Calgary calligraphy club teaches handwriting in new work book
The Bow Valley Calligraphy Guild (BVCG) has produced an extensive work book called Teaching Handwriting to Young Children: A Resource for Teachers and Parents.
It's geared towards children in Kindergarten to Grade 3, but the resource can also help older children and adults learn and improve their printing and handwriting skills.
"Writing helps learning and helps people to be able to think about things and actually form thoughts," said Adrienne Waller, BVCG member and program creator.
"It takes you away from having zero attention span because we watch the internet too much."
Waller has always liked handwriting and is passionate about learning different styles of writing.
She did a lot of research about what would work best to teach young learners today.
"Italic lettering is from the 15th century," she said. "It was something that the Italians created to get rid of the blackletter that the Germans were using, and most of the medieval people were using before the printing press, so this italic font is the only one that you can go from a printed letter to a cursive letter without redoing or relearning the letter form."
Waller's partner in the project was Renate Worthington.
They started working on it in August 2023 and finished in March 2024.
"I think this has some really fun elements in showing how to teach letters that are easy to do and useful to do, and I think that is maybe missing right now," said Worthington.
"The challenge is how do people that don't know how to do it themselves teach other people how to do it, so picking even a few ideas from this program would be very helpful."
The two also worked on the project with Hetty Roessingh from the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary.
Thea Paul, BVCG president, says it's a way for guild members to give back to the community.
The entire project was volunteer-driven and is available for free to educators and parents.
"That was critical," she said. "It was on our team and Adrienne to make it copyright-free to get a trade name for it and to set it up so that anybody could use it without having to pay for it."
Paul says printing and writing skills are not a priority in classrooms today, and haven't been for a while, which has resulted in people in their teens and twenties not knowing how to handwrite.
"That's a really big problem, because you get a letter from Grandma, you get a card in the mail, you get something with handwriting on it, and you literally are - it's like a foreign language," she said. "It's like a code that you can't read."
Waller says hundreds of hours went into making the project easy to follow for both teachers and students.
"There's exercises that have them do geometric shapes, which are the basis of all lettering," she said. "And they're connecting the dots, and they're drawing, and they have to be able to go from point A to point B, and have their pencil end up where they want it to end up."
Waller encourages parent to work alongside their children on the project to brush up on their own writing skills that they haven't used in years.
"Parents should be doing this along with their children so their handwriting improves or they can actually learn how to do italic cursive handwriting," she said.
To learn more, you can visit the Bow Valley Calligraphy Guild's website.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Police arrest 3 Indian nationals in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Human remains found in rural Sask. possibly a decade old, RCMP say
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.