"I didn't think it was true that girls have messy handwriting," "Yeah."
My eldest daughter's handwriting...
It's not exactly what you'd call neat.
No, not even as a polite compliment.
It's boyish, and at a level that's practically unreadable.
Since I'm her parent... I can read it somehow. Out of habit. Just habit.
But to others, I think it probably looks like code.
Showing it to my younger brother confirmed it
The other day, my younger brother, who has an elementary school-aged child, came over.
I pulled out a Japanese language workbook that my eldest daughter used when she was in third grade and showed it to him.
As my brother flipped through the pages of written answers...
He was silent for a while.
Then he said one thing.
Brother: "I used to say that girls have messy handwriting, but I didn't think it was actually true, but..."
Right? Exactly.
Me: "So what I've been saying about her handwriting being messy was true, wasn't it?"
Brother: "Yeah"
It was an immediate answer.
Not a "Well, it has character," but just, "Yeah." Without a moment's hesitation.
It was the moment that what I had felt for years was finally officially confirmed.
The reason I recommend this workbook has nothing to do with handwriting.
In the first place, the reason I showed this Japanese workbook to my younger brother was...
I wanted to introduce it to him with the intention of saying, "It's good to do this while you're in elementary school."
In terms of content,
It's structured to build a foundation for reading comprehension
The volume of problems is just right
The explanations are easy to understand
That's why I wanted to recommend it, but...
The impact of the handwriting completely stole the show.
I never expected the conversation to turn to handwriting rather than the content of the workbook.
So, how is my eldest daughter doing now?
Me: "She can now write legible characters for school assignments!"
Brother: "Really?"
Really.
It's not that her handwriting has become dramatically beautiful.
But it has become "handwriting that can be submitted".
It has become handwriting that her teacher can read.
For a parent, that alone is more than enough progress.
I try to think that the goal doesn't have to be "beautiful calligraphy," just "legible handwriting."
The indecipherable answers left in the workbook have, in a sense, become a keepsake.
As he flipped through the workbook, my younger brother stared intently at the traces of my eldest daughter's handwriting.
The indecipherable answers written on every page.
Handwriting only a parent could read, yet everything was filled in properly.
I thought, she really gave it her all.
It made me smile a little, and I felt a bit of affection.
Even if the handwriting is poor, the proof of her steady efforts is right there.
Summary: The Japanese language workbook my eldest daughter used in 3rd grade
Thank you for reading this far.
📝 Key points from this post: ・Sometimes the shock of the handwriting outweighs the content of the workbook ・Setting a goal of just "writing legibly" is fine ・I recommend Japanese workbooks from around 3rd grade for my younger brother's child too ・Workbooks with writing left in them are funny and endearing to look back on ・Even if the writing is only readable by a parent, the trail of persistence is real
The owner of that indecipherable handwriting is now a middle school student.
The handwriting she uses for assignments is... somewhat readable. Probably.
Thank you for reading until the end.
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