Roanoke Rapids daily herald. (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1948-1949, 1948-11-01

To Write
.LegibIy
D. GARRY CLEVELAND MYERS, Pi.D.

D. GARRY CLEVELAND MYERS, Pad.
A GOOD many children never
learn in the modern school to write
well by hand, yet their quality Of
handwriting will play . big part In
the grades they earn in other sub.
jects. In all too many elementary
schools handwriting is seriously
neglected.
Much may be said for the old copy
books of years ago. Its weakness
was that too many lines were to be
written under each model line. As
a result, the child tended to follow
his own last line instead Of the
model, each line often getting worse
than the last. Some modern copy
books" are 30 devised that only two
or three lines are to be copied under
each model line.
Illiterate Soldiers
Following World War I, was set
by the War Department to develop
methods Of teaching illiterate SOL
diers to read and write. l hit on a
simple device for teaching hand
writing. On = slip of cardboard 4
model line was written. The soldier
placed this slip at the top Of q sheet
Of ruled paper, copied the line Of
script right under this model, blot
ted this, slid down the slip above
the next line, copied from the model
again and so on. Thus he always
copied directly from the model.
Suppose you have . child, say in
the fourth, sixth or eighth grade
who is miserable handwriter. Pre-
pare for him some model slips such
as have described, with separate
letters, or letters in words or SEN
fences. Induce him to practice daily
for a few minutes copying from the
models. Urge him to write As nearly
like the model as he can, neatly,
legibly but not to bother at all about
speed.
Good Penmanship
Theoretically, good penmanship
develops best with arm movement
rather than with finger movement.
Therefore, children in the grades
Of some schools are given practice
exercises in which considerable
emphasis is placed on rapid arm
movement, sometimes to music or
counting. A few children take to
this quickly, many others don't. In
spite of the fact that I am co-author
Of the New York City Penmanship
Scale" based on . muscular system
Of writing, widely used some years
ago in that city's schools, I now be-
lieve the most practical way Of
teaching children to write is by urg-
ing them to emphasize neatness and
legibility, in any way they prefer.>
I do wish more children mia n.
learn at school to write neatly and
legibly. The child who does write so,
exercises some consideration and
kindness to others, especially to his
parents and friends to whom he
writes letters. Most Of US are pretty
selfish when we write . letter by
hand. We are chiefly concerned with
getting it written and may give
very little thought to the person
who will try to read it.
In spite of the typewriter, most
writing at school will have to be
done by hand for many years to
come. Besides, the student in high
school or college who writes q mis-
cradle hand will pay 4 big penalty
in earning lower grades in subject
matter than he might earn if he
wrote more legibly.
Answering Parents Questions
9. Some adaptive parents, when
the adopted child does not measure
up to their expectation, suppose his
wrong behavior came from his bad
inheritance. What about this no.
ton?
A. It's q superstition with no end
Of harm. One does not inherit diso-
bedience, destructiveness, ugly Ian
guags and the like ~ one inherits
color Of hair or eyes or other physi-
cal traits.
@. What Is the best time for a
child to eat candy, If at all!
A. At the end Of his meal. Some
pediatricians say that . youngster
over three or four, II he has good
eating habits, may safely be al
lowed to eat all the candy he desires
on . full stomach, provided h
brushes his teeth afterwards.