=Drill 6=
Assume correct position; practice the movement without, and then with,
the penholder. Be sure that you are using exactly the right movement,
and practice the two-space compact ovals two or three minutes at the
rate of two hundred to a minute. (Drill three.)
[Illustration]
When two lines are connected in an angle, a positive stop at the point
of connection is necessary. This principle applies to the top of capital
A where the upward and the last downward strokes are joined. This stop
is such a small fraction of a second in duration that it can hardly be
detected. Without the stop at the top of capital A, a loop will be made.
To emphasize this stop in connection with capital A, the following
conversational count has been developed. “You stop, you stop, at the
top, you stop, every time, at the top. How long do you stop at the top?
Not long, but you stop, every time, at the top. What for, what for, what
for? Oh! To close them up, to close them up, to close them up,” and
repeat. Other conversational counts that may be used with capital A are,
“Roll the arm, on the muscle; see it roll, on the muscle; slide the
hand, on the fingers, see them slide, over the paper, make them glide.”
Make your letters the same size as in the drill, and begin each letter
as the pen moves downward. Make capital A in groups of five, and move
the paper a little to the left after each of the first two groups as
indicated by the check mark. When the third group of five has been
finished, move the paper to the right to its correct position for
beginning a line. Learning to move the paper in this and in other drills
is very important. There are three groups of five, making fifteen
letters to a line in drill six, and five lines, seventy-five letters,
should be made in a minute.
The dotted line between the first and second letters shows the path over
which the pen should move without touching the paper, in passing from
one letter to the next. A count of ten should be used in each group of
five, and the count for each line should be 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7–8, 9–10,
move the paper, 1–2, 3–4, 5–6, 7–8, 9–10, move the paper, 1–2, 3–4, 5–6,
7–8, 9–10, move the paper. In beginning every practice period hereafter,
your program should be the two-space compact oval, one minute—two
hundred ovals, and capital A, at a speed that will produce at least
sixty-five and very soon seventy-five in a minute. For the present,
three minutes could very profitably be spent in repeating the capital A
with an easy, swinging, rhythmic motion. Select your best capital and
compare it with the models giving close attention to size, slant, width,
distance between letters, and the beginning and finishing lines.
If muscular movement is taught to pupils of the first and second year
primary classes according to the Palmer Method plan, they will enter the
third year of their school life well prepared to use the movement in all
their writing. If pupils in classes from the third to the eighth year
inclusive have copies of this Manual, study it closely, and follow it
absolutely in daily practice under teachers who have mastered the
lessons before attempting to teach them, rapid improvement will be
evident from week to week, and the ideal in rapid, easy, legible writing
will soon be attained.