Shavonne McLamb
Ad Manager
Nervous about filling out paperwork for a new job? What about filling out paperwork for your child and you have to sign your name? What if you are having trouble remembering things? Here is a solution. Try writing it down, especially in cursive.
Trust me, writing things down such as lists, notes, ideas, etc. can help with a person’s brain development, especially when they are taught at a young age. There is a problem though. Schools are barely teaching penmanship, let alone cursive handwriting. School curriculums are cutting down handwriting due to the emphasis on digital devices in the classroom.
Devon Frye wrote for Psychology Today, “relying solely on a keyboard to learn the alphabet and type out written words could be problematic; accumulating evidence suggests that not learning cursive handwriting may hinder the brain’s optimum potential to learn and remember.”
That means students will have a difficult time remembering what they have learned in class and not have the skills to recall and comprehend certain aspects of lessons being taught by the teacher. This can have an effect on a child’s life as they age. Not having the skills to write in cursive can affect how someone fills out a form for a job, or write out a check.
Writing in cursive can help a person write faster and more effectively. Kaylee Harp wrote an article for the Columbian Missourian how two groups were tested when they wrote things down in cursive, print, and typing, “moreover, the same group was able to write 16 graphemes per minute, while the control group had a rate of 11 graphemes per minute. Graphemes are the letters that spell out sounds in words. The children who were taught cursive wrote faster and more controlled.”
Having fast handwriting can have benefits in the workplace. “From improved brain function to increased creativity, writing by hand has many benefits that can help you and your team members succeed at work,” said Charlie Pierpont from Writing Pads Blog. Increased brain functionality can benefit workplace relationships by working faster and being able to come up with creative ideas for a work project.
New information can be stressful and difficult to process. Writing by hand, especially in cursive can help with your memory. “Scientists found that cursive writing and drawing activated brain areas important for memory and the encoding of new information and, therefore, helped ‘provide the brain with optimal conditions for learning.”
This was not seen in the subjects who were typewriting,” said Waldorf Education. Teachers should suggest to students that they should write down their notes in class and then go back and type their notes for proper sentence structure, grammar, and neatness.
Cursive handwriting can benefit literacy in children. Scholastic’s Parents Staff wrote the benefits of cursive handwriting. Scholastic Parents said “our child becoming a better speller, your child will be likely to form words more easily, and your child could become a better writer overall.”
Cursive handwriting should be taught in schools. Penmanship is barely being taught in schools because of the advancement in technological devices such as laptops, iPads, and tablets. Studies have shown that cursive handwriting can increase handwriting speed, benefit brain development, and increase literacy in children as they age. With literacy rates decreasing, students learning cursive can increase their spelling, their ability to form words, and their ability to write well. Without the skill of cursive handwriting, students will have difficulty remembering and comprehending the teacher’s lessons because they are not writing the notes or examples down.
Having the skills to remember and comprehend things can help students as they approach the workforce when the kids get older. Writing the notes or examples down in class can be a stepping stone for an effective workflow because it increases creativity. When these students become adults, they will be able to fill out forms for jobs or their child’s paperwork without feeling nervous, or inadequate that they do not know how to sign their name.
These adults will be able to write out a check and be able to write faster. Cursive handwriting should be put back in the curriculum and taught in schools because there are plenty of benefits to writing by hand.
For practice for your students or children: https://www.rainbowresource.com/product/007396/Cursive-Handwriting-Student-Workbook.html
Email Shavonne at: smclamb@live.esu.edu
