Children and Fountain Pens

[patrickfp]

I've been looking for a thread on this but have not seen any so far. At what age can a child be introduced to fountain pens? My daughter is sill 16 months, but I would like to get her to write with a fountain pen as soon as possible. I believe that using a fountain pen at a young age will help her develop a nice handwriting as opposed to the ball point pen which does not offer as much control as the fountain pen due to the ball rolling effect. I've also read somewhere that a wide nib (italic?) offers more control over a round nib. I've have tested this a bit. My Swan will draw a vertical line of about 1.0 mm, whereas my other pens have round tip nibs. My handwriting is much nicer (still working on that handwriting thing) with the Swan than with the rest.

[Tora Pens]

Have a look at the Lamy ABC range specifically designed with children in mind.

 

Pelikan also have a range of 4 pens designed to develop a young persons handwriting over time; starting with a crayon, pencil, fibre tip and then a fountain pen. I cannot remember the name of this range though? Hopefully other members will be familiar with them.

[JMX]

Do you mean Griffix?

 

http://www.pelikan.com/pulse/Pulsar/en_US.Store.displayStore.62469./griffix

 

 

 

 

 

[OiRogers]

My daughter is rapidly closing in on 2 and a half... I started her on Pilot Varsity pens about 6 months ago. She seems to prefer them to ballpoint pens and pencils, but crayons and markers still rock her world. She seems to like sitting beside me at the table and scrawling with the varsity on a sheet of butcher paper when I sit to do my crosswords etc.

 

She presses down way too hard, but the varsity nibs seem up to the task. It's a messy process to say the least, luckily the inks are pretty much wet washcloth removable.

 

I'll get her a Lamy ABC or other such school pen in a few years... for now I'll stick too and recommend Varsity pens. Cheap enough to not care if they get destroyed.

[Feanor]

In Germany and many other European countries (possibly Asian as well?) children are taught from the start to use fountain pens. Pelikan and Lamy offer pens designed for children of various ages: Pelikano, Pelikano Jr, Lamy ABCs. I believe Pelikan even has a nib (K, for Kugel = ball) that is round so that it writes easily in any position. They may be hard to come by in the States though. I don't know about italics offering more control, but I wouldn't start anyone, certainly small children, with an italic first.

[JMX]

They're usually called A nibs (Anfaenger = Beginner), which are round-tipped M nibs. Lamy had a rounded M mib, called MK (M Kugel=Ball/round tip).

[Ondina]

Pelikan Pelikano /Pelikano Junior.

 

Pelikan Griffix

 

Faber Castell Children's Pen.

 

Lamy ABC

 

Lamy Safari

 

Inoxcrom Kukumutxu

 

Pelikan GO

 

Stypen UP

 

Stypen Paris

[Lord Nincompoop]

My daughter is rapidly closing in on 2 and a half... I started her on Pilot Varsity pens about 6 months ago. She seems to prefer them to ballpoint pens and pencils, but crayons and markers still rock her world. She seems to like sitting beside me at the table and scrawling with the varsity on a sheet of butcher paper when I sit to do my crosswords etc.

 

She presses down way too hard, but the varsity nibs seem up to the task. It's a messy process to say the least, luckily the inks are pretty much wet washcloth removable.

 

I'll get her a Lamy ABC or other such school pen in a few years... for now I'll stick too and recommend Varsity pens. Cheap enough to not care if they get destroyed.

 

Then tell her not to, and find some ways to make her stop (apparently thinly cut pencils help). Once you get in the habit it's hard to stop, as I have learned the hard way.

[impossiblebird]

I think that most fountain pens aimed at children have a rounder nib, designated A for Anfänger, so they don't have to struggle too hard to find an elusive sweet spot. They also tend to be more of a medium size, although I would have thought a nice round B would be most satisfying.

 

The Pelikan range is called Griffix. Info here: http://www.pelikan.com/pulse/Pulsar/en_US.Store.displayStore.36394./griffix They have a wax writer (encased crayon), pencil, ink writer (ballpoint/inkball, but who needs such a thing?) and fountain pen, so they aim to provide a writing instrument which can be used from the earliest preschool attempts to write, when you would introduce a child to crayons. They all have the same basic shape, to facilitate easy transfer from one to another, so as soon as they can handle the different nib, they're off!

 

Faber Castell also make a nice fountain pen which takes international carts as well as the Faber Castell and Rotring converters and a 1.4mm propelling pencil which is quite short (110mm) and obviously intended for young kids (the endcap has airholes in it, should it end up down an infant's throat), but big kids like me get a big kick out of it, too. See it reviewed here: http://davesmechanicalpencils.blogspot.com/2009/06/faber-castell-propelling-pencil.html (They also make an inkball writer which takes international carts)

 

At the Mary Erskine and Stewart's Melville Junior School in Edinburgh, the 7 and 8 year-olds use fountain pen for 80-90% of their work, using pencil for maths. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16151317/ Unsurprisingly, the headline's misleading; they do use computers, too. You can find out more about the schools' approach to handwriting (they seem to teach their own writing style) on their website http://www.esms.edin.sch.uk/JS.aspx You can download handwriting examples, and an explanation of how they teach handwriting. I'm not touting for students, it's simply the school I found when I googled the subject.

