Importance of Handwriting

The Importance of Handwriting

Even if you learned to write way back in Grade 3 and don’t choose to use it any more, the neuro-pathways you used to develop the skill are still there, and can easily be re-activated. Resurrecting your handwriting skills, therefore, would be a much easier task than to learn it as an adult.

Studies have indicated that after handwriting becomes an automatic skill, we shift focus to the information we’re learning or communicating. Therefore, the more cursive writing practice we do, the faster we’ll be able to write. Students who have more handwriting practice in their early ears are better at reading and spelling. Being able to write in cursive means you will also be able to read in cursive.

With fewer pen lifts from the paper, cursive writing is faster than printing—each pen lift takes time and slows down the speed of your writing.

Did you know that literacy rates are higher when students are required to master handwriting skills? One possible reason for this is teachers must use the “See it, Say it, Do it” teaching method to incorporate the visual, auditory and kinesthetic abilities of each student in the process of learning to cursive write. Therefore, we can conclude that should learning handwriting decrease, so will literacy.

Cursive writing results in less confusion for children who have learning disabilities because the smooth flow of cursive connected letters is easier for children to master. In addition, there is less confusion between directions of letters such as ‘b’ and ‘d’ or ‘g’ and ‘p’.

Computer competence can be taught at a later age; however, reading and writing has a ‘window of opportunity’ that occurs before the age of 9 or 10. This is one of the reasons handwriting is so important by grades 2 and 3.

Studies have shown positive side effects of handwriting include reducing depression, blood pressure and boosting the immune system (Swedlow 1999). Learning to write helps children focus and concentrate and, in addition, helps to calm the emotional part of the brain. Over 3,000 nerve endings in each fingertip directly connected to the brain are stimulated when writing.

Marketing research shows that those receiving hand-addressed envelopes are seven times more likely to open that letter.


Be sure to view my 5-minute “Power of the Pen” DVD on my Home Page at www.handwritinganalysistoronto.com