Handwriting is becoming obsolete and it’s quite sad. I still remember the big yellowish paper with rows horizontal lines, both solid and dotted where you would practice both cursive and handwriting. Our teachers would teach us how to join our words together, teaching us how to properly loop our o’s, guiding our hands in graceful circular movements. It’s really a work of art and when we see photos of beautiful vintage books that were handwritten and you often wonder why they are eliminating this from school curriculums, especially when handwriting has so many benefits.
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Computers have improved our quality of life and have facilitated the way we communicate and even write. Unfortunately many of the younger generations will never know what it is to write down notes or have handwritten assignments because everything is done through computers and online.
Benefits of Handwriting
Taking handwritten notes help you remember and understand things better. Remember when your teacher or parents used to punish you by writing multiple phrases on a sheet of paper or on the blackboard? The same thing happens with handwriting, it stimulates you memory in a unique way, helping you retain what you’ve written for a longer period of time.
Doctors have always recommended patients to read write things down because keeping an active mind delays dementia and Alzheimer’s. The movements you do with your hand as you write something down activate the motor areas of your brain. It also keeps you from getting distracted, so it keeps your mind sharp as you get older.
When you sit down in front of a computer, you’re distracted by social media and spend more time watching cat videos than on working on an assignment. This is especially true when it comes to young children. Children that have a hard time getting their assignments written on a computer can benefit from handwriting because it can make them better writers. In a 2009 study from the University of Washington, they found that elementary students who wrote handwritten essays actually wrote longer essays and more complete sentences than those that typed in a computer.
Now that you know the benefits of handwriting don’t let this old technique die. Even if your child’s school is eliminating handwriting from their curriculums, show them what you know. Teach them the beautiful art of handwriting at home. They will appreciate the time you’re taking to teach them something new and at the same time value the time you’re spending with them.