Charlotte Mason on Handwriting

Charlotte Mason quotes ~

She says, “Let the child accomplish something perfectly in every lesson.”

During Handwriting lessons my youngest child loves to find and circle or mark her most perfect letter in the copywork she has neatly copied.  If my child is discouraged by the results of her imperfect work, she is always gladdened to find some letter that was beautifully copied.

If a young child struggles with letter formation, I ask my child to just give me 2 or 3 “perfect” letters rather than copying an entire passage.

“Let the writing lesson be short; it should not last more than 5 or 10 minutes,” instructs Charlotte Mason.

We use a laminated handwriting charts and this makes it possible to quickly copy over the alphabet.  When my children use a whiteboard marker on our laminated charts, any mistakes are very quickly erased.  If  copywork seems overwhelming, I allow my young writer to copy out just 1 sentence.  Our handwriting lessons are really short, taking just 10 or so minutes.

“The thing to be avoided is the habit of careless work.”

I encourage my children to always do their best.  If I notice their attitude is negative, I try quickly ‘nip it in the bud’ and find a way to encourage their positive approach.  Character training is so important here ~ not just handwriting!  I ask my children if Jesus would be satisfied with their work when they are being careless.  Our hearts before Him must be right.

“Secure that the child begins by making perfect letters and is never allowed to make faulty ones, and the rest he will do for himself.”

This principle requires ~

• Reminders ~ use the laminated handwriting chart and encourage the child to concentrate on learning any difficult letter before beginning the copywork lesson.
• Repetition ~ practice the letter at least 3 to 5 times to relearn or correct the writing.
• Review ~ look over the work as it is written or as soon as it is complete to make sure that mistakes are not left uncorrected.
• Revision ~ correct any mistakes and incorrect letters using the handwriting chart.

All handwriting tips, charts and booklets can be found on my Handwriting Pages.

We use copywork for our handwriting lessons and you are welcome to download copywork pages.

All quotes above were taken from Charlotte Mason Study Guide by Penny Gardner page 106.  You can read my review of this book on my Book List Page.

Blessings, Nadene