Telopea Park School French teacher David Clerbois writes on the whiteboard a cursive 'e' with an accent.
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His year 1 students watch the demonstration and then write on their own individual whiteboards a row of 'e'.
Mr Clerbois gives them advice on how to make their letters neat and even. Lines on their workbooks progressively get smaller as they practice the 'e' over and over again.
All students in France learn cursive handwriting in year 1 and the French stream at Telopea Park School is no different.
"They are really focused on what they are doing," Mr Clerbois said.
"It's a whole process of thinking about words from the beginning up to the end, and then the spaces and so on to the end of the sentence."
![Year 1 students, Camille Le Nevez, 6, and Clara Richard, 7, in the French stream at Telopea Park School practice handwriting. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Year 1 students, Camille Le Nevez, 6, and Clara Richard, 7, in the French stream at Telopea Park School practice handwriting. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/33pRA5ArzT57tWtt8VHHenS/3431c554-7e16-4e17-82b1-efb766fd77b1.jpg/r0_163_8157_4749_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
He says learning cursive helped the students to not mix up their 'b' and 'd' or their 'p' and 'q', which are common mistakes for beginner writers.
While handwriting forms an important part of the early years at this school, in many Australian schools handwriting has fallen out of fashion amid a crowded curriculum.
But research has shown a link between explicitly teaching children handwriting skill and improved spelling, grammar and memory.
Melissa Savonoff, a paediatric occupational therapist, sees many children who have slow, sloppy handwriting.
"It gets, I guess, unintentionally put to the side, especially in the digital age. Because there's a bit of a misconception ... that handwriting is outdated, you don't need to teach it, it's not relevant," Ms Savonoff said.
With the rise of screens, she has heard from teachers who noticed more students in preschool and kindergarten who lacked the basic fine and gross motor skills needed to sit down and learn to write.
"They are messy, illegible, reluctant. They have wonky pencil grip and difficulty holding a writing implement even from kindy and preschool," she said.
"I hear a lot from kindergarten teachers and preschool and prep teachers and they 'think why bother? It's too hard,' and they don't have the time in the classroom to practice."
![Telopea Park School French teacher David Clerbois guides year 1 students Camille Le Nevez, 6, Clara Richard, 7, Gabriel Ibrahim, 6, and Omar Shah, 6, in handwriting. Picture by Elesa Kurtz Telopea Park School French teacher David Clerbois guides year 1 students Camille Le Nevez, 6, Clara Richard, 7, Gabriel Ibrahim, 6, and Omar Shah, 6, in handwriting. Picture by Elesa Kurtz](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/33pRA5ArzT57tWtt8VHHenS/9699ff7d-e916-47b0-aaaa-9304b930095d.jpg/r0_34_7702_4364_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Producing a letter by hand fires up neurons and neurotransmitters in the brain that helps to embed knowledge and letter recognition. Typing a letter does not fire up the brain in the same way.
Ms Savonoff works with children to learn to form letters correctly, to memorise them and then pick up speed so they can keep up with their classmates.
It's not uncommon for her to see children who are writing at 10 per cent of the speed they should have for their year level.
"It becomes an automatic skill. They don't have to strive or have a lot of attention to how to form the letter and then it it becomes automatic," she said.
"There's research that says it reduces the cognitive load."
Contrary to what you may have learned in school, there is no correct way to hold a pencil. As long as the writer is not in pain or discomfort and they can form letters with necessary speed and accuracy, research has shown that multiple pencil grips can work.
"It's not about perfect penmanship and handwriting 500 pages, like grandma's generation. It's that function. Can they function and participate, engage and fulfill what they need to learn to read write and spell?" Ms Savonoff said.
Good handwriting sets the foundation for typing on a keyboard - but touch-typing is also a skill that needs to be explicitly taught.
For high school, college and university students, writing notes by hand will make it easier to remember information. Memorising mathematics formulas or scientific facts becomes easier if students write them out by hand.
Mr Clerbois believed it was important to pass on handwriting skills to the next generation.
"It's a real pleasure, actually, to teach [handwriting] and you can tell by their dedication to do their best," he said.