When was the last time you wrote out a letter by hand? With technology changing so rapidly, we’re all texting, typing, and using touch screens more than ever before. But we have to ask: Is all this technology helping our kids get smarter? New research suggests that it’s not going to be helpful long term.
From Yahoo! Shine:
Indiana University researchers tracked brain patterns in pre-school kids and discovered that those who wrote out letters had increased recognition and neural activity, according to the Los Angeles Times. Another study released earlier this year, looked at kids who hand-wrote their assignments as opposed to typing them. Those who did, wrote faster and more prolifically. One reason has to do with the gripping process of writing, which fine-tunes motor skills unlike punching out keys. The repetitive nature required to perfect handwriting also helps the brain memorize information. In other words, handwriting is good for the developing brain. {Full story}
What do you think, BMWK? Does your kids’ school place an emphasis on handwriting? Have you seen a difference in how often your kids write things out by hand versus how much you did at that age?
Totally agree. Something is lost with the technology. Find that making kids sit down with pencil and paper and think about what they’re going to say results in higher quality writing. Writing by hand not only forces memorization, it also forces them to learn spelling and grammar as they make mistakes, get correction and rewrite. Not so much on computer what with auto-spelling and grammar correction.
I believe both handwriting and computer skills are important. In my younger days I had to take typing in middle school. This gave me a great advantage when it came to typing papers in college writing resumes and formatting. Yes I agree handwriting should be taught first, it’s part of our develomental growth (motor skills). My 7 yr old has creative writing time where she can choose a topic of intrest and she writes in meads writing book. We then show her that she can take her story and type it up to make a little book. My 3 yr old writes his name now because we took the time to teach him his ABC’s and writing excersices (tracing letters). Now it probably was easy for him to do so bc his name is short but he is so proud to see that he can write his name. He writes his name everywhere now, God is good;). With him we also let him use the computer, but everything is always educational and he can really navigate a site well. I believe the younger kids of this generation have a heads up with technology. This can set them up to be future engineers, computer techs, etc. I believe everything in moderation, balance and common sense. Technology/television can and shouldn’t ever replace parenting.
Great article. While I agree with some of the comments, there is a balance. It’s not the technology that is the issue, it is how our children are being taught to use it. In celebration of Black Music Month I email my 7-year old a daily question regarding African American artists. She must then (with her mother’s supervision of course) search the internet for the answer. Yesterday she found out the real names of Mary Mary. Today she will find out that like her, John Legend was home schooled. This project also heps her learn to structure an email in additon to using the computer as a tool. Also she gets trivia questions such as how far is the sun from earth (she uses wolframalpha.com for these types of questions). So yes our children need to learn the basics, but they should also be taught how to truly use technology as a tool.
By the way some may wonder if a 7-year old should have an email address. Good question, however her email account is setup so that for any non authorized person to send her an email, the actual email comes to myself and my wife first. We then have to authorize the email, and then she can actual receive email from that person. Again, not the technology, it is how use it.
Love this article and totally agree, when I watch my kids write versus send texts or type, I can see them processing information differently. u00a0My sons are 12 and 9 and the 12 year old is at the age where technology is very important to him, so it is a constant challenge continuing to “encourage” him to take his time and write.nnBlessings,nnwww.Broskee.com
It is important for kids to learn both skills, the truth is as they grow up they will become less reliant on pens and pencils and more so on computers.