A pioneer school located in Harrisburg, Banner County, Nebraska

Penmanship

LESSON TIME:  28 Minutes while other groups are reading.

OBJECTIVES:  The students will practice cursive writing within the original Flowerfield School built in 1888.  Students will notice the sparse furnishings, primitive construction and poor lighting.  Penmanship class will be conducted by the regular classroom teacher.

It was one of the duties of the teacher to fill inkwells about 1/4 full so bottles would less likely be spilled.  Quills were checked as to sharpness.  Quill pens, made by the teacher or older students, were common for writing.  Lead pencils were a luxury and kept carefully wrapped in paper.  Ink was variously manufactured from pokeweed berries steeped in water, from stove soot mixed with oil, oil by itself or from commercial powder to which water was added.

In the days when penmanship was considered an
art form, the complaint of having wretched pens,
ink or papers as an excuse for careless or
unintelligible writing was not accepted.

Good, better, best.
Never let it rest,
Until your good is better
and your better is best.