This is a mini-course that outlines some daily practice routines that will support healthy development of handwriting.  

The first question that often arises among parents and new teachers goes along these lines: "When the modern world is so full of digitalized technology, wouldn't it better to focus on keyboard skills rather than handwriting?"  

This is a fair question. It would take a lot of writing to cover the reasons that we choose to keep this important skill in Waldorf education. So, within the course, I have included links to multiple articles that provide the results of modern neuroscience research. These studies have found repeatedly that the act of handwriting is a fundamentally human activity, one that directly supports the learning process as well as the memory forces. The keyboard is not an evil to be shunned. It is simply a tool that is more appropriate later in the student's developmental path. Before that becomes a ubiquitous tool for them, they actually NEED to learn handwriting.  

So, over the course of these lessons, which can be followed according to the provided schedule for a school year, you will build a regular daily habit of practice. As this becomes a routine, and as it is repeated over the course of days and weeks, you will find that the child's handwriting will become an asset rather than a source of frustration and confusion. Make no mistake, at first this will require the parent/teacher's determination. So, we must balance the strength of our wills with the grace of patience. We certainly require the daily work. At the same time, we are patient in our expectations. Meaningful development will take time. After a couple of months, we will experience the first real signs of development. The practices will have more of their own momentum. The struggle to simply do the exercises will not be as present.  

These lessons are appropriate for the early grades and they focus on exercises that will support print as well as exercises that will support cursive writing.