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Getting Started with
Home Schooling:
Practical Considerations

 
   
 
Developing Handwriting - Purpose and Audience

© Beverley Paine

[an excerpt from Developing Children's Handwriting, a Practical Homeschooling Booklet, by Beverley Paine, available from Always Learning Books.]

The purpose and anticipated audience for any writing activity will affect the form
taken by the writing, the style of handwriting used and the degree of concern over the
layout and presentation. Offering a variety of reasons for writing, and then a variety of
audiences, will help to develop confident and competent writers.

When brainstorming activities that will naturally include handwriting practice, think about the different audiences, that is the people who will read what they have written. It's not necessary to insist on neat, legible writing every time your child writes. You don't write legibly all the time, especially if the audience is yourself and no one else. Rough drafts are seldom neat, although they still need to be reasonably legible! Crossing out errors is quite acceptable in this form of writing, and even in note taking. Once you 'publish' your words, that is, present it to another, you will need to pay more attention to neatness and legibility.

If we make writing a chore for our children they will become reluctant writers. Holding a pen or pencil is difficult for most young children, even when we supply suitably sized pencils or grips. It takes considerable practice to master manipulating the writing tool as well as holding the paper flat and still with the other hand. Sympathy and understanding at this stage will encourage your child to perservere.

Whatever handwriting style your children use, the steps toward legibility and speed are:

  • form letters correctly
  • slant the letters consistently
  • make the letters a consistent size
  • use consistent spacing between words and letters
  • keep the hand loose and comfortable

... back to writing index

 

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Getting Started - how to write your own learning programs
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Learning Without School - how 30 families homeschool
The Homeschooling Trail - Christian unschooling life
Learning in the Absence of Education - how we did it
Practical Homeschooling Booklet Series - your questions answered!
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Practical Homeschooling Language Development Series
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March 2012

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Please note:
The information on this
website is of a general
nature only and is not
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or professional advice.

The Homeschool Australia suite of websites is paid for by the revenue from Google Ads. Without this we could not continue to provide over 700 pages of information and articles to home educators.
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Home education is a legal alternative
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State and Territory governments
are responsible for regulating home
education. Different states have different
requirements, however home educating
families are able to develop curriculum
and learning programs to suit the
individual needs of their children.
For more information visit the
Home Education Association
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photo of Beverley and Robin PainePioneering members of the home education movement in Australia, Beverley and Robin Paine are passionate advocates of true educational choice for families. They began homeschooling their children in 1986 and three years later started the South Australian Home Based Learners network. Beverley wrote Getting Started with Homeschooling in 1995-97 and since then continues to write books and booklets on home education. She balances spending time helping home educators with working in her garden and renovating her home, as well as continuing to build her collection of writing on a variety of homeschooling subjects. Beverley maintains an extensive collection of websites as well as several Yahoo groups supporting families teaching their children at home. In 2007 Beverley joined the HEA and became a committee member in 2008: she also edits and produce the HEA Newsletter, HEA magazine, Stepping Stones for Home Educators, annual Resource Directory and other HEA publications. If you'd like to keep in touch with what Beverley is up to her in her life, sign up for the Homeschool Australia Newsletter or visit her Homeschool AustraliaFacebook page.

 
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