Nan Jay Barchowsky: Hi! I am Nan Jay Barchowsky, a Handwriting Specialist, who is here to help you improve your handwriting. We have seen a setup in the last clip and I am changing the setup a little bit by using an easel. An easel provides -- it isnt necessary, you can work on any flat surface. But an easel does provide the best eye, hand coordination. It also is easier for me to show you what I want to show you. Your first practice session is going to take a little longer than they will later on, because you are going to want the right kind of paper. You dont want a paper that feels too slippery when you are writing on it. You dont want this too rough. This plain or lined paper does pretty well, but get whatever feels good for you. Also have a selection of pens.

So for your actual practice you dont want to spend more than 10 to 15 minutes because you dont want to get bored with what you are doing. You want to really feel you are doing something positive with your handwriting. You also dont want to repeat a letter over and over again, because you think oh! that one wasnt quite right, I am going to try it again, I am going to try it again and you get frustrated and you run over your 15-minute limit, dont do that. Make yourself stop. Use practice patterns like this one; down and down and down and down and down and down and down and down. Then write a couple of words like up, my, you. Then write some more little patterns like that now. I wonder if you can see that these patterns have controlled the spacing between the words. The spacing that is between each down stroke here and it has controlled the slant. If I wrote a bunch of ls, the ls would all be a consistent slant because I am pulling those down strokes toward my midline.

So this little simple pattern that you can do with your eyes closed and I suggest you do it with your eye closed. Will control your, the size of your letters, the spacing, the slant, and it will keep all of your writing consistent, and consistency is a key to eligibility. This pattern is a counterclockwise pattern. Do you see it moves around opposite to a clockwise direction, so does this, this u goes opposite to clockwise, so the all of these letters they move around like that, they move around like that. Practice a few of these patterns, practice a few letters, practice a few words. Then try the clockwise pattern, which is down in a round in a clockwise direction as is this n it goes around in the clockwise direction. Even the r which doesnt appear to be really clockwise, but it is like the first part of an n. It could be written like this without the little wiggle there, a little wiggle there is for joining. Then write a few words. These are letters that really dont fit all that well into this scenario the i, the j does move in a clockwise direction, s goes counterclockwise and then clockwise, f does the same thing, x and z you dont need too often.

So you see how you have got the pattern and the u fits right on top of the pattern. You have got the pattern and a c will fit right on top of the pattern and then all of these words are ones that you can use. You can use any words that -- use words that really mean something to you because it will make the practice much more interesting for you.

Keep a notebook. In the notebook, put all of your practice papers, you want to date them because after about all ten days, two weeks go back and look at what you did the first, second, and third days and you will be amazed and you will be delighted at how much you have progressed.

Now, we will go on to the elements of handwriting.