Linda Spencer, MS, CGA
All About Handwriting
Blog
Research Indicates Why It Is Important For Kids To Learn How To Write In Cursive
| Posted on June 13, 2014 at 11:21 AM |
comments (59)
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Thanks to the discovery of neuroplasticity we now know that groups of neurons in the brain create new connections and pathways among themselves every time we acquire a new skill. Before we discard cursive handwriting as no longer necessary we need to examine what research is indicating regarding cursive and the affect it has on the brain. Dr. Frank R. Wilson, a leading
neurologist, published a remarkable book which was nominated for a Pulitzer
prize, The Hand: How its Use Shapes the
Brain, Language and Human Culture (New York: Pantheon Books, 1998) He
describes in detail the pivotal role of hand movements in particular in the
development of thinking and language capacities, and in developing deep
feelings of confidence and interest in the world-all-together, “the essential
prerequisites for the emergence of the capable and caring individual.” He explains that although the repetitive
drills that are necessary for cursive handwriting lessons seem outdated, such
physical instruction will help students to succeed. He says you can’t separate
what’s in the mind from what’s in the body and that teachers should not try to
“educate the mind by itself or much of the knowledge will be poorly processed
and inadequately learned.”
Karen Harman-James, assistant professor psychology and
neuroscience at Indiana University conducted research using handwriting and
keyboarding and MRI scans of children’s brains.
Her research which was conducted in 2012 revealed that in the children who had practiced printing by hand, the neural activity was far
more enhanced and “adult like” than in those who had simply looked at the
letter. She said that, “It seems that there is something really important about
manually manipulating and drawing out two dimensional things we see all the
time.”
Virginia Berninger, a professor of
educational psychology at the University of Washington in Seattle asserts that
handwriting has a value beyond its basic utilitarian one. She says the physical
process of making letters by hand more powerfully embeds written-language-
making skills in children’s brains than pressing keys does.
R. Shadmehr and H. Holcomb or John
Hopkins University published a study in Science Magazine showing that their
subject’s brains actually changed in reaction to physical instruction such as
cursive handwriting lessons. The researchers
provided PET scans as evidence of these changes in brain structure. Further, they also demonstrated that these
changes resulted in “an almost immediate improvement in fluency”, which led to
later development of neural pathways. As
a result of practicing motor skills, the researchers found that knowledge
becomes more stable.
I have not found any research on how keyboarding affects the brain but it is equally important to understand it's affect on the brain and the learning process. Especially if it is to be the basic form of future writing. If anyone knows of such research please provide the information to this post. |
An interesting observation about writing in longhand
| Posted on July 12, 2013 at 12:18 PM |
comments (57)
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This is an interesting article about writing in longhand posted by a professional writer. |
Why is Printing Replacing Cursive Writing?
| Posted on June 17, 2013 at 11:48 AM |
comments (33)
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There are many people who can not write in cursive today as well as many who can not read cursive. There are a myriad of reasons why this is so. Perhaps the biggest reason is because very little time is spent teaching cursive handwriting anymore. Some teachers do not know how to write in cursive because it is not taught as a part of the schooling for elementary educators. Does it matter?There is a lot of controversy about the importance of learning to write in cursive. Some people think it is outdated and unnecessary. Others think it is still relevant and important to education. For certain it should not be dropped from elementary curriculum without knowing what, if any, impact it has on the learner. To know how learning to write in cursive and learning to only print or text effects the brain and thus the learning process we turn to the experts, in neuroscience. There are many neuroscience research studies demonstrating how the act of learning to write in cursive enhances the learning process itself. You can find a wealth of information on this subject by simply entering learning to write in cursive and what neuroscience studies have to say about how it effects the brain. A couple of places to start are: What Learning Cursive Does for Your Brain, published on March 14, 2013 by William . Kiemm a professor of Neuroscience at Texas A&M University, published in Memory Medic Printing, cursive, keyboarding: What's the difference when it comes to learning? a study by Indiana University neuroscientist Karin Harman James written by Tracy James and published in IU Home pages Handwriting in the 21st Century/ an Educational Summit I look forward to your questions and comments on the value of learning to write in cursive. |