The Palmer Method of Business Writing · Lesson 2 · Part 1: Position, posture and pencil hold
2. The writing machine
Goal: Your child can relax the arms, let the right arm drop into place, and move the hand forward and back with the arm muscles while the sleeve stays still.
You'll need
- A table and a chair that let your child sit with both feet flat on the floor
- A pencil or smooth gel pen
- A sheet of lined paper
- The book open at the photographs
What's in the book
Lesson 2 teaches the first steps in pictures: arms hanging loose, arms dropped to the desk, and "running the writing machine" with the fingers closed. It also defines muscular movement and shows the two rests (the forearm near the elbow, and the third and fourth fingers).
The lesson, step by step
Loosen up
The book starts with relaxing steps. Your child sits with arms hanging limply at the sides, then lifts both arms above the table with wrists and fingers limp, then lets them drop. Do it three or four times. Giggles are fine.
Look at the pictures
Open the book at Lesson 2 and look at pictures 4 to 8 together. Point out the boy in picture 7 with his fingers closed in a loose fist, watching his own arm near the elbow.
Run the writing machine
Arm on the table, fingers closed loosely. Your child pushes the wrist forward out of the sleeve and pulls it back in, without sliding the sleeve on the table and without bending the wrist or fingers.
The arm is the machine, and the engine that moves it is above the elbow.
Do it for a minute, then rest, then another minute.
The two rests
The arm rests on the thick part of the forearm near the elbow. The hand glides on the third and fourth fingers (the ring and little fingers).
In writing, the wrist and side of the hand should never touch the paper.
Have your child look under the hand: is there a little gap under the wrist?
The fist test
The book asks the pupil to test the movement:
See how far you can move the hand forward and backward without slipping the sleeve or without any motion of the wrist or fingers.
Can your child move the hand far enough to make a big capital letter? Let them try a large loose circle in the air just above the table.
Gentle check
Put your hand lightly on your child's upper arm while they run the machine. Can they feel the muscle working? Say what you see: "The sleeve stayed still and your wrist was up. That is muscular movement."
Afterwards
A minute or two of the writing machine each day this week, before any other writing.
Tip
The book says young pupils sometimes practiced position and movement for weeks before taking up a pen. For children 8 and up, three or four short sessions are usually enough before going on.