Font for teachers

A central location highlighting fonts created with FontCreator and/or Scanahand. Post information about your fonts here.
Jowaco
Posts: 331
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2002 11:05 am
Location: York, UK

Font for teachers

Post by Jowaco »

Firstly some explanation. Micrososoft provides not a single font which is suitable for supporting UK teachers who are charged with the education of children in their early years of grappling with reading and writing. In the absence of a computer font for worksheets etc. many teachers choose the ubiquitous but inappropriate Comic Sans as a near substitute for what they require. Although handwritten, this font is not, per se, a font of someone's handwriting. It is a tool to help teachers.

Image

Direct download here
Last edited by Jowaco on Sun Feb 01, 2004 2:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Bhikkhu Pesala
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Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

Kidprint and Kidprint Bold

I have this pair of fonts on my system from Monotype corporation. I think they were a free download. They have a full range of characters, including Greek and Cyrillic. I expect that you have seen them. Are they not suitable for teaching children to write?
My FontsReviews: MainTypeFont CreatorHelpFC15 + MT12.0 @ Win 10 64-bit build 19045.2486
denis martindale
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Feb 29, 2004 10:03 am

Customisation of fonts

Post by denis martindale »

With the Font Creator program you modify what doesn't suit your requirements.

I am testing the BlackChancery font which I found had numbers up down and small but not uniform in line with the CAPITAL letters. Post codes or zip codes proved that this font wasn't ideally suited. With some testing the numbers could be modified and stretched and then updated or tweeked a bit at a time.

In the Comic Sans image the text can be seen as shifting from backward sloped letters to forward sloped letters and some letters don't fit upon the imaginery line that school teachers would use to get all the letters written right.

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With a few hours to spare it's possible to create just the alphabet and the numbers and a few punctuation marks as you really prefer to use them.

Installing them with new names: by editing the ttf file with Wordpad, you can search the text for the name, change it, create a new font name, save it and install it eg AAAComic Sans etc.

That's how I installed denisblkchcry.ttf and added flourishes and ornate letters and uniform numbers. The Font Menu: click Validation: to test validation errors I created a second copy and fixed some errors automatically. The rest of the errors display co-ordinates so this extra feature helped.

I'm working my way through setting up a calligraphy / typography website including some calligraphy and font poems plus picture demos.

It's useful to know about this forum...
denis martindale
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Feb 29, 2004 10:03 am

School Fonts Search

Post by denis martindale »

http://www.fontfinder.ws/

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See KIDS FONTS:

http://www.fonts.com/findfonts/findfont ... ass=kidfnt

School Script Lined font:

http://www.fonts.com/findfonts/detail.a ... pid=206699

School Volume:

http://www.fonts.com/findfonts/detail.a ... pid=243460

School Value Pack:

http://www.fonts.com/findfonts/detail.a ... pid=406430


http://www.fonts.com SEARCH FOR FONT keyword School:


Fonts containing 'School':

AG Schoolbook
Bembo Schoolbook
Bembo Schoolbook Bold
Bembo Schoolbook Bold Italic
Bembo Schoolbook Italic
Bembo Schoolbook Volume
EF Century Schoolbook
Monotype Century Schoolbook
Monotype Century Schoolbook Bold
URW Century Schoolbook Bold
Monotype Century Schoolbook Bold Italic
URW Century Schoolbook Bold Italic
URW Century Schoolbook CE Bold
URW Century Schoolbook CE Bold Italic
Century Schoolbook CE Bold Italic Package
Century Schoolbook CE Bold Package
Century Schoolbook CE Italic Package
Century Schoolbook CE Package
URW Century Schoolbook CE Regular
URW Century Schoolbook CE Regular Italic
URW Century Schoolbook CE Volume
Monotype Century Schoolbook CE Volume
Century Schoolbook Cyrillic
Century Schoolbook Cyrillic Bold
Century Schoolbook Cyrillic Bold Inclined
Century Schoolbook Cyrillic Inclined
Monotype Century Schoolbook Cyrillic Volume
Monotype Century Schoolbook Italic
Century Schoolbook Monospaced
URW Century Schoolbook Regular
URW Century Schoolbook Regular Italic
URW Century Schoolbook Volume
Monotype Century Schoolbook Volume
Englische Schoolbook
Gill Sans Schoolbook
Gill Sans Schoolbook Bold
Gill Sans Schoolbook Bold Italic
Gill Sans Schoolbook Italic
Gill Sans Schoolbook Volume
New Century Schoolbook
New Century Schoolbook Bold
New Century Schoolbook Bold Italic
New Century Schoolbook Fractions
New Century Schoolbook Fractions Bold
New Century Schoolbook Italic
New Century Schoolbook Volume
Plantin Schoolbook
Plantin Schoolbook Bold
Plantin Schoolbook Bold Italic
Plantin Schoolbook Italic
Plantin Schoolbook Volume
School Book
School Oblique Bold
School Oblique Lined
School Oblique Lined Bold
School Oblique Package
School Script Bold
School Script Lined
School Script Lined Bold
School Script Package
School Script Volume
School Volume
Stinky School Book

