HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE : CASTAIC THIRD-GRADERS RECEIVE LESSON IN PENMANSHIP, PATIENCE.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Cursive writing is challenge enough for 8-year-old hands to master, and the pupils in Mary Geyer's third-grade class have compounded the task of learning the skill with old-fashioned fountain pens.

The youngsters at Live Oak Elementary School received the ink-cartridge pens a few weeks ago from Lester Freeman, a member of the Castaic Union School District board.

Freeman, whose daughter was in Geyer's class a few years ago, asked the teacher to try a little experiment to see if the fountain pens would be a tool to teach her 29 students good penmanship and how to take care of something breakable.

Jason Nelson, 8, quickly learned that a fountain pen can be a messy instrument for him and his schoolwork. The biggest pitfalls: ``Getting ink all over your hands and having ink blobs,'' he said.

Students learn to print in kindergarten, but Geyer said third grade is when they make the transition to cursive writing. Freeman felt that would be the ideal time to introduce the fountain pens, which he believed would improve the children's handwriting, she said.

``With pencils and (ball-point) pens, you can hold them any way and they will write, but with the fountain pens you can't hold them incorrectly (because) they won't work,'' she said.

That means not grasping too close to the tip of the pen, called the nib. ``You'll get ink all over your hand,'' said Ryan Villavicencio, 8.

And once you write something, it's best to wait a few moments for the ink to dry on the paper. ``If you touch it right after you write and get your hand on it, it'll smear,'' he said.

And don't even think of rough-housing when you're holding a fountain pen, said Meghan Carter, 8. ``If you shake it, (ink) will go everywhere,'' she said.

On Thursday, Geyer's students filled handwriting work sheets with upper- and lower-case cursive versions of the letter P. They have learned to write most of the letters in the alphabet.

``The kids were having a hard time,'' Geyer said. ``At first, they were excited about the pens, and then they got frustrated when they were learning a new letter,'' she said.

``The first time they used it for handwriting, they said `We can't do this. It's too hard,' '' Geyer said. ``There are some kids who have poor fine-motor skills, so it's difficult for them,'' she said.

Even the teacher became a student in this lesson. ``Personally, I'm learning, too. I've never really used a fountain pen, either,'' Geyer said. ``As a student, I didn't get very good grades in handwriting, so it's kind of ironic that I'm teaching handwriting.''

Like a pair of shoes conforms to the shape of the wearer's feet, Geyer said the tips of fountain pens mold to the user's style of writing.

``You can't use anyone else's fountain pen. The point of it will form to your own handwriting, and if you use someone else's (pen) it rips the paper,'' she said. ``The kids get a really big kick out of the fact that nobody else can use their pen.''

Garrett Brown, 8, used to press down hard when he wrote with a pencil, but he has learned that a light touch is the key to using a fountain pen. ``It used to rip my paper,'' he said.

Added Christina Ferrier, 8: ``With a pencil, you can write faster. With a fountain pen, you have to write slow but your handwriting comes out neater,'' she said.

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--ran in CONEJO and SAC--color in SAC) Students at Live Oak Elementary School work on perfecting their cursive handwriting skills, while learning to take care of breakable ink-cartridge pens.

(2--ran in CONEJO and SAC--color in SAC) Castaic school board member Lester Freeman provided fountain pens to Mary Geyer's class.

(3--ran in CONEJO and SAC--color in SAC) Kira Varelman practices writing the letter P over and over during a class exercise.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News