your copy using the PDF file. In fact, you can print only the pages you need, when you need the pages. 

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Description

Handwriting: Print – Teacher’s Manual

Children cannot think about what they want to write if their mental energy and time is wasted thinking about how to form their letters. At the HLC we have found that children who have difficulty with the mechanics of writing 1) tend to avoid written expression, 2) under value the whole range of their capabilities for written expression, and 3) will come to  find that others will also undervalue those capabilities. Developed and field tested at the Haughton Learning Center, this unit, in conjunction with the measurement system of Precision Teaching, has been optimized for maximum efficiency in the achievement fluent written mechanics. Foundation skills, such as making marks and curves, with proper positioning enhance rapid writing, and need to be practiced to a fluent level, which can be done in conjunction with timed practices of writing letters and digits.  Each practice activity has a fluency aim, expressed as range in count per minute, which mirrors performance levels of individuals with a demonstrated mastery of the skill.

This unit has been constructed with an eye towards optimization of precious practice time, while engendering a desire for more practice.  It employs achievable chunks, units of material which balance learners strengths and needs, to insure that growth is a key motivational element of further practice.  If a task is too difficult the learner resists and if it is too easy disinterest ensues. The optimal balance occurs when both accuracy and frequency improve at the appropriate rate and there is continual feedback of that success to the practitioner.

Practice needs to be measured for purposes of motivation; the accuracy and speed of performances are recorded with the results being made immediately available to both practitioner and coach. Improvement, which is incremental, and might go unnoticed, will become apparent allowing the learner to climb a motivational ladder on the rungs of their personal bests. To facilitate this dynamic between challenge and achievability and provide immediacy of feedback that motivates further practice these units have been closely integrated with Precision Teaching.

Our  practice materials for Printing have been designed and implemented successfully using Precision Teaching. With Precision Teaching a student is timed on specific tasks until he/she can perform a certain amount accurately within a specified amount of time.  Timings are usually one minute, but frequently range from ten seconds to ten minutes.  We record a student’s performance on a Standard Celeration Chart which gives a “learning picture” to the teacher and student, enabling them to make decisions about the student’s learning program.

The goal of timed practice is to build fluency which ensures a student permanently retains the skills taught (retention); can perform them for extended periods of time (endurance); and can easily apply them to new learning situations (application).

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