Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to instructional printing
equipment for teaching learners, especially children, to form
letters and/or numerals in a prescribed manner.
Although it is well known to use stencils for this
purpose, such existing equipment does not cause the user to
print letters and/or numerals in the manner regarded as
correct in the educational field.
According to the present invention, instructional
printing equipment for teaching the correct manner of printing
letters and/or numerals comprises a set of letters and/or
numerals each formed as a block with at least one groove
forming the confiquration of a letter or numeral concerned,
each groove having a surface to Pacilitate movement of a
writing instrument along the groove in a preferred direction
to be used when writing a letter or numeral concerned and to
resist movement to the writing instrument therealong in an
opposite direction.
Preferably, the surface of each groove is an upper
surface. The upper surface may have a series of apertures
spaced therealong to enable a writing instrument moved over
the surface to pass through each aperture and consequently
make a mark on a writing surface positioned beneath the letter
or numeral concerned. The upper surface may comprise a series
of surface portions inclined upwardly in the preferred
direction, each upwardly inclined surface portion being
followed by a steeply downward inclined portion to resist
movement of the writing instrument in the opposite direction.
Instructional printing equipment in accordance with
the invention assist learners to print, to form letters, to
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enhance the size, shape and readability of the letters and to
have those letters formed in the direction or progression,
that is from left to riqht. Similar comments apply to
numerals. The act of using the printing equipment involves
tactile/kinaesthetic memory in connection with visual memory
to re-enforce the correct method and lead to sound practice in
the teaching of printing. To those knowledgeable in the field
of teaching children, left to right progression is critical
also in the area of reading.
Instructional printing equipment in accordance with
the invention is intended to aid teachers and also parents to
teach and/or allow children to learn to print in the
recognized fashion with a minimum of instruction and
one-to one involvement. These learners need not be restricted
to able children but may include disabled learners, precocious
learners, those from other cultural or language backgrounds
and adults.
There is no reason to believe that children will
intuitively know that our written English lan~uage is written
20 and read in a direction moving from left to right and
multi-wording messages from the upper left of the page to the
lower right of the page. Similarly, those whose written
symbols are not those of the English language need to learn
the direction or progression of this language so as to learn
not only the language but the correct direction and formation
of the letter, words, numerals and script.
As soon as the young learner takes an interest in the
messages embodied in the printed symbol, parents seize the
opportunity to teach the recognition or the representation of
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the children ~9 name, and normally instruct the child using
various media to have the child reproduce the symbols~ There
may exist the concern that the letters are formed correctly
and if not the burden of correction will rest with the teacher.
Instructional printing equipment in accordance with
the invention therefore serves several functions. The
printing equipment shows the widely accepted shape, relative
size and formation of the letters and/or the numerals, and
requires that these be formed in the most acceptable
direction. The printing equipment allows for a parent or
teacher to permit independent experimentation and practice
without immediate supervision. The printing equipment
requires student involvement and attention in that it does not
simply perform the task for them. The printing equipment
engages and employs the tactile/kinaesthetic memory along with
visual memory to re-enforce the correct performance.
The invention therefore provides instructional
equipment which will encourage and ultimately teach children
and learners of various abilities, background and cultures,
the accepted method of printing letters. The invention also
enables learners to practice the correct formation and to
repeat the formation after practice, without using the
printing equipment. Also, the printing equipment may be
employed by teachers ~nd parents with minimal supervision and,
after minimal instruction, to effect adequate and correct
training in the formation of the letters.
Instructional printing equipment in accordance with
the invention can be manufactured by forming, moldin~,
engraving or casting in flexible or rigid material, such as
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plastic, textiles or rubber. The printing equipment may be
transparent, translucent or opaque, colored or colorless.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described,
by way of example, with reference to the accompanying
drawinqs, in which:
Figure 1 is a diagramatic view of the alphabet
showing the desired number of strokes and
their direction for forming each upper case
letter,
lo Figure 2 is a similar view for each lower case
letter,
Figure 3 is a similar view for numerals 1 to 9 and
0, and
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the upper case
letter P of instructional printing
equipment in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the invention.
Re~erring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagramatic
view of the upper case or capital letters of the Roman
alphabet indicating the preferred number of strokes and their
direction to be used in the formation of each letter. For
example, the upper case letter P should be formed by a first
downwardly ~troke 1 to provide the vertical part of the the P,
and a se ond stroke 2 which starts from the top in a left to
right direction, curves downwardly and then moves in a right
to left direction to meet the vertical part about halfway down
its length. Figure 2 is a similar diagramatic view for lower
case or small letters and Figure 3 is a similar view for
arabic numerals 1 to 9 and 0.
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Figure 4 shows an upper case letter P constructed in
accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, which
is in the form of a directional stencil. A rectanqular block
10 of suitable molded synthetic plastic material has a groove
12 in the shape of the letter P. The bottom of the groove 12
has a series of spaced portions 14 with apertures 16
therebetween. Each spaced bottom portion 14 has an upper
surface 18 which slopes upwardly in the direction in which it
is intended that a writing instrument should travel when
forming the letter. Each upwardly inclined upper surface 18
is followed by a steeply downwardly inclined surface 20 which
resists movement of the writing instrument in the opposite
direction.
The nature of the construction of the other letters
and numerals in accordance with a preferred embodiment will be
readily understood from the above description of the
construction of the letter P.
In use, and again using the upper case letter P as an
example, the user can make the first stroke 1 with a writing
instrument, for example a pencil or pen, moving the writing
instrument downwardly for the length of the stroke 1. The
writing instrument will alternately mark a writing surface
under the letter when the writing instrument reaches an
aperture 16 and then ride up an inclined surface 18 of a
bottom portion 1~ to the next aperture 16. After completing
the first stroke 1, the second stroke 2 is commenced from the
same position as the first stroke 1, the second 2 being
completed by moving the writing instrument around the loop of
the P. Thus, the letter P can only be properly formed by
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moving the writing instrument in the desired direction, since
movement in the opposite direction is resisted by the
steepwardly inclined surface portions 20.
The blocks 10 of instructional letters and/or
numerals may be separate blocks for each letter and/or numeral
or may be formed as integral blocks containing a number of
letters and/or numerals. For example, ~ single integral block
may contain upper case letters, with a further block
containing lower case letters, and a still further block
containing numerals. The invention may also of course be used
to teach the formation of symbols such as punctuation marks.
Other embodiments of the invention will be readily
apparent to a person skilled in the art, the scope of the
invention being defined in the appended claims.
