•  On Jun, 13, 2017
•  Mary Keating
•   Blog

Handwriting – An Intellectual Activity

Why Handwriting is important.  More areas of our brain are used to hand-print than to type on a keyboard. And more areas of the brain are used to write in script than to hand-print.

There have always been children with poor handwriting but the quality of teaching over the last fifty years has improved dramatically. And yet, the number of children with poor handwriting and underdeveloped fine motor skills is significant and increasing. The link here is my post about cursive script that offers further discussion. Link to a post on this theme: Cursive Script – Debate, Post

Hand strength and occupational therapy for children.  The number of children needing occupational therapy has increased because they lack the optimum strength in their hands. Children lack the ability to use a basic pincer grasp to pick up small items. Increasing numbers of students can’t use the ‘dynamic tripod grasp’ to hold a pencil.

The writing of senior students can’t be read by examiners. Many lack the strength in their hand to endure three hour exams.

Changing the brain through thinking and doing. We can create new neurological pathways through actively thinking and participating. This can create a new brain map in the individual. It leads to axonal myelination. Myelin is the insulating material that wraps around axons – the neurological pathways – and nerves. Myelin responds to what an individual does. It responds to how the individual has practised, how often, and for how long.

Knowing this should enable parents and teachers to see the possibilities for children’s learning.

Early practice in forming letters in time-proven ways begins that map-making process. Practising printing and copying letters and words reinforces the direction the child is taking. And practising handwriting in script in upper primary school is important because it is more creative than hand-printing.

This practice leads to axonal myelination which leads to new neurological pathways.This is why printing and writing should be seen by teachers and parents as an indispensable part of a child’s intellectual development.

What parents can do to help their child’s handwriting. There is a lot of information on this website about teaching a child to write. Here is a link and there are several posts: How to Teach Hand-Printing, Post
Teaching Handwriting, Post

Handwriting is an important intellectual and physical skill that we are in danger of losing unless schools increase the amount of handwriting in class, especially in the early grades. The die is cast and hand-writing teaching in Grade 4 is being phased out. Wait ten years and we will see the outcomes.

Parents can do a lot to help their own child. Parents need to have confidence in the way they were taught to write in school. Many parents throw up their hands when confronted with their child’s handwriting and when they see the handwriting practice books their children are using.