Teachers.Net Focus Session - Teaching Handwriting/Penmanship in the Age of the Computer

Teachers.Net Focus
Wednesday, May 5, 1999
Teaching Handwriting/Penmanship in the Age of the Computer
with
Bill Barlow
of
Startwrite

Kathleen - Tonight's discussion is on the topic of teaching handwriting/penmanship in the age of the computer. We have with us a representative of Idea Maker, Inc., creators of StartWrite software. Welcome to all and to our guest, Mr. Bill Barlow. Bill, what is your position at Idea Maker, Inc. and do you have legible handwriting? :-)
Bill - I am VP of sales and marketing and yes I do have legible handwriting, although, like many, it could use improvement.
Kathleen - Participants: How important is good handwriting instruction in this age of word processors?
Kathleen - A few years ago we were being told that spelling and handwriting would be obsolete with increased availability of computers. Has that happened?
EMA - I cannot read some of my 6th graders writings...
Kathleen - Everyone, jump in with your opinions and experiences.
Kathleen - EMA, do you remediate handwriting?
Mary K&1 - It's still very important. Not everything is done on a puter, and your messages has to be understood - I have such a hard time reading some people's handwriting!
Bill - During the development of StartWrite, we did what we called Focus Groups in Elementary schools. We spoke with K-6 teachers, who told us that the handwriting skills of their students were getting worse. The idea of StartWrite excited many teachers.
EMA - Kat, as much as I am able...children do not seem to care
Kathleen - john, what grade do you teach?
Bill - We did over 12 Focus Groups. There was one single common denominator -- worse handwriting every year and in the later elementary years.
john - I teach fourth graders
Mary K&1 - There's so much to teach these days, that handwriting is getting the short end of the stick. Teachers just aren't teaching it as much as they did in years gone by.
Freckles/3/DE - Hello Kathleen and everyone in room. I am very interested in this discussion. I just got off the phone with a parent about their son's handwriting.
Kathleen - So, Bill, there is a trend and it is a downhill slide?
Kathleen - Freckles, how timely! Tell us about the problem
Freckles/3/DE - Part of the problem in our district is there is no curriculum for handwriting.
john - same here
Kathleen - I think there is a trend to go back to teaching some skills that have been somewhat ignored in recent decades, handwriting is one.
Bill - Using StartWrite, you can create fun and exciting activity pages, while at the same time, using it to teach correct handwriting skills. Most students don't even know they are learning handwriting/penmanship skills, with the pages you can create.
Bill - Let me describe the program.
Freckles/3/DE - One of my students is ADAH. He does not like to write anything. His handwriting is terrible. He was tested and has no learming difficulties nor OT problems. Because of the ADAH he has a had time focusing on writing
Kathleen - I invited Bill of StartWrite software to come here tonight to help with the discussion and to tell us about the software his company produces.
EMA - I teach in a middle school, kids tell me, they didn't have handwriting/penmenship in elementary...
Kathleen - Bill, does the StartWrite software program allow the teacher to print out dotted line letters for tracing, and does it also create letters with guide arrows?
Freckles/3/DE - How would the software help my type of student?
Kathleen - EMA, they must have had some early instruction, but not enough later to reinforce, right?
Bill - You type and the letters appear in a dot/dash/solid font format. You can print the letters/words/numbers on plane paper. StartWrite will print the guide lines for you or a single underline or no lines. Change the letter font size. Add clip-art to the page.
Kathleen - Freckles, would a customized practice sheet appeal to you for this student?
Freckles/3/DE - Is it also in cursive and is it Zaner?
Kathleen - Bill, so the teacher can customize practice sheets for each student, with lines and all?
EMA - Bill, can I afford it...no budget from school...would like to help kids though...Yes Kat, I'm sure you're correct.
Bill - Freckles, you can create very simple pages and have the students trace the letters very slowly, practicing every day.
Freckles/3/DE - It it would help for those students who have problems in certain cursive letters. Then I could make their own worksheet for what they need to work on.
Bill - Yes, Kathleen. You create and customize a page for the students level.
