Head of School's Message - Auburn House



centertopAUBURN HOUSE POLICYHANDWRITINGAuburn House recognizes the developmental and educational importance of children developing a regular, legible and flowing style of handwriting.Following the example of an increasing number of English-language-medium schools worldwide, the School has taken cognizance of the rationale for adopting a ‘cursive’ style of handwriting in the early and primary years, in preference to a ‘print’ style, and is in the process of formulating a Handwriting Policy in support of this.Contents of this PolicyA – outlines the preparatory steps to be taken by teaching staff B – describes briefly the approximate stages of young children’s developing competenceC – contains references to websites with further background information and various work tools and resources. PART A1. All teaching staff and assistants should – 1.1 focus on children’s handwriting as a necessary developmental and expressive skill, and therefore study and discuss the relevant research, and attend practice sessions as required to refine their own cursive writing skills, so that they can support the children’s efforts effectively;1.2 be aware that this is a new focus which will necessarily take time to be absorbed into the routines and practices of the School, so at all times there should be no sense of tension or anxiety associated with it for either adult or child, only positive effort and pleasure at the developing skills and degrees of mastery.2. Pre-primary teaching staff should – 2.1 practice basic presentation skills to consolidate their own knowledge of the cursive patterns and flow when presenting letters to the children (refer to Bluff View Montessori School YouTube demonstration);2.2 (with the primary teaching staff) develop ways to redirect or adjust incorrect or poor writing movements and refine children’s pencil control, before attempting to demonstrate the cursive style as a new skills-set; 2.3 develop or source sets of age-appropriate pattern practice sheets and related material to prepare and refine pencil control; 2.4 be aware of and maintain basic ground rules for pencil use – eg: ‘tripod’ pencil grip, holding a pencil on the ‘painted part’ to leave plenty of space for light and to see where the pencil point is moving, body posture, angle of paper to writing arm, having a base to ‘rest’ the paper on, and any other points of order to support the child’s focus. 3. Primary teaching staff should – 3.1 (see 2.2 above) develop techniques to refine and adjust habitual writing movements to improve the writing style before considering introducing the cursive style as a new skills-set (if a child has a well-developed, regular and legible handwriting style already, there is no need to introduce another style); 3.2 incorporate a handwriting component into the children’s daily basic Work Contract – approximate 15-30 mins, depending on age and need; the actual process must be personally monitored (according to need) for pencil grip and letter formation, and the work checked, to maintain progress; 3.3 determine the School’s work presentation criteria for the children to follow eg: margins, headings, capitals, underlining, dates, appropriate use of colours, borders, etc; these should be recognised as important elements of the children’s developing skills in hand-produced work, leaving room for creativity within a disciplined and orderly framework. PART BStages of young children’s developing competence – as relevant to the handwriting policy – a general guide: Pre-primary level 3 – 4 ? yrs Preparation for pencil control – using chalk and crayons for pictures and pencils with metal insets (filling in shapes); beginning to use scissors; beginning to trace and sound sandpaper letters; tracing in sand, beginning to trace and sound sandpaper numbersDeveloping pencil control – metal insets used for design and putting in colour; recognisable drawings and paintings; use of glue in collages; threading and sewing activities; beginning to build words in concrete; simple writing patterns; beginning to write numbersBeginning to write name and words; beginning to read simple words; beginning to label other work4 ? – 6 yrs Developing writing; developing reading; achieving basic literacy; achieving basic numeracy; fine motor skills developing steadily; variety of detailed art and craft work Primary level6 – 7 ? yrs Continued development of skills in all areas; doing work with an end/result in view; beginning to notice the works of others; attempting new techniques, learning new skills; rejoicing in discovery, rejoicing in feeling capable 7 ? – 9 yrs Refinement of above; comparison with others, cheerful competitiveness; rejoicing in sense of achievement; anxieties about inadequacy or failure; aiming for specific goals, striving to improve and perfect techniques, connecting with process of learning. 9 – 12yrsRough work to be done in pencil; Submitted work and reviews to be done in blue or black pen; No writing to be done in colourful pencils or koki’s; Incorrect work or errors in pen are to be crossed out by a single line (not scratched out); Scientific and technical drawings to be done in pencil; Correction pens are not to be used PART C References to websites with further background information and various work tools and resources: Rationale for Cursive Writing vs Print blog Valley Montessori Schooldvms.ca/2013/02/19/cursive97-handwriting-cursive-script NAMC teacher training blogmontessoritraining.Bluffview Montessori School (YouTube demonstration) letter worksheetsworksheetsDeveloping a handwriting policy for the Primary Schooleducation. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download