Putting Pencil To Paper

Arlington Teachers Become Students In Handwriting Class

Two dozen Arlington County public schools educators gathered last week to learn nitty-gritty details about how to teach their students handwriting -- proof that, even in this age of ubiquitous and hand-held computers, old-fashioned writing hasn't gone out of fashion.

"Kids are coming to us with so many bad habits," said trainer Todd Misura, a former fourth-grade teacher who started off the session with basics: handshaking, to teach students right from left, and touching pinkie to thumb to practice fine motor skills.

"It's still a communication tool we need at this point," said Mary Zolman, the school system's English-language arts supervisor, of pencil and paper. "You shouldn't give up learning how to write for word processing."

Writing has changed since today's parents were in school. In Arlington and across the country, the emphasis in teaching handwriting has shifted from slanted letters with curlicues and turned-up tails to a no-frills, straight-up-and-down style that proponents say is easier for children to learn. And from its roots as a rote, stay-in-your-chair activity, learning handwriting has become a full-body, kinesthetic experience complete with singing songs.

"There has been a sort of disregard for handwriting among some people," said Jan Olsen, an occupational therapist who wrote Handwriting Without Tears, the curriculum that Arlington adopted in 2007 and that is used by some schools in Fairfax and Prince William counties. "They didn't realize that this is a skill, like tying your shoes or playing the piano, that really has to be taught, and it can't be taught by passing out worksheets. It has to be taught by a person."

Olsen developed Handwriting Without Tears from techniques she used to help her son, who struggled to learn to print as an elementary school student in Cabin John.

The curriculum, which uses music and movement to teach pencil grip and letter formation, has become known for its effectiveness with special education students and others who struggle with problems such as reversing or crowding letters. Its growth has been "exponential" in recent years, Olsen said. About 30 trainers conduct more than 500 workshops a year for educators across the country. About 300 teachers have been trained in Arlington in the past two years, according to the company.

"It's not a loopy writing program; it's very straightforward, it makes a lot of sense and it's easy for left-handed students to learn to write," Zolman said. "If there's a plain handwriting, this is it."

Attendees at last week's session included teachers of special-education and kindergarten through second-grade students. Many were new to teaching or to Arlington and said it was their first formal training in handwriting, which, like a golf swing, is as much a physical skill as an academic one.

"Last year, I was pulling from wherever to try to get materials," said Katy Lernihan, who is in her second year teaching students with autism spectrum disorders, many of whom struggle with motor skills, at Jamestown Elementary.

Harriet Runkle, a veteran teacher beginning her first year in Arlington as a first-grade teacher at Jamestown, said she has improvised with a slanted-script D'Nealian handwriting style. "This is the first time I've used an actual program," she said.

According to Virginia standards of learning, children should be able to print letters in kindergarten and write legibly in cursive by third grade. Despite the growing dominance of computers in the working world, the standards are less clear about when students should learn typing techniques.

In Fairfax County, middle and high schools offer a keyboarding elective course; in Arlington, the School Board has mandated that students begin learning keyboarding in third grade, said Phyllis Gandy, the school system's Business, Informational Technology and Computer Science supervisor.

"It's the 21st-Century pencil," she said.