Mary K&1 - Bill, if you opt for lines, are lines also printed when the space bar is hit?
Kathleen - Can extra blank lines be created using the software? How much of an inve$tment is the StartWrite software, Bill?
Kathleen - john, do you have students practice penmanship as an isolated skill?
Bill - StartWrite has three manuscript fonts: Manuscript (Zaner-Bloser), Modern Manuscript (D'Nealian) and Italic (Getty-Dubay or Portland Italic). We just introduced the Cursive (Traditional) 2 weeks ago. It is very exciting to see the interest in Cursive teaching.
Freckles/3/DE - I am sorry I might have missed it did you say it was Cursive, Zaner?
Freckles/3/DE - Bill, sorry see it there now.
Bill - Mary, yes the lines will print as wide as you decide.
john - I usually have they practice in the early am independently. I suppose that would in isolation. I am looking for ideas to make it more enjoyable though
Freckles/3/DE - It would be interesting to see a sample
Bill - Kathleen, yes you can print blank lines simply by hitting the return key. The cost of $39.95 for the manuscript program ONLY and manuscript/cursive is $49.90.
Kathleen - Bill, does one have to buy a separate program for each style?
Kathleen - oops, I see your answer now
Freckles/3/DE - Is there a program just for cursive? That is all I teach.
Kathleen - sample at http://www.startwrite.com
Bill - The manuscript comes with all three manuscript fonts for the price of $39.95. For $9.95 more, you get the Cursive.
Kathleen - What other features does the StartWrite Handwriting software offer? For example, does it have word processing and SpellCheck?
Freckles/3/DE - I am going to go check out the site.
Bill - Freckles, you need the base program in order to run the Cursive fonts.
Kathleen - Freckles, could your students benefit from a foundation of correct manuscript?
john - I have had great difficulty in encouraging All of my students to complete their assignments in cursive. I have a very low group of students do you have any ideas in how I might help become more confident.
Mary K&1 - Bill, is it available for all platforms? - PC - Mac
Bill - StartWrite can be used as a simple word processor. It includes 4 additional standard fonts, such as Times Roman, Arial, and two more.
Kathleen - So, a child could actually use StartWrite to create a letter to grandma in the child's own handwriting (tracing the printed out script)?
Mary K&1 - Do you just put it in our fonts folder?
Bill - John, simple pages that every student needs to trace and complete at the beginning of each day, will show development beyond yours and their expectations.
Bill - Mary, at the moment, it is available only for Windows format. We are developing the MAC version and it should be available within 60 days.
Kathleen - john, the fact that their practice can be customized to their interests should help motivate them. You could type out sentences directly related to each child
EMA - This program sounds like a good idea...I need to do something before mine go onto 7th grade
Bill - Create letters to a friend or grandparent. Make a scrapbook page (certainly their handwriting is as precious as their photo).
Kathleen - Bill, did you say the font size can be adjusted?
Mary K&1 - Bill, so this is more than just a font?
Bill - We have been working closely with a phonics company. It has been demonstated that handwriting lessons instill and encourage reading and actually stimulates good reading habits.
EMA - I teach Reading,,,and I agree Bill!
Bill - eWe have been working closely with a phonics company. It has been demonstated that handwriting lessons instill and encourage reading and actually stimulates good reading habits.
Mary K&1 - Writing is VERY improtant in driving the learning of reading.
Kathleen - Bill, in addition to being able to print dotted letters, can one add arrows to indicate direction in writing?
Bill - Print the fonts in 1/4" to 2" high.
Kathleen - At http://www.webmasters.net/qde/theory.htm you will find a great deal of information about the physiology of handwriting (including neural pathway and motor memory). The article states: "Handwriting is an extremely complex motor task."
Bill - Print the letters in dots, shaded light or dark or in between. Add arrow strokes to the letters and numbers.
Kathleen - Bill, that size range allows for a lot of flexibility
Freckles/3/DE - I saw the Demo which was a worksheet. It was kind of hard to see if there were numbers on the letters for the children to follow. But I am sure there are.
