Der Grundschulverband, or the Association of Primary Schools, in collaboration with Horst Bartnitzky, introduced the Grundschrift, or primary script, approach to handwriting instruction, along with an eponymous typeface family, in 2010. An updated version of the family was produced by Christian Urff in 2016.
This system assumes that students have been exposed to printed letters even before they start school, and have a natural understanding of their shapes. They are introduced to writing in the first grade (6–7 years old), when they practice writing letterforms and learn about their relationship with sounds. In the second stage of handwriting instruction known as Schriftgespräche, or talking about writing, students explore and reflect on letter variations and connections, while keeping in mind three key principles: clarity, legibility and fluidity of letterforms. Among its drawbacks is the issue that its success depends on individual teachers, and how well they introduce the system to students.
Grundschrift uses upright letters with a round foundational form for the lowercase. Several lowercase letters have an exit stroke on the baseline, and students are free to add connections and loops, if the flow of writing suggests them naturally. Uppercase letters are in the simplified print script style, and are unjoined.
