The Palmer Method of Business Writing · Lesson 7 · Part 3: First capitals: A, O and C
7. Drills 4 and 5: continuous ovals and a first capital A
Goal: Your child makes groups of ovals without stopping the motion between them, and swings straight from a traced oval into a capital A.
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 7 has drill 4, groups of six ovals with the pen lifted and swung through the air between them, and drill 5, a "forcing" drill where a traced oval is followed at once by a capital A.
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.
Then a line of compact ovals (drill 3).
Look at the model
Open the book page. Look at drill 4: groups of ovals, each group finished with an upward curve to the right. Then drill 5: a traced oval, then a capital A, again and again, seven of each on a line.
Drill 4: never stop the motion
Between ovals the pencil lifts at the bottom line without stopping, swings below and round, and comes down into the next oval.
Move the paper with the left hand after each group of six.
Two or three lines.
Drill 5: oval into A
Trace an oval six times while counting "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6," lift on the sixth count, swing through the air, and make the capital A. The book explains why:
Thus the pupil will be impelled from a slow, lagging movement to one that is elastic and rapid.
Optional speed target: about twenty ovals and twenty capitals a minute.
Watch for
The A will not look tidy at first. That is expected. Watch the arm instead: is the wrist up and the motion smooth?
Gentle check and finish
Count your child's exercises on one line. The book asks for seven, the same as the copy. Finish by writing "Am" once, slowly and lightly.
Afterwards
Drills 3, 4 and 5 for a few minutes each day until the swing between letters feels easy.