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http://www.fontfinder.ws Right screen links to:


http://www.1001fonts.com/

http://www.topfreefonts.com/cgi-bin/aut ... d=fontfind

http://www.abstractfonts.com/fonts/part ... d=fontfind

http://www.qksrv.net/click-1268333-6205 ... onts%2Ecom

http://www.qksrv.net/click-1268333-5529320 for ITCFonts.com

http://www.myfonts.com/?refby=bloch

Yahoo Fonts:

http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Design_Arts/G ... Typefaces/

Google Fonts:

http://directory.google.com/Top/Compute ... are/Fonts/

http://www.highfonts.com/in.asp?id=fontfinder

http://www.best100free.com/in.asp?id=fontfinder

Further searches provided these:

http://www.macintoshfonts.com

http://www.dafont.com

http://www.wantedfonts.com/

http://www.fontsnthings.com/
KL
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2004 1:45 am

school writing font > D'Nealian

Post by KL »

My kid's elementary school purchased a site license from this vendor:

http://www.educationalfontware.com/DN_style.html

The site license allows all the teachers to download a copy for use on their "home" machines, in addition to the license to use it on their "school" machines and in the technology rooms.

It is very reasonably priced.
Dick Pape
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Post by Dick Pape »

That's an extensive list for "school" unfortunately all the SchoolBook fonts are straight text/serif Times New Roman-types. Not exactly hand written scripts.


Ones I have which may be more appropriate sorted alphabetically include:

--Ajoanhand (which I got from jowaco) is very nice and clean. Looks very schoolish.
--Archtype Bold - is really "regular". Vendor noted as: "Generated by Fontographer 3.5". Thin san serif. Really close to Ajoanhand. See also Technical from Corel or Techno from Arts & Letters.
--Blueprint - thin width. from SWFTE. Like hand lettering on blue prints.
--BriemScript (Gunnlaugur SE Briem, et all)- a starter-set for cursive
--Diego1 (Published Perfection, Steve Shubitz) Also Copybook, Marlo (both Arts & Letters) for more advanced hand written style.
--Graphite Light ATT is very straight and clean also. (Miles Inc).
--Impress from Bitstream for muchly bolded script (not easily hand-drawn)
--Jolt Normal (Arts & Letters) is a loose hand print. Almost italic. (2nd grade level!)
--Technical from Corel or Techno from Arts & Letters. Pretty straight, very clean.
--Tekton from Adobe. Upright characters with slight style added.
--Tempus Sans ITC Straight open letters with slight style added. j is straight without curve so probably not good example.

I have samples of each.

I've "freely" collected from all over. Arts & Letters in from one of those $10 cds of 40,000 fonts with 100 good ones! This list doesn't include all those like Kidstuff, Kids or Crayon which look like the output from kids, not the input you're looking for....

