Whilst writing is all about consistency, bringing calligraphy into your school is the perfect plan to stimulate creativity, free flowing writing and discovery. Starting young writers on calligraphy encourages steady writing flow, movement of different shapes and a vintage style nib takes them back to writing basics.
Our friends at Explore Learning have shown handwriting improves communication skills amongst younger children, encouraging them to write as much as they talk and share ideas with the people around them.
Starting calligraphy is easy too. Much like those letter formation sheets that teachers have been handing out for years, calligraphy starts with three lines – called the top line, the mid line and the base line. Practicing letter shape is a great start to writing generally – not only calligraphy. Plus, with the lines drawn out, results can be presentable on the walls of school halls!
We’ve put together some handy tips to help you, as teachers, encourage kids to put pen to paper.
Start off with a fountain pen
This will help students learn the basics of italic calligraphy, the thicks and thins and how to hold a pen correctly. Encourage children to practice flourishes and upward and downward strokes.
Make use of Onomatopoeia
Why not ask students to write their favourite onomatopoeic words? Splodge, splash and bump look amazing in calligraphy. You can then encourage them to doodle what they think that word would look like as a picture.
Introduce calligraphy into story writing
A great way to encourage writing is to get young hands to write a story with a handwriting pen and when children feel confident enough, move them onto a dip pen. Moving from a handwriting pen to a dip pen can be a little uncomfortable to start with but all you have to do is be seated at 45 degrees, sit up straight, breathe and write slowly.
Try an ergonomic pen
Some children struggle to get a grasp on calligraphy so an ergonomic pen would be perfect to help them out. The finger grip design on the pen aids comfort and pen control, slowing down the speed at which they write, which is key to practicing calligraphy.
We truly believe that the art of writing matters to all ages, worldwide. Start your school’s calligraphy journey with the free downloadable resources we’ve provided in this blog, check them out below!
Resources:
Calligraphy Guide For Children
Complete Italic Guideline - 3B
Complete Italic Guideline - Medium
Modern Calligraphy Alphabet
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