‘Yes, yes, I’m sure devices can be a distraction – but what is the evidence for the positive benefits of handwriting?’
Glad you asked!
Let me take you back to 2012. For those of us who see the positive impact of handwriting on other areas of learning, the 2012 Handwriting Educational Summit in Washington, D.C. was pretty exciting stuff. For the first time, we were presented with clear links between children learning to write by hand and the development of brain structures connected with visual and language skills.
It was the beginnings of a neurological explanation for what clinicians had noted of the correlation between foundation skills in reading, writing, memory and critical thinking. It was more than children feeling happy with themselves when they mastered this ancient skill and own distinctive individual style of self expression.
Presented functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) which showed a clear link between learning to write by hand and brain activity that leads to the development of neural processing in the visual and language systems of young children. This is not the case for learning letters visually or learning to write with a keyboard.
Presented a meta-analysis of studies of the effectiveness of handwriting interventions. The results support individualised instruction for those children struggling to learn handwriting. Such instruction has been found to not only improve motivation and legibility but to also have an effect on the quality and volume of work.
Showed the importance of a collaborative approach between occupational therapists and teachers, and specific intervention using visual-motor-verbal cues to support the development of correct movement sequences, as well as self-direction and self-evaluation for students experiencing difficulty with handwriting. This type of intervention was found to have a significant impact not only on the legibility of students’ handwriting but also on their ability to generate and organise ideas, stay on task and complete schoolwork.
Since then, the evidence that handwriting is better for learning and memory continues to accumulate.