Handwriting.
With all of the demands placed on schools and teachers to make sure they
are teaching the core classes due to state testing and requirements, there
leaves little room for some of the other skills that have been taught in the
past. One of them being handwriting. In fact, years ago, handwriting used to be a
major part of a students’ day. Although
I am not terribly old, I remember my 3rd and 4th grade
teacher making us spend hours and hours perfecting our loops and curves. As a class we would groan when we had to
rewrite an entire paper because of one little mistake at the bottom of the
page. Instead of doing workbook pages
and circling the correct answer, we would have to write out the entire sentence
with the correct answer inserted into the sentence. At age 9 or 10 it seemed like torture! Honestly, we couldn’t wait to learn how to
write in cursive, but once we learned it, the assignments and perfection of it
all seemed too much to take. Despite
what seemed like torture to a 9 year old, we practiced and practiced, and
practices and soon became very good at cursive writing. It didn’t take long before our papers were
neat, organized, and we didn’t have to glance above the chalkboard for help when
we forgot how to form a letter.
By the time we got to be in high school, we
could decide what style of handwriting we wanted to use. Most of my friends still used cursive because
we had been expected to use it for so long.
I remember experimenting with my handwriting in college. Sometimes it would be cursive, print, or a
little bit of both. I stopped writing in
cursive for a while and then I had a college class that required I show off my,
by that time, less than stellar cursive writing for a grade for one of my
elementary education classes. I had to
produce a portfolio of letters and words like I was teaching a class to 3rd
graders on huge piece of chart paper no less.
Well, I didn’t get an A on that assignment and I was very mad. What did it matter that I didn’t make a
perfect “m?” I had stopped using that
skill and so I was out of practice. The
assignment wouldn’t have gotten my students an ‘A’ so why should I expect an ‘A’
from my professor.
For the last 4 years I taught 3rd
graders how to write in cursive. They were
always so excited to start learning the letters and I was excited to teach them
a new skill. However, like I mentioned
before, handwriting is a skill that is slowly getting squeezed out due to the
demands of reading, writing, math, and science.
I have always felt that handwriting is still a very valuable skill for
kids to learn and use! We practiced as
much as we could, but just had a hard time dedicating the amount of time we needed
to master the skill. There had even been
talk about cutting it out, but us teachers still thought it was a valuable
skill to know and use. If kids don’t
learn cursive, how will they ever have a signature to sign a check (which may
be obsolete soon) or a loan?
A few
years ago, a colleague of mine gave me an article that supports the teaching of
handwriting and its’ benefits to the brain.
Handwriting is a great way to boost creativity, increase fine motor
skills, and help with memory. In the
technology age we are in, studies suggest that students retain more information
by writing down notes as opposed to taking notes via computer or other
electronic device. People are also
starting to argue the benefits of keyboarding skills. With so many iPads being used, some say you
don’t need to learn how to type any more, you only need to know “the 3 finger
claw” method for typing on an iPad. I
would also beg to differ on keyboarding skills.
There have been times that I have been typing at my desk and looking up
at a student so I can finish a sentence and they are amazed that I can type
that fast and without looking. Years of
practice, but yes, I can and it’s a lot faster and more productive than the
hunt and peck method. Here again,
keyboarding class in junior high was painful sometimes, but it has served me
well since then!
I am sure many have opinions on whether or not
handwriting is a valuable skill. Maybe
instead of spending less time on it in the classroom, we should be spending
more time on it. I encourage you to read
the articles below before you decide one way or the other.
“How Handwriting Trains the Brain” from The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704631504575531932754922518
“What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades” from The New York Times.
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