Technology has caused a myriad of adults that would have handwritten things to not write things by hand for years. Besides holiday cards or birthday cards, there is not a reason for many people to write unless signing their names. Some schools minimize the importance of handwriting penmanship as a whole. Parents might not know whether handwriting is as important as it used to be. While your child will most likely type more than you did when you were young, handwriting still holds vital importance. Below are the reasons that top professionals in childhood education state that handwriting is still important for children in the age of technology.
Improving Motor Skills
Fine motor skills need to be developed at a young age and practicing handwriting can do just that. Not only does holding the pencil improve strength in the hand and fingers, but it also allows your child to gain better control over their writing over time. The brain directing the hands will become far more advanced with the more practice your child does. The younger the child is the less complex things they should be drawing or writing. Penmanship is not as important as the improvement over time by a child. Shapes and tracing are commonly used until a child develops their motor skills enough to write. Picking up small items or stringing a piece of the yarn through a small area can be beginner exercises. Parents should be working on the fine motor skills of their children regularly even before they enter preschool. Looking for preschools near me is commonly searched which will allow a parent to see which school prioritizes handwriting and overall development.
Writing Also Helps with Learning to Read
Writing is going to help with learning to read with time. Sounding out words that are written or letters along with writing them allows children to learn in multiple ways. A child that does work with a computer might not have the skills of a student that uses handwriting. Writing by hand helps trigger the part of the brain that impacts the ability to read.
Writing By Hand Benefits Older Students and Adults
A child that has learned to write as a preschooler is setting themselves up for success in the future. Writing by hand is the best way to remember information whether you are writing out a poem or notes for a class. Studies have shown that students that write by hand in college retain more information than those that rely on computers to take notes. People that are a bit older write out notes to remember certain dates, appointments, or obligations. Students do most of their work in elementary and high school by hand. The last thing any student wants is to have an answer correct only to be marked wrong due to their handwriting being illegible.
Handwriting is going to continue to be important when it comes to retaining information and expressing oneself. The motor skills associated with writing are valuable to young children so they can thrive in the classroom moving forward.