 

It seems they're introduced to FPs at 7 years at this school, but if children can play musical instruments and computer keyboards as young as 4 and 5, I'd say there's nothing but the child's tactile skills stopping them using pens and pencils nicely before 7. You can always encourage the sort of play which encourages development of tactile skills. And it's usually recommended that childrem who are learning to write do so for 15-20 minutes at a time, then do some differnet activity with their hands, in order to avoid cramp, boredom...

 

The very best of luck! Maybe in a few years time, your daughter will be offering you handy hints on how to improve your writing style!

[impossiblebird]

My daughter is rapidly closing in on 2 and a half... I started her on Pilot Varsity pens about 6 months ago. She seems to prefer them to ballpoint pens and pencils, but crayons and markers still rock her world. She seems to like sitting beside me at the table and scrawling with the varsity on a sheet of butcher paper when I sit to do my crosswords etc.

 

She presses down way too hard, but the varsity nibs seem up to the task. It's a messy process to say the least, luckily the inks are pretty much wet washcloth removable.

 

I'll get her a Lamy ABC or other such school pen in a few years... for now I'll stick too and recommend Varsity pens. Cheap enough to not care if they get destroyed.

 

Then tell her not to, and find some ways to make her stop (apparently thinly cut pencils help). Once you get in the habit it's hard to stop, as I have learned the hard way.

Soft leads, too; you get a nice dark mark with minimum effort.

[impossiblebird]

Did you see this thread? It concerns an older child, but may be of use/interest. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/104326-what-would-you-recommend-as-a-good-starter-pen-for-a-4-year-old/

[Ernst Bitterman]

I've also read somewhere that a wide nib (italic?) offers more control over a round nib.

 

Once you've got the skills to exert control, this is true. If someone is having roll-control problems currently, an italic point will be frustrating, as it only takes a tiny change of angle to separate the slit from contact with the paper, leading to skipping. One of the kid-optimized pens mentioned previously is the best way to go.

[patrickfp]

Thanks for the input everyone. However, I mostly wanted to know what is a good age to introduce a kid to fountain pens.

[Feanor]

Thanks for the input everyone. However, I mostly wanted to know what is a good age to introduce a kid to fountain pens.

 

As soon as they start learning to write. Probably 4 or 5?

[solaris]

My older son has been using fountain pens since he was four and a half. He uses a Waterman Phileas with cartridges, and he is almost 10 now. The second one, seven y.o, have been using fountain for the last two years, and he uses a cheap Bic pen I bought at a supermarket in Paris (actually I bought a box with 10 pens and managed to lose/destroy alread seven of them...)

Either one had any problem with leaking pens or anything, but one of the teachers insists that the students use pencils........

[impossiblebird]

Thanks for the input everyone. However, I mostly wanted to know what is a good age to introduce a kid to fountain pens.

It depends on the tactile skills and dexterity of the kid in question. As soon as 4, or when they first start to take an interest in writing; as late as 8 or 9, if my mates' kids are anything to go by. As with acquiring any skill, there's no point in starting too soon if they're unenthusiastic, and no point insisting if they're not making rapid enough progress to keep them interested, or look like developing bad habits that will just retard their progress: better, in that case, to start later, and progress more quickly.

[patrickfp]

My older son has been using fountain pens since he was four and a half. He uses a Waterman Phileas with cartridges, and he is almost 10 now. The second one, seven y.o, have been using fountain for the last two years, and he uses a cheap Bic pen I bought at a supermarket in Paris (actually I bought a box with 10 pens and managed to lose/destroy alread seven of them...)

Either one had any problem with leaking pens or anything, but one of the teachers insists that the students use pencils........

 

I don't understand this obsession with pencil even for higher classes. Where I come from (before moving to Canada), pencils were allowed only to draw curves or shapes, etc in secondary school. Writing anything else with a pencil means losing marks. I was surprised to see that pencils are still being used at university-level in Canada.

 

I have been to Paris a few times but never visited a pen store :-( I had a Waterman Phileas (still have it) and was very happy with it. I did not think that one day I would be collecting pens. I feel bad now especially knowing that I won't be going to Paris anytime soon. I won't fly until my daughter is at an age where she will sit down and not walk up and down the aisle.

[DAYoung]

My son with a Lamy Safari (aged four).

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n5/DAYoung_2006/NikosWithLamy_small.jpg

[gyasko]

I let my son use my pens as soon as he could hold the pen, at about 9 months or so. I trust him completely with my pens, as long as he doesn't take them anywhere. He can't keep track of anything, but he is deliberate and careful. My daughter is OK with fountain pens. She wants to use my pens and knows how to handle them. Nevertheless, i don't quite trust here as much because she can be impetuous.

[stevlight]

I teach Pre-K to 4-5 year olds and introduce fountain pens to them to use. They are usually cheap chinese FP's from ebay. I fill then from a bottle for them and they are taken out and used at a specific table during free play. This is after I introduce them to them and how they work and we use sticks dipped in ink then metal point dip pens then graduate to the FP's. It is a whole small curriculum. They respect them because I teach them how to respect and use them and they have seen my pens--always a FP in my shirt pocket that I use for notes and such in the classroom. They have seen me fill my pens in the classroom when they run dry--they love seeing them suck up ink. Once in a while a child will press too hard and I will have to realign the nib but only a few times. If it was my kid I would get them a Lamy ABC or Safari or Reform. I think the Lamy ABC is so minimal and beautiful I have been looking for a reason to buy one.