The Palmer Method of Business Writing · Lesson 6 · Part 2: First movement drills
6. Drill 3: the compact oval and the first words
Goal: Your child starts each oval by moving in the air first, makes a compact oval about the size of a large capital O, and writes the first three words with a light motion.
You'll need
- Wide-ruled lined paper (several sheets)
- A sharp pencil or a smooth gel pen
- The book open at today's page
- A watch, clock or phone timer that shows seconds (only for the optional speed check)
What's in the book
Lesson 6 explains "preparatory motion" (moving in the air before touching down) and "form building" (judging the oval as a large capital O). Drill 3 is a line of two-space compact ovals followed by the words "mine," "uses" and "sell."
The lesson, step by step
Warm up
Run the writing machine for a minute without the pencil. Then make one line of straight push-pulls and one line of ovals from Lesson 4, two ruled spaces tall. Check that the wrist and the side of the hand stay off the paper.
The book asks you to begin each lesson by checking position, arm, fingers and pencil hold before the pencil touches the paper.
Move in the air first
Before making the oval drill or attempting any part of it, move the pen in the air rapidly over the path of the first oval several times.
Then, without stopping, let the pencil touch down. This gives smooth lines and keeps the fingers out of it.
Look at the model
Open the book page. Look at drill 3.
The compact oval is the repeated form of a large capital O.
The words under it are written very small, about one-sixteenth of an inch tall: the ovals are twelve times as tall as the little letters.
Ovals with a chant
Three lines of compact ovals. If an oval is too narrow, the book says to repeat to yourself, "Wider, wider, rounder, rounder." If it is too wide, use more of the straight push-pull motion.
Optional speed target: two hundred ovals a minute.
The first words
Now the words. Your child writes two lines each of "mine," "uses" and "sell," copying the book. The m and n are round on top (an over-motion); the joining strokes swing up from below (an under-motion).
Optional speed target: "mine" eighteen, "uses" twenty and "sell" twenty-two a minute.
Gentle check and finish
Are the little letters small, and all about the same height? Circle the best word. Finish by writing "me" or the child's own name small and light.
Afterwards
Ovals every day, and a line of each of the three words. The book says other easy words can be practiced too.
Tip
Small letters really are small in this style. If the words are much taller than the book's, that is the first thing to fix.