Kathleen - freckles, numbers to follow? I don't follow?
Bill - There are older students who need to go back to a more basic learning size, say, 72 point, which is a size that K teachers use.
Freckles/3/DE - Well, on our cursive there are numbers to follow on the the penmenship strokes.
Kathleen - Oh, Freckles, you mean numbers on the arrows?
Freckles/3/DE - Yes, numbers on the arrows
Kathleen - Yes, I see numbers on the arrows for the kids to follow.
Bill - The demo download is only a demo and only half of the letters are active and able to be typed and printed, but it gives a good idea as to what the program can do for you and your students.
Bill - Both letters and numbers can have arrows added to them.
Kathleen - It seems that the ability to customize the text is the powerful advantage here, along with the word processor and spell check features
Freckles/3/DE - I tried to download it. Am I suppose to be able to type a worksheet and are you talking about the part where youhave to give your name and phone number?
Kathleen - Handwriting in America: A Cultural History by Tamara PlakinsThornton. Exploring such subjects as penmanship, pedagogy, handwriting analysis, autograph collecting, and calligraphy revivals, Thornton investigates the shifting functions and meanings of handwriting. This link takes you to more info about the book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300074417/teachersnet
Bill - The program was created for the novice in mind. It is point and click. Easy, easy, easy.
Freckles/3/DE - This has been very interesting. I will be keeping this program in mind.
Kathleen - Bill, did you see Freckles' question: I tried to download it. Am I suppose to be able to type a worksheet and are you talking about the part where youhave to give your name and phone number?
Mary K&1 - Do you offer site licenses?
Kathleen - StartWrite Software http://www.startwrite.com ; e-mail: info@startwrite.com; Telephone:1-888-974-8322
Bill - Yes. The download asks for your name, address, email, etc... This is the demo download. Then there is a page by page demonstration at the site.
Bill - Mary, we offer school site licenses for both manuscript and cursive versions.
Kathleen - Here is an interesting page: "Deciphering Old Handwriting" by Sabina J.Murray http://www.firstct.com/fv/oldhand.html. It is an online tutorial on understanding information written in handwriting styles of the past, such as is found in geneological records, legal documents, old letters.
Kathleen - How does a site license work? How much does it cost?
Bill - The School Site license for Manuscript is only $299 and allows the program to installed on up to 100 computers at the se location. For $99 more, the Cursive font is added. We also have a Teachers Home Site License. When a school purchases the program, they can purchase this site license that allows teachers to take home the program disk and install it on ONE computer not locagted at the site.
Kathleen - In _Curriculum Planning for Young Children_ edited by Janet F. Brown, published by naeyc (National Assoc. for the Education of Young Children http://naeyc.org ) there is a chapter on "Handwriting In An Early Childhood Curriculum" written by Linda L. Lamme.
Kathleen - Ah, good idea, then teachers can prep the worksheets at home. Good thinking!
Kathleen - Bill, Is there any help for working with left-handed children?
Bill - The Teachers Home Site License is an additional $199 and ALL teachers at the school site can take it home. We seldom sell a site license without this as an add-on.
Kathleen - If you are interested in the science of handwriting analysis: http://www.handwriting.org/
Kathleen - At http://www.webmasters.net/qde/theory.htm you will find a great deal of information about the physiology of handwriting (including neural pathway and motor memory). The article states: "Handwriting is an extremely complex motor task."
Kathleen - HI, stacey, we are talking about software that teaches handwriting skills
Bill - We currently have over 200 school districts in the U.S. that have purchased StartWrite and have it available for their schools. This represents over 1,500 schools and over 500,000 K-2 students. These numbers come from sales pre-cursive release.
Kathleen - _Change Your Handwriting, Change Your Life_ by Vimala Rodgers http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0890876932/teachersnet
Kathleen - Bill, it sounds as though you are reaching a lot of educators!
