Back to school... in more than one way

For about a year, I have been meaning to do a blog post about handwriting but never got round to it. I've been asked a few times to show how I do my handwriting and inspired by this sheet of Studio Calico paper, I decided to finally do it.

I love to handwrite on my layouts.  It's quick and it's personal.  I have heard a lot of people comment though that they don't like to write on their pages because they don't like the way that their handwriting looks and because of this, don't want to spoil the page.

As a primary school teacher, one of the things that I teach is handwriting.  A few years ago, the school that I was working at brought in a new handwriting scheme.  I was lucky, as the style of cursive script that they introduced was exactly the same style that I was taught to use when I was at school.  For many of the other staff though, it meant them having to re-learn how to write.  I know from the many conversations that Jen G and I share about education, that her school has just started to teach cursive script across their school and she is currently having to teach herself to write in this way too.  So, it is quite possible to change your handwriting style, even as an adult.

The principles behind this style are simple: every single letter starts on the line with an entry stroke and finishes with an exit stroke, ready to join to the next letter.

This type of paper is great for practising handwriting.  The solid black line is for writing on and, in this case, starting every letter from.  The dashed blue line is the mid point where the top of letters such as 'a' and 'e' will be and the dashed red lines show the highest and lowest points where the tails of letters such as 'g' and 't' will go to (ascenders and descenders).

 Here is how the individual letters look in this style:

 

How the letters look when joined together:

Here are some example layouts that contain my handwritten journaling.  The Yearbook range from Studio Calico mixed with Elle's Studio tags were perfect for some back to school pages for my biggest two children (yes, it's November and I've only just got round to scrapping these pictures!).  Ledger and graph papers along with the alphabet sheets made ideal backgrounds for my school layouts.

 

Oliver started school in September.  I can't believe that he's now at 'big school' as he's only just four: where does the time go?!  This page documents the build up to starting school using a photo taken before we left home for his very first day at school.

This page includes my favourite photo from our little photoshoot before we set off for school.  The picture really demonstrates the relationship between Evie and Oliver.  He looks up to his big sister so much and she really looks out for him.  That day marked Evie moving into Year 2 and Oliver starting in the Reception class: new beginnings for both of them.

On the first page, I used a ruler to draw lines to write on and on the 2nd page, I wrote on directly onto the lines on the background sheet.

I also added some more hand written information about the classes that they are both in:

I feel that I must point out that I'm by no means saying that my handwriting is perfect or that this is the only and best way to write but it's just the method that I use and teach.  If you'd like to change your style or you print and would like to join, then this is one method to have a go at.

However, I would also like to add that your handwriting is a very personal and precious thing and whether you like the look of it or not, it is still something worth preserving.  We have a tiny notebook full of recipes that my Mother-in-Law handwrote for my husband when he went to university.  It's about the only example we have now of her handwriting and it feels very comforting to look at and something that we'll treasure and share with the children when they're older to give them a glimpse of their Granny.  

I hope to see you hand writing your journaling!

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