Handwriting
Many parents today have expressed concern about the fact that their children are not being taught cursive writing in school. Parents intuitively understand that writing is an important skill to have. Printing is a beginning, and typing is useful, but what is it about cursive writing that is so important?
Communication between the brain and the body is a 2-way street, and communication between the brain and the hand is particularly important. While the brain tells the hand what to do, the hand also gives important feedback to the brain. By movement and touch, the hand educates and informs the brain about what is out there in the world. This helps to develop the brain, just as much as movement develops and hones the skills of the muscles. Learning does not only happen in the brain; it occurs and is stored throughout the body.
Back in the 1960’s, California’s JPL Laboratories disocovered that their employees who had worked or played with their hands as youngsters were much better able be creative and solve problems. This could have been building soap box cars, model ships, or taking apart radios and clocks, and putting them back together, As children, we used to play games like pick-up sticks, marbles, hopscotch, and even cards, using real playing cards. All of these activities are very good for the brain.
Even more interesting, people have reported that they feel and think differently when they are writing something by hand, compared with typing on a keyboard. It is as if the brain functions differently when writing. One teacher noted that students produced essays that were better planned when they wrote out their thoughts, rather than typing them. This type of research is in its early phases, but it seems that writing by hand leads to more brain integration than typing.
It is especially important in childhood, because it seems to develop parts of the brain that would not be developed otherwise. This is not to say that typing should not be done. It is an important skill. But we should not eliminate writing.
So if your child’s school does not teach cursive writing, make a game of teaching them at home. Limit screen time, and get them interested in games and activities that involved movement: building with blocks, making things with clay, knitting sewing and crocheting. If you don’t know how to do these activities, learn it with your child, or learn it and then teach them to do it. It will also do you a lot of good. And if you want to play solitaire, get away from that computer! Get a deck of real cards, and play that way. Besides being better for you, I will contend that it is more fun!
Sources
1. Brown, Stuart. (2009). Play. The Penguin Group.2. Flaherty, Sharon. (2023). It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way. New Summer Publishing
3. Keim, Brandon. (2013). The Science of Handwriting. Scientific American Mind. Volume 24, Number 4. 54-57.
4. Lambert, Jonathon. (May 11, 2024) Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning.
Your Health. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/0511/1250529661/handwriting-cursive-typing-schools-learning-brain