Mary K&1 - Bill, is there a listing of the schools that have this in place? If we'd want to talk to someone using it
Kathleen - Handwriting in America: A Cultural History by Tamara PlakinsThornton. Exploring such subjects as penmanship, pedagogy, handwriting analysis, autograph collecting, and calligraphy revivals, Thornton investigates the shifting functions and meanings of handwriting. This link takes you to more info about the book: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0300074417/teachersnet
Kathleen - stacey, do you have any questions or comments? Just jump right in
stacey - I'm trying to read the previous posts so I can catch up. :) Thank you. :)
Kathleen - stacey, what grade do you teach?
stacey - I teach a 1/2 multi-age :)
Kathleen - stacey, do you have a handwriting curriculum?
Bill Barlow - Sorry I got cut off for a moment. I'm out of town and in a rather remote town. I'd connected at 16,400. It's slow. I'll try to catch up on your questions.
stacey - No, our school doesn't...so this is very interesting to me.
Bill Barlow - Yes, we can give you names of schools and teachers who are using StartWrite.
Kathleen - stacey, Bill was invited to tell us about some software that allows one to print out in dotted letters customized text for the children to practice with, you can also use the software to add numbered directional arrows.
Bill Barlow - Another advantage that teachers talk to us about, is the fact that they don't have to buy more pre-printed books with the lines and dotted letters. They create their pages, save them and print them later. Once you have created your handwriting curriculum for the year, you can save it and use it year after year.
Mary K&1 - I haven't checked out every page on your site. Is there a page of testimonials from satisfied customers?
Kathleen - So, you can create theme or curriculum related pages. That would be motivating and lend more importance to the work while enhancing the teaching of handwriting!
Bill Barlow - On every page, there are simple statements from users. These are unsolicited. We have hundreds. We have sold over 15,000 copies of StartWrite and we receive emails, letters and notes and phone calls daily telling us how wonderful StartWrite is and how they are so glad we developed it.
Kathleen - I like the idea that it is MEANINGFUL and relevent practice
Kathleen - Are there any questions or comments?
Bill Barlow - Type letters/numbers in dots, dashes or solid format. Print them on plane paper and the program prints the triple guide lines for you. Or, just a single line, or no line at all.
Kathleen - Well, Bill, have you told us everything you think we need to know?
Kathleen - What else does Idea Maker produce?
Bill Barlow - Only, that I hope everyone here tonight, visits our site, downloads our demo and calls us to order.
dane300 - do you have any computer programs for windows 98???
Bill Barlow - We are currently developing two new programs. One deals with numbers and the other drawing.
Kathleen - Bill, somewhere I saw that Startwrite received a "Best of 1998 Educational Software Award"
Mary K&1 - That's cool!
Kathleen - Bill, is there clipart?
Bill Barlow - Yes. After attending the NSSEA convention last year in New Orleans, we were recongized as the "Best of 98" in Educational Software.
Mary K&1 - It's hard to be the best in anything these days!
Bill Barlow - Clip art is included in the program. or you can import your own.
Mary K&1 - What is NSSEA?
Kathleen - That's an important endorsement, Bill.
Bill Barlow - Also, there are template lessons included that show how to create pages to teach phonics, spelling, reading, etc...
Bill Barlow - NSSEA is the national association of educational retailers.
Mary K&1 - Is the clip art colored or black line?
Kathleen - Bill, those items are part of the Startwrite software program> I didn't know that.
Bill Barlow - Clip art is both. You can import a color picture or the black/white version is black lined.
Bill Barlow - Yes, all included. These are a few of the new enhancements we just added with this Cursive upgrade.
Kathleen - Well, I would like to thank Bill Barlow of Idea Maker, Inc. for joining us tonight. StartWrite sounds like something that would benefit any classroom from k-even 6, right?
Kathleen - Special Education teachers would find it helpful, too.
Mary K&1 - It's sounding better all the time!
Bill Barlow - The best way to experience StartWrite is to purchase it. Only your imagination is your limitation.
Mary K&1 - Thanks Bill, I'll probably do just that :o)
Kathleen - On that note, I will say "thank you and good night!" Bill, you have a great product.:-) I'll be sure lots of people have access to the information you shared tonight :-)
Bill Barlow - Thank you everyone and good night.