Why teaching handwriting should not be underestimated
We all know how techno-adept young children are but studies reveal how handwriting furthers critical brain development where typing does not
AS the world becomes more hi tech and technology is introduced into the classrooms of school pupils as young as Grade 1, psychologists are growing concerned over what is lost when writing goes by the wayside.
In some American states handwriting is taught in kindergarten and Grade 1 but is replaced by keyboard proficiency from Grade 2. New evidence, however, suggests that the links between handwriting and broader educational development run deep and that handwriting should not be considered a thing of the past.
Recent studies show that children who learn to write by hand learn to read quicker and – crucially – are better able to generate ideas and retain information. ‘When we write, a unique neural circuit is activated,’ said Stanislas Dehaene, a Psychologist at the College de France in Paris. ‘There is a core recognition of the gesture in the written word, a recognition by mental stimulation in your brain. Learning is made easier’.
Other studies have supported this theory. Karin James, a Psychologist at Indiana University, in 2012 conducted a study in which children who had not yet learned to read and write were given a letter or shape on an index card and asked to reproduce it in one of three ways; trace the image on a page, draw it on a blank white sheet or type it on a computer.
They were then placed in a brain scanner and shown the image again. Researchers found that the initial duplication process mattered a great deal. Children who had drawn the letter freehand exhibited increased activity in the three areas of the brain that are activated in adults when they read and write; the left fusiform gyrus, the inferior frontal gyrus and the posterior parietal cortex. Critically, children who typed or traced the letter or shape showed no such effect.
Other studies have highlighted how cursive writing and print each activate different parts of the brain, making the teaching of both vitally important. One Psychologist says that teaching cursive writing may even train self-control ability in a way that other modes of writing do not, while some researchers argue that teaching cursive may even be a path to treating dyslexia. More information on these studies can be found here.
Source: NY Times
