Key number to the need for speed.
Now I understand the need for speed.
I like to get things done quickly.
But does your handwriting look better when you slow down.
Slowing down improves almost everyone's handwriting.
And the key is to get enough practice in slow mode so that you can speed up going slow can be hard for
some of us.
But I'm really going to emphasize that slowing down can make a dramatic difference in your handwriting
and you won't have to do it forever before you know it you'll be going quickly again.
But your handwriting is going to look better.
The goal for this course is to teach you the skills needed for legible efficient fluid and automatic
handwriting.
We are going to talk briefly about how motor patterns become automated so that you can more easily break
habits and replace them with better ones and understand what's happening.
Handwriting is the second most difficult skill that a child learns.
The only thing more difficult is learning how to speak so as a child learns to write.
They practice letters and words thinking about each stroke that they put on the paper.
So let's take a quick look at the brain.
No not this guy's brain.
A brain that hopefully looks more like your brain this brain.
And talk about what's actually happening when we're doing something that's automated as opposed to learning
a new skill.
So when you learned to write you were concentrating.
So the prefrontal cortex was at work.
It was a new skill about second or third grade handwriting becomes automated and then other areas of
the brain take over.
Mostly the cerebellum which is right back here.
So once handwriting is automated you no longer have to think about each mark that you're putting on
the paper and the prefrontal cortex is free to think about the content creativity and other things.
Your hand is automatically writing what you are thinking other automated activities are things like
riding a bike if you know how to ride a bike.
You don't have to think about it your body just knows what to do.
Playing musical instruments and knowing how to operate the controls on a videogame you're not thinking
about each button that you're pushing and how the controller works.
You're watching the screen and just playing the game in order to change it.
Any habit we have to go slow and bring the thinking and control back to the prefrontal cortex.
That's how you're going to change a bad habit and learn a new skill.
And that's why going slow improves almost everyone's handwriting.
I'll be reminding you to slow down throughout the course because the automated part of the brain is
going to want to take back over and you'll find yourself wanting to speed up while practicing.
So I'll help you out by reminding you to slow down.
So while practicing you're going to go slow you're going to work on perfecting your letters and you'll
see a dramatic improvement.
So going slow equals breaking bad habits and learning new habits in the next couple of activities you're
going to practice slowing down.
We're going to go go through a guided drawing together and you should have this page from your from
the course or you can just use a scrap eight and a half by 11 piece of paper you don't necessarily have
to have this page.
And we're also going to do a maze but I'm going to give you very specific instructions for the maze
so you should have this maze printed off as well.
So let's do it.
And thanks for listening.