My New SkillsPractice workbooks, printed and posted
Printed in Dunedin · posted throughout New Zealand

A page a day, on paper.

Practice workbooks for handwriting, mental arithmetic, sketching and touch typing. There is no course behind them, no app and no test. You get a printed book of exercises, ruled for the job and bound to lie flat, posted to your door.

Order a set of booksSee the six choices
Two sharpened grey pencils lying on a plain yellow surface
Fig. 1 Two sharpened pencils. That is the whole kit a page needs.
What we make
Printed workbooks, posted
What we are not
No course, no tutor, no assessment
What we state
Paper weight and binding stated on every book
What we promise
No certificate and no claim about results

Choose a book

Four lines of books and two ways to buy them. Each is paper and exercises, nothing more. Read the letter that fits, then order the set.

  1. Handwriting books

    Letter forms first, then joins, then spacing. Ruled to three heights, so the x-height, the ascender and the descender each have a line to sit on. Three books: print, joined writing, and a spacing book for writers whose letters are right but crowd each other.

  2. Number practice

    Tables, then mental methods, then written methods, in that order. A fixed number of questions to the page, one page a day, and the answer key at the back so the eye cannot drift down to it.

  3. Sketching books

    Line, then proportion, then shading. Every exercise page faces a blank page of the same paper, so you draw beside the example rather than over it. Heavier stock, because a soft pencil is hard on thin paper.

  4. Touch-typing books

    Home row outward: the eight resting keys first, then each reach in turn. The drills are printed, not timed on a screen, so the book props beside any keyboard and nothing counts your errors.

  5. Class sets

    The same titles in multiples for a school, a library or a club, packed by title. Say how many of each on the order form and we quote the set and the postage together before anything is printed.

  6. Ruled refill pads

    Loose pads ruled the same way as the handwriting books, for the days when you want the ruling without the exercises. The same paper, gummed at the head, in the three heights we print.

Answer

Most first orders are one handwriting book and one number book. If you are not sure which ruling height to ask for, say so on the order form and we will tell you which one the sample pages were set for.

Order a set of books

How an order runs

This is a small publisher. It writes, rules, prints and binds practice workbooks, then posts them. Here is the whole of it, in order.

  1. You write to us

    The order form asks for your name, your e-mail, which titles you want and how many, and where they are going. A message box takes anything else: a left-handed writer, a school year, a ruling height you already use.

  2. We reply from [email protected]

    The reply confirms the titles, the ruling of each, the page count and the paper weight, and sets out the cost of the set and the postage as one figure. Nothing is charged until you say yes to that reply.

  3. We print and bind

    Each book is printed on the paper stated for that title, folded into sections, sewn and glued so the spine opens flat, then trimmed. A set for one person usually leaves within the week. A class set takes longer, and the reply says how long.

  4. We post

    Within New Zealand books travel by tracked courier. To Australia they go by tracked international post. You get the tracking reference by e-mail on the day the parcel leaves Dunedin.

  5. You practise

    That is the end of our part. We do not mark anything, we do not follow up, and we do not ask how it went unless you want to tell us.

What we care about is the object. A ruling that is exactly the height printed on the cover. Paper heavy enough that a soft pencil does not show through to the next page. A binding that stays open at the page you are on without a hand holding it down. Answers at the back, never at the foot of the page. Plain instructions in short sentences, one idea to a line. That is the whole craft, and it is enough to keep a small press busy.

We work from Dunedin and post throughout New Zealand and to Australia. The books are written here, ruled here, printed and bound here, and packed here. A single order and a class set go through the same hands.

A nineteenth-century copybook page with one sentence written out in copperplate, line after line
Fig. 2 A copybook page from the eighteen-thirties, one sentence written line after line. The idea is old. Our ruling is not.
What we turn down

We turn down anything that turns a book into a service. We will not mark or grade work sent to us, will not write a report on a learner, will not design a programme for a class, and will not print a badge, a level or a certificate on any page. We also do not print other people's material, and we do not sell the books through anyone else.

Questions people ask before they order

Seven questions we answer most weeks, answered here so you do not have to write to ask them.

  1. Is there a course or an app with these?

    Answer

    No. The book is the whole product. There is no login, no video, no lesson to book and nothing to download. The exercises, the instructions and the answers are all printed, and the book works anywhere there is a flat surface and a pencil.

  2. Do you mark the work?

    Answer

    No. Nobody here sees your pages. The number books carry an answer key at the back so you can check your own page. The handwriting and sketching books carry the model to compare against. That is the only marking there is, and you do it yourself.

  3. Which book suits a left-handed writer?

    Answer

    The same books. The ruling and the letter forms do not change with the hand. What changes is the tilt of the page and where the wrist rests, and the first spread of every handwriting book shows both positions. If you order the joined-writing book, say left-handed on the form and we will slip in the loose sheet on paper tilt.

  4. Is there a certificate at the end?

    Answer

    No. There is a last page. We issue no certificate, no diploma, no level and no qualification, and no book carries a stamp, a badge or a score that could be read as one.

  5. Can a school order a class set?

    Answer

    Yes. Put the titles and the number of copies of each on the order form. Class sets are packed by title and posted as one parcel. We quote the set and the postage together and tell you the printing time before you confirm anything.

  6. Do you post outside New Zealand?

    Answer

    To Australia, yes, by tracked post. Further afield, write first. Postage on a parcel of books can cost more than the books do, and we would rather tell you that before you order than have you find out after.

  7. Are the answers included?

    Answer

    In the number books, yes, as an answer key on the last pages. In the handwriting books the model line is the answer. In the sketching books the example drawing is. The typing books need no key: the text you copied is the check.

What we do not do

Cross these out before you order. They are not in the book and they are not on offer.

Answer

If you need any of the five things above, we are the wrong shop and we will say so by return. If you need a well-made book of exercises, read on.

Order a set, or write first

The form takes a minute. The reply comes by e-mail with everything in one figure, and nothing is printed until you say yes.

One page a day is a small thing. Paper, a pencil and a book that lies flat is all the kit it needs.

Order a set of books

Post
[email protected]
The only address we use. Every reply comes from it.
Hours
Replies Monday to Friday, nine in the morning to four in the afternoon, New Zealand time. Orders sent at the weekend are answered on Monday.
Where
Dunedin, Otago. We post throughout New Zealand and to Australia. Further afield, write first and we will tell you whether the postage makes sense.