Learning The Palmer Method Of Business Writing

[vivere]

Just wanted to check in and see how everybody is going.

 

Best,

 

Forrest

[caliken]

Deleted

Edited March 15, 2013 by caliken

[gfs2222]

An example of my Palmer using muscular movement

 

I still need to work on my capital A's as they look like U's

 

http://i1110.photobucket.com/albums/h447/TMH26/4cc9dd83-c338-4542-bf84-bb94c4f7eab3_zps5b998fb1.jpg

 

Parker 21~

Edited March 17, 2013 by gfs2222

[Ayla]

Practice is going well, I would still think it would benefit newcomers to palmer if there was a video on arm movement and position ect. But thats just me.

[Desultor]

Hi there folks, quick question before I begin self-training:

 

Do we have consensus now at which is the best method for learning Business Writing? IAMPETH has method books or articles from Palmer (three of 'em!), Gaskell, Behrensmeyer, Kelchner, Ames and Champion.

 

(And if it's Champion, how high are her "spaces" - the height from baseline to baseline and used for the exercises?)

 

Thanks!

[Desultor]

(And if it's Champion, how high are her "spaces" - the height from baseline to baseline and used for the exercises?)

 

I now assume that Champion follows Palmer, with 3/8" (9.5mm) spaces.

[Gcouch]

I'm in high school and can totally relate, everyone has terrible handwriting! People are also amazed by a FP and always want to try it out, but I keep them guarded :ph34r: Some people really should spend more time trying to make their handwriting at least ledgible...

[spasticnarwhal]

I am 12, and I think that good penmanship is of utmost importance. Also learning the Palmer Method. Write on.

[idazle]

I am 12, and I think that good penmanship is of utmost importance. Also learning the Palmer Method. Write on.

 

Welcome to FPN!!!

 

Your penmanship is amazing for someone of 12 or of any age indeed!

[fiberdrunk]

I am 12, and I think that good penmanship is of utmost importance. Also learning the Palmer Method. Write on.

 

Wow, this is beautiful! Well done!

[Mickey]

Hi there folks, quick question before I begin self-training:

 

Do we have consensus now at which is the best method for learning Business Writing? IAMPETH has method books or articles from Palmer (three of 'em!), Gaskell, Behrensmeyer, Kelchner, Ames and Champion.

 

(And if it's Champion, how high are her "spaces" - the height from baseline to baseline and used for the exercises?)

 

Thanks!

I prefer the letter forms in Ames, then Gaskell and Kelchner, then Behrensmeyer. I'm not a fan of Palmer or Champion.

[Columba Livia]

From 1887:

 

http://i.imgur.com/lwGtmIj.jpg

^

https://archive.org/stream/penmansartjourna12unse#page/n39/mode/1up

[idazle]

Nice exemplar, though most small "t"s as in "the boys" are rather wierd and can be confused with an "s".

[akustyk]

This is a great thread!

 

I discovered the Palmer Method a few months ago and started learning it, with some regularity, a few weeks ago. I made it through eight lessons, but am determined to keep working .

 

My interest in the method arose thanks to its focus on muscular movement. I've been battling a neurological disorder for almost twelve years and tried to find a suitable method of physical therapy and meditation. The Palmer Method combines, at least for me, both physical and meditative benefits, and has been a very good fit for me. It's just a shame that I discovered it so late! However, in this case, I do believe that the journey is more important than the destination.

 

Speaking of the destination, the method is quite difficult to learn. I really admire those who mastered it.

[idazle]

To me writing with a Palmer/Business hand is like a neurological test. Some days I do it better and some other days my writing is a disaster. Incidentally this happens when I have the clumsy day and tend to drop things, think slowly, etc.

[akustyk]

Yeah, the Palmer Method puts huge demands on one's neuroplasticity. In a sense, it's like learning to speak a foreign language without an accent. It can be done, but requires a lot of work, repetitions, drills, etc.

 

These days, without any business incentives for learning penmanship, methods such as the Palmer, are rarely attempted, except by people like us here on the FPN. Calligraphy is different, though not easier by any means.

[Mickey]

Yeah, the Palmer Method puts huge demands on one's neuroplasticity. In a sense, it's like learning to speak a foreign language without an accent. It can be done, but requires a lot of work, repetitions, drills, etc.

 

These days, without any business incentives for learning penmanship, methods such as the Palmer, are rarely attempted, except by people like us here on the FPN. Calligraphy is different, though not easier by any means.

Rant on,

 

I agree, Palmer is nearly the anti-calligraphy hand. It is, to my eye, a perfectly wonderful hand (basic Spencerian) dumbed down to the point where it retains most of the faults and few of the virtues. Indeed, the Palmer Method looks more like a course in classroom discipline than a writing course, a product created for the teacher's benefit at the expense of the students. In that, it seems to me a perfect example of progressive thinking.

 

The horrible irony is that Palmer may actually be more difficult to learn and master than Spencerian, while being not nearly as handsome. The method skips from the basic pen movement drills to letter formation with no pause to embed the basic elements (principles as Spencer called them) from the which the letter might be formed. Students are left ignorant of the hand's architecture (such as it is) and are forced to produce shapes on the page they don't really know how to construct, either at the intellectual or neuromuscular level.

 

I was taught Palmer and, until recently, my dog wrote more competently than I did.

 

Rant off. (With apologies to Mr. Miyagi.)

[New_Falcon]

.//./

[proton007]

Rant on,

 

I agree, Palmer is nearly the anti-calligraphy hand. It is, to my eye, a perfectly wonderful hand (basic Spencerian) dumbed down to the point where it retains most of the faults and few of the virtues. Indeed, the Palmer Method looks more like a course in classroom discipline than a writing course, a product created for the teacher's benefit at the expense of the students. In that, it seems to me a perfect example of progressive thinking.

 

The horrible irony is that Palmer may actually be more difficult to learn and master than Spencerian, while being not nearly as handsome. The method skips from the basic pen movement drills to letter formation with no pause to embed the basic elements (principles as Spencer called them) from the which the letter might be formed. Students are left ignorant of the hand's architecture (such as it is) and are forced to produce shapes on the page they don't really know how to construct, either at the intellectual or neuromuscular level.

 

I was taught Palmer and, until recently, my dog wrote more competently than I did.

 

Rant off. (With apologies to Mr. Miyagi.)

 

Agree.

While practicing Spencerian, and sometimes just trying out a bit of Palmer for fun, I've realized the Palmer style is deceiving. It seems simple enough because it doesn't look as ornate as Spencerian, but requires finer motor control, especilly circular movements of the arm.

[thang1thang2]

 

Agree.

While practicing Spencerian, and sometimes just trying out a bit of Palmer for fun, I've realized the Palmer style is deceiving. It seems simple enough because it doesn't look as ornate as Spencerian, but requires finer motor control, especilly circular movements of the arm.

 

I wouldn't say that Palmer requires finer motor control, just that it requires different motor control. When learned "perfectly" it becomes almost impossible to write in any other way due to the fact that your arm becomes very robotic. When you're writing in Spencerian you write robotic letter forms, but not in a robotic way, merely in a precisely consistent way. It is, in my opinion, a more elegant solution that works better. The trick to the Palmer method is that one can teach the palmer method to hundreds of students just by their own self and all the students will achieve a certain degree of proficiency. This was a goldmine for the catholic system at the time, and was how it caught on. Spencerian is much better suited to small classrooms where the teacher can catch your every mistake.