DP
Jowaco
Posts: 331
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2002 11:05 am
Location: York, UK

Post by Jowaco »

A belated thankyou. It has taken a long time to work through all the URLs and suggestions given. Some points I would like to raise:
  • A font to be used for worksheets should emulate the teacher's own script whether written on chalkboard or on paper.
  • It thus needs to imitate hand-written, adult-written characters used in the writing and reading schemes of the school.
  • Character forms must be as advocated. It is no use having a 'double-decker' character 'a' if the scheme dictates a 'single-decker' 'a'. To a child that could be misconstrued as an upside-down 'e'.
I know it is easy, using FCP, to modify a few glyphs in quite a number of fonts to obtain what is required but, as I said elswhere, I do not want to infringe End User Licence Agreements or Copyright restrictions.

In addition to the hand-written font it is advantageous to have a parallel font to bridge the gap between empirical learning and literature. Such a font would be of the kind used in typesetting for books etc. I found one such font, Sassoon Sans, a commercial font costing about £15. This is the only font I have ever bought and I have never regretted it. This font is also recommended by groups concerned with helping dyslexic students.

From:
http://www.clubtype.co.uk/samples_sass.html
Click on Licensing to see prices or navigate down the page to see some samples.
Large samples at:
http://www.clubtype.co.uk/largesamples.html

These fonts serve the purposes of schools which retain traditional methods but most UK schools have autonomy in this area and some have adopted the style set out in the book: 'A Hand for Spelling' (by Charles Cripps) which is the basis for a scheme of work for early learning in UK schools. Many UK schools have adopted this proposed scheme.

The only trouble is that there is no supporting Cripps font!

Joe.
Dick Pape
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Post by Dick Pape »

Well, Joe. You've got Font Creator! Make them a Cripps font!!

Or maybe Erwin could sponsor a User's Group Design Project!!!

Dick
Jowaco
Posts: 331
Joined: Tue Oct 15, 2002 11:05 am
Location: York, UK

Post by Jowaco »

:wink: But I did, I did........all three versions of it!

Joe.
The Mickster
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Joined: Thu May 06, 2004 7:58 am

Thanks

Post by The Mickster »

Looks a good alternative to Comic Sans.
quilljar
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Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2004 3:14 pm
Location: Winchester UK

Post by quilljar »

May I suggest the Jarman font for UK teachers? It has been designed by Christopher Jarman and accompanies his Handwriting Scheme 'Developing Handwriting Skills', published by NAPE, The National Association for Primary Education.
Full details and free font download at


http://www.quilljar.btinternet.co.uk/fonts.html
Last edited by quilljar on Sun Jun 04, 2006 10:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Quiiljar
William
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Post by William »

The topic of a font for teaching children arose in the following thread of the http://wiki.laptop.org webspace.

http://wiki.laptop.org/index.php/Talk:Main_Page

I remembered this thread and have mentioned it there.

William Overington
quilljar
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Location: Winchester UK

Post by quilljar »

The Sasoon font and or a Cripps font were specifically designed for easy READING and not for handwriting.
The Jarman font is the only handwriting font developed especially for the teaching of handwriting based on the historic designs of our original western handwriting style from the 16th century and brought completely up to date. The font is free and available now from
http://www.quilljar.btinternet.co.uk/fonts.html
Quiiljar
William
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Post by William »

While at that webspace I found the folowing.

http://www.quilljar.btinternet.co.uk/hokbeach.html

Wow!

Have you thought of using the shapes in the pictures to make glyphs for a symbol font for graphic art?

In searching at htp://www.yahoo.com for more of the same with the two key words, I found the following, serendipitously!

http://www.tomphillips.co.uk/sculptur/wordscul/

This brings us round to fonts again and the possibility of displaying our fonts in three dimensions, but that needs another thread!

Returning to the topic of the thread, have the fonts for teachers been made with accents so that they could be used by children in other countries learning to write in their own languages, or do they learn with a different design of letters?

William
quilljar
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2004 3:14 pm
Location: Winchester UK

Handwriting font

Post by quilljar »

Thanks for your interest William.
Designing a working font from a teaching model is hard enough without thinking about children learning in other languages! I am hoping that non-english speaking pupils and adults will be able to use the Jarman font to help them write speedily and aesthetically in English. So many young children are taught an unjoined form of immature lettering which they then have to unlearn, to write cursively (that means joined) This font does it all from the start. I have taught many four-year-olds to write joined-up from day one using this traditional Italian 16th Century style.
Quiiljar
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