Ink Cursive Writing

My grandmother wrote in beautiful elegant strokes, she used a fountain pen and watching her

form her letters, re-fill the ink or fold the crips paper were rituals in themselves. Reading her

handwritten letters or birthday cards today, holds a deeper connection, beyond the words on the

paper, something of her still remains to this day.

What do you use to write with? Do you write with a grey lead pencil, a felt marker, a ball point

pen, colored pencils, a fountain pen or do you type more than write? Consider trying each of

these and notice the difference. What does each require of you, of your posture, your arm, hand

and fingers, your thoughts, your pace. Do you write in print or cursive or a combination of both?

In fourth grade, children are writing in cursive script and that, along with using a fountain pen,

creates the perfect combination, at the age when children’s thoughts begin to hold more

co-herence. In this way, the activity of writing supports the beginning of this flow of the dawning

thinking.

The movement task of the fingers and hand are more demanding at first, yet the children are

able to master this new faculty. Developmentally, they are ready for this and in conjunction with

their more fluid and expressive thoughts the introduction of ink cursive writing is perfectly timed.

Writing in cursive combined with using a fountain pen requires a certain respectful posture and

awareness toward what is being written and in this way another step is taken toward waking the

child into being a conscious human being, in a subtle and beautiful way.

Brain imaging studies show that teaching children to write in cursive, uses multiple areas of the

brain simultaneously. The left and right sides of the brain communicate with each other and the

areas of the brain used for memory and encoding of new information are activated.

At a time when the average child’s hands, gestures, actions and abilities are deteriorating and

becoming less conscious, it is heart warming and encouraging to know that their Waldorf

education, yet again, supports their growth in becoming healthy human beings.

Ms. Mandy, Grades Teacher 
Learn more about our program HERE