Yes, You Can Teach Art!

Train beautiful handwriting and build excellent character in your children with these new workbooks from two homeschool moms.

When I first read about Character Italics: Building Character Through Handwriting by Martine Cox and Wendy Shaw, I gave a great whoop of excitement.

This was an idea that was bound to happen.

Take the handwriting model of the phenomenally successful … but secular … Italic Handwriting program published by Portland State University Press. Then write a whole new series of character-laden copywork quotes using that hand. Maximize the time your child employs handwriting and create beauty for the eye and beauty in the heart.

And why Italic?

In our decade or more of homeschooling, the original Getty Dubay Italic handwriting program has been the ONLY constant throughout the years. Everything else from specific math programs to phonics curriculum has come and gone in our homeschool.

But I’ve never even considered another handwriting curriculum because this method is so effective, attractive and easy to implement whatever the state of your own handwriting. In fact many moms report their own hand improving beyond recognition as they’ve learned alongside their children.

So what does this have to do with art?

I truly believe there’s a connection between the visual skills required to copy a legible hand, and the skill it takes to, say, draw a baby bird resting on the side of your page. Also, that the beauty expressed in lovely handwriting is in itself a form of art.

I allowed my son who was struggling with the fine motor skills of handwriting to take a season off from writing and concentrate on a drawing program such as Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad. The improvement in his fine motor skils was noticeable and the sense of accomplishment he felt then carried over to writing: sensing he really could draw, the light clicked on: “I really can write too!”

To help you get more of a feel for this product, here’s an interview I did with Martine Cox, co-author of the new Character Building Italics.

An Interview with co-author Martine Cox!

Q: Martine, how would you describe your new handwriting books?

Italic Builders’ Character Italics Series are handwriting books which combine the simple yet beautifull Getty Dubay Italic (GDI) font with the benefits of copywork and character learning.

We believe that children should be filling their minds with beautiful, noble and valuable ideas. Each book focuses on twelve character traits which the student learns by copying great quotes or poems of outstanding historical figures. At the same time, the student is perfecting his handwriting skills.

Q: When was the series released?

After seeing a need for additional practice with GDI handwriting and after discussing our ideas with Inga Dubay and Barbara Getty, they generously gave us the go ahead to create workbooks to complement their already successful program. We set right to work and were able to make our first books available in June 2008.

We have received tremendous feedback and are excited that we have designed something that others have been looking for to meet the handwriting needs of their students.

We have already begun to revise our first books and are working toward releasing other copywork books (one focusing on science and one on American history are currently on the drawing board).

Q: What need do you see your books fulfilling that aren’t met by other handwriting curriculum?

There is an abundance of handwriting curriculum available for homeschoolers.

Italic Builders was created out of a need that we saw primarily in relation to the Getty Dubay Italic series. Wendy Shaw (the co-author of Character Italics) has been using GDI for ten years and would often have to buy several copies of the same book just to get more focused practice for her children. Thus, we wanted to make extra italic practice available.

But, more importantly, we wanted to enhance the quality of the content of the handwriting selections. As mentioned before, we believe children should be filling their minds with and spending their time focusing on noble ideas. Hence, Character Italics was born to fulfill both of these needs.

I want to mention here that anyone can benefit from the content of Character Italics. Even if you choose not to use GDI as your method of handwriting, each Character Italics book contains a wealth of character lessons that can be copied in any form of handwriting.

Q: Why do you prefer the italic hand as a model for handwriting?

The GDI font is a natural form of writing that is easy to learn. The student first learns the basic italic letterforms (printing) and then transitions to cursive by learning how to join those letterforms. Most handwriting styles require the student to learn two distinct forms of handwriting - printing and cursive.

Yet, with GDI there are only two letters of the alphabet that change their forms when going from print to cursive. The result is simple, legible and elegant handwriting.

The biggest reason why I prefer Italic is because of the success my children have had with it. We did not start out using this form of handwriting, and I must say, I was not too pleased with my children’s writing. After years of frustration in this area, I was ready to give up. Two of my children (my twin sons) were getting ready to learn cursive. One of them had dyslexic tendencies and was left-handed as well. Needless to say, this intimidated me and I was about ready to forget about jumping into cursive.

Then I was introduced to GDI handwriting.

I switched the boys to it and decided to switch my 5th grade daughter to it as well. My 6th grade daughter didn’t want to be left out, so she decided to try to learn Italic on her own. The results were amazing for all of them! They all learned quickly with minimal help from me and their handwriting became beautiful.

I really have nothing but praise for the GDI method. Anyone can learn to have beautiful handwriting no matter how long they have been writing using other methods.

Q: How important do you think good handwriting is for a homeschool student?

Ah. You’ve hit on a favorite subject of mine.

In fact, I discuss this topic at the Ultimate Homeschool Expo. Many do not really feel that excelling in handwriting is very important whether they verbally express this idea or not. They tend to not spend much time or effort on handwriting or they simply do not expect excellence in handwriting from their children.

Yet, I firmly believe that expecting good, legible handwriting from a homeschool student is truly essential.

• First, coming from a Christian perspective, we need to do all things to the glory of God.

• Second, good handwriting shines a positive light on the writer as well as on homeschooling as a whole.

• Finally, handwriting is an important form of communication which should be properly developed in our children. We can have great thoughts, but if someone can’t read what we’ve written or if our writing is sloppy that presentation affects the overall perception of what we are trying to say.

Q: Do you think there’s a connection between handwriting and enjoying art?

To be honest, I have never thought about a connection between handwriting and enjoying art.

Yet, when one looks back in history, handwriting was considered an art form in itself. Take the beautiful illuminated manuscripts as an example. In years gone by the aesthetic value of writing was developed in young scholars. Elegant handwriting was considered essential to a complete education. Unfortunately, all this is lost in today’s pragmatic progressive education.

Q: Martine, could you describe your current special offer?

Sure, through August 31st, 2008, we are offering the entire set of Character Italics for $50.00. That includes all 4 levels, which is a total of 8 books.

Also on special is any one complete level for $14.00 or any single book for $8.00.

After September, these prices will go up.

Thanks, Martine for taking the time to answer our questions and especially for the hard work it takes to produce a well thought out, excellent product such as this.

Here’s the link to the special offer.

You’ll also find a helpful comparison chart showing where the Character Italics levels fit with the original Getty Dubay Italic series.

Stay in Touch!

Want to read more reviews like this one? Don’t miss a thing: Receive them directly by email.

Tags: copywork, curriculum review handwriting