Delightful Handwriting is an introductory course for learning printed forms of letters in your choice of Zaner Bloser or D’Nealian style. A single teacher’s manual covers both styles, but student books show only one style or the other.
The teacher’s book begins with quotes from Charlotte Mason regarding handwriting instruction. These ideas are then incorporated into the lessons that follow. Instructional information is relatively brief and easy to use.
Children learn the fundamental strokes and shapes that are used to form letters. Upper case letters are taught first then lower case letters. Children may begin by making the strokes or letters in the air and in a pan of rice or sand. They may write large strokes and letters on a whiteboard. When they are ready they can write the forms in the workbook, practicing each stroke or letter until they can form it well.
As children learn a few letters, they begin to copy words containing those letters. Since the first lessons teach only uppercase letters, children write words in upper case letters until they learn lower case letter forms. At the end of course, children complete copywork from a poem, a fable, and scripture—all three of these are included in Simply Charlotte Mason’s Delightful Reading Reader. Copywork is presented in very short segments that should be manageable for children.
Student books are plain in design with no illustrations. They feature a plastic spiral at the top so they are easy for either right- or left-handed students to use. However, there is no mention of how to teach left-handed writers, so this might not be the best choice for those students. Student books contain some lined, blank pages which you might use as you wish.
Delightful Handwriting is an easy-to-use option for those who want to implement Charlotte Mason’s ideas in handwriting instruction.
