This is a really interesting issue and worthy of discussion!
First of all, I can say that we have considered providing resources which people can 'change' if they would like to adapt them - obviously in the hope that people don't change them so much that the integrity of the resource is lost in the changing!
I have a couple of suggestions as to what you could do in the interim or if we decide not to unlock the resources - or all the resources - in the future.
The Phonics International programme is published in a font which is very popular and common to many other educational programmes and children's modern literature, reading books and comics - particularly in the UK. I think it is a pleasing font and it is easy to read. I suggest that teachers can always 'by hand' add the chosen font of their school in the handwriting sections on the
Sounds Book Activity Sheets to support the actual learning of the writing element of the three skills (blending, segmenting and handwriting). This is what I do myself when I use the sheets with children who have been introduced to the joined handwriting style. I simply add a 'joined' example.
What I am going to say next will be a bit controversial and it is really important that this is taken in the spirit in which it is intended!
I have some concerns about 'lead-in' strokes when these are not a clear 'diagonal' to half-height of tall letters (and to the
top of the short letters). Writing can sometimes look quite cramped when children join '
up' the letters rather than join diagonally across.
It is only a matter of my personal preference of course but could it be that many teachers haven't even considered that there can be different
angles of the 'lead-in' stroke?
When joined writing is taught through a discrete letter approach (which is how I teach joined writing at first), I think it is important that as soon as whole words are written in the joined script style, that these are
actually 'joined' - rather than the word being written with
all separate, but with lead-ins and exit strokes, letters.
If you look at the words 'Boring boring' on poppetsam's link above and note the juxtaposition of the letters 'r' and 'i', you will see that the 'r' finishes with an off-the-line exit stroke and the 'i' starts with an on-the-line entry stroke.
This might not be a problem if the learners are very carefully taught how to progress from the letter 'r' to the letter 'i'.
I really don't like to see whole words written with
separate joined-style letters.
With a diagonal lead-in to the top of the letter 'i', there seems to me to be greater clarity between what is the 'join' bit and what is the 'letter' bit. The diagonal join, in effect, leads to where the letter 'i' actually starts (which is at the top). It isn't such a big step, then, to go from the exit of the 'r' across with a 'washing line' join to the top of the 'i'.
I have seen schools which use some kind of joined writing with lead-ins and exit strokes leave their pupils 'in limbo' regarding the joins from one letter to another - particularly when the preceding letter does not finish on the line.
That is not to say, popppetsam, that your school leaves the children in limbo! I have turned this discussion into a general discussion about joined writing and my intent is not to infer criticism of your school re their chosen font! I am simply using this as an opportunity to draw attention to some potential problems when teaching a joined handwriting style which may not have been properly understood or addressed for all learners.
You see, it is very easy for children's writing to look quite impressive when they write in a joined style - but closer scrutiny of the words often reveals that children are not secure as to how to join some letters together. Some schools, also, allow children to write in a sort of half-print (not joined), joined style and, surely, this defeats the object of learning a joined style?
If you use a rather exaggerated diagonal join at first (along with the 'washing line' join), it is so clear which part of the letter is the 'join' and which part of the letter is the actual letter. Then you encourage the learner to think for him/her self as to what they are doing when they are writing. "Where does the letter start, where does the letter finish? How do you join that letter to that letter?" The learners engage their thinking processes.
Another thing I don't prefer (oh dear - I am sounding so negative...), is handwriting programmes that involve lots of repetitive joined, loopy patterns. For a start, words for children are rarely that long and words do not involve the SAME patterns over and over again - rather they involve a constant change of shape and pattern apart from occasional 'double' letters.
And yet programme after programme seems to involve long (inane) strings of patterns most unlike real handwriting.
All I am doing here is to lead teachers to be truly evaluative of everything they do in the classroom that they might have automatically acquired from practice of old.
I think the tendency is for much of our practice to be what we have seen previous teachers teach - whether or not this is the best practice! That is how whole language and mixed methods have managed to perpetuate even as reading and writing standards deteriorated over the years in English-speaking countries.
Oh dear, poppetsam, all you did was to ask about the possibility of adapting Phonics International resources to your preferred font!
Schools across the world also have preferred fonts - including print fonts. For example, in Australia each state seems to have a preferred, different, font. In America, the preferred print is often of the 'ball and stick' variety.
Well - what do people think? Please will others give their opinions about fonts and how much it matters (or not) that the resources are able to be changed?