Handwriting - Workbooks Galore!

As a child in school, I was taught traditional printing. Then, one day in third grade, we were each issued a D’Nealian handwriting workbook. I now know that D’Nealian style printing is a method of handwriting meant to make the transition from to cursive handwriting easier on the child. Back then, however, all I knew was the teacher had placed into my hands a wonderful opportunity for delights - and what delights that handwriting workbook ended up offering! Little did I know that this simple tool - a handwriting workbook, would do so much to enhance my education, engaging me in the learning process, developing my fine motor skills, and increasing my self-confidence. Today’s handwriting workbook offerings can do the same for your home educated child. Let’s explore how! A Good Handwriting Workbook Engages the Child It has long been acknowledged in educational circles that an engaged child will learn at a faster rate. Therefore, a good Handwriting Workbook will immediately engage the child. My handwriting workbook engaged me immediately, the first enchantment being the word, “D’Nealian,” itself. It was a fascinating word, I thought, and so exotic to my child’s mind! I thought the word must certainly be of foreign origin. As it turns out, the word actually is a shorthand of the creator’s first and middle names - Donald and Neal. This is a quite mundane reality, but for a child, the foreign-sounding word held a promise of adventure! Then there was the glossy cover on the workbook, to engage me, and the bright, engaging graphics designed to capture the imagination. Studies show that full color graphics and images improve learning and retention. As I recall, my handwriting workbook had a yellow cover, and depicted cartoon children engaged in various activities. Utilizing a full-color workbook certainly improved my abilities to pick up on a new style of handwriting - but all I noticed was the fun! A Workbook + Fun Pencils = Increased Fine Motor Development The next handwriting workbook delight in store for me was choosing my favorite pencil (complete with a fun pencil topper!) with which to complete the exercises. I remember a particular style of fuzzy topper with googly-eyes that was trending when I was a child, and it gave me great joy to make that little guy dance across the paper. This style of pencil topper was “all the rage” when the author was growing up. Get yours at the image source. What my child’s mind did not understand at the time was that my educators’ intent behind issuing work from a handwriting workbook was to increase my fine motor skill development. I did not know at the time that there are two types of muscle group development which are important as children grow - gross motor skills and fine motor skills. Children use gross (large) muscle groups during activities such as running, jumping, riding a bicycle, throwing a ball. “Fine motor skills” refers to the use of the small muscles in our hands and wrists to execute movements. People need these fine motor skills to do many tasks related to the workplace and in educational environments. Of course, when it came to pencil selection and use, I was only preoccupied with whimsy; but my educators realized spending lots of time creating letter shapes with a pencil was excellent for developing my fine motor skills. Completing Pages in a Handwriting Workbook Builds Self Confidence A well-developed child appreciates his or her achievements. Completing those neat and tidy rows of letters - as prescribed in my handwriting workbook - gave me an amazing feeling of self-confidence. This is no small thing, as research shows early academic achievement can boost self confidence in the young learner, and potentially propel them to further academic greatness. Children like accomplishment, and there is nothing quite as satisfying to a child’s mind as making a mark on a piece of paper, then looking at it and realizing, “I did that.” When I used my handwriting workbook, it was easy to see I had achieved something; there was a clear beginning and ending dot upon which to start and stop each character, and clearly mapped out expectations as to how many of each character should go on each line. Also, the handwriting workbook offered plenty of clear examples for me to compare my work against. Additionally, It was nice to have the progress of my handwriting development preserved in the earlier pages of my handwriting workbook, giving me the opportunity to see my improved penmanship over time. This built academic confidence within me that caused me great personal pride - I loved being a “good student!” Finding the Right Handwriting Workbook for Your Home Education Program Of course, many homeschool curriculum packages already include a handwriting workbook and/or other handwriting resources. However, these are not always the types of handwriting workbooks children find the most engaging. Fortunately, there are a vast assortment of supplemental handwriting resources and handwriting workbooks out there. It can be a bit overwhelming to make a choice, among these, for sure. The secret, we believe, to choosing the best handwriting workbook for your home educated child, is to be sure you are purchasing your handbooks from a trusted retailer, such as those partners who carry our books (link here to your workbook vendor/Amazon page). It also might be a good idea for you and your home educated student(s) to browse the offerings together, so you can see which of the offerings will be most engaging for your child. Also, allow the child to pick out a few fun pencils, to get them excited about the opportunity of using their new handwriting workbook (and don’t forget the fun pencil toppers)! Which handwriting workbook have you found the most engaging? Have you found a great deal on fun pencils or toppers? Send us a line and let us know - we’d love to hear from you!