When was the last time you took the time to write something? I don’t mean typing or texting. I mean putting pen to paper like we did back when we had to, spending hours writing in composition books, passing handwritten bits of loose-leaf in class, writing in diaries or practicing penmanship for school.
More often than not, I find myself almost exclusively using digital tools. I rarely even have pen and paper to hand. I text my clients, my friends, my kids, and even myself! From grocery lists and to do lists to my personal ideas or goals, I ‘write’ in the notes app on my phone or type in a word processing program on my computer. And our children are pretty much following suit, rarely finding the need to use their handwriting skills except in a perfunctory card or thank you note to Great Aunt Sally.
The thing is…the simple and soon to be lost art of putting pen to paper could have remarkable health and cognitive benefits and our children are missing out!
Many studies have shown that writing by hand has real benefits.
- Writing by hand improves hand-eye coordination and fine maotor skills. Writing in cursive and tracing and practicing letters in general allows students to exercise their many muscles and improve their dexterity among other things.
- Writing by hand is good for your brain! An article on the cognitive benefits of handwriting in Science Daily states,“Handwriting can have a range of benefits for the brain, including a calming effect, coordination of the left and right brain, boosting cognitive skills, inspiring creativity, sharpening aging minds, and improving memory. It also involves more of the brain than typing does.
- Writing by hand improves memory and retention. Even my college kids will agree with this one as they’ve discovered that it’s easier to recall important points of the lecture when they’ve written their notes by hand.
- Learning letters by writing is superior. A study found that young students learn and retain their knowledge of the alphabet better when asked to practice with pen and paper rather than only typing or viewing on a screen.
- Learning to write in cursive has many benefits including possible increased brain activation, and improved motor skills. It also offers students the ability to read historical documents in their original form! This may sound trivial, but I find it empowering to be able to read the Constitution or Declaration of Independence in the hand it was written.
While a myriad of technological writing tools are convenient and useful in school, spending time honing the skill of putting pen to paper has an important place too!
At Ability School, we strive to create a curriculum that lays a very strong foundation for all students on their educational journeys. Part of their program always includes building confidence and competence when writing by hand as well as using digital tools.
References:
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1468798414522825
- https://ir.library.louisville.edu/etd/3982/
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001691804001167
- https://www.livenowfox.com/news/us-states-require-cursive-handwriting-students
- https://mostpolicyinitiative.org/science-note/cursive-writing/
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/benefits-of-handwriting
- https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/benefits-of-handwriting
- https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20171108-the-uncertain-future-of-handwriting
