Should Schools Start Teaching Handwriting Again?

Why should handwriting be taught in schools?

to answer this question, let's consider were we currently are in technology and whether or not teaching handwritin in Schools is still relevant.

Truly, technological advances modify all areas of human development in which we are involved.

Of course, this includes education and all learning processes, and that is why every day we have a greater number of text processors and similar equipment within the classrooms.

From one moment to another, a lot of technological improvements were included in schools, causing children and young people to modify their learning processes around the available technology.

While this has allowed people to acquire essential skills regarding the use and management of this equipment and the skills related to the audiovisual, there are other areas where school reinforcement has disappeared, thereby creating a problem.

This occurs with handwriting.

Traditionally, teaching has been associated with this process, since it is always put into practice in school contexts, especially for the youngest ones. However, this has gradually disappeared, and collateral damage has emerged in parallel.

Writing involves the interaction of several basic cognitive processes, which give rise to the development of more complex or second level cognitive processes.

For example, in younger children, handwriting is essential when it comes to facilitating the acquisition of reading skills.

In other words, writing by hand is a way of synthesizing or putting into practice a set of mental processes that occur individually.

To write, the individual must be able to identify their letters and know their form (memory), make the relevant traces (manual dexterity) and associate them for the construction of words.

From this perspective, handwriting ceases to be an option to become a requirement for the acquisition of basic skills.

The disappearance of handwriting within classrooms does not mean that the child is not able to write at some point, but it does make it a much more complex process for him.

Consequently, the aforementioned processes that are involved in the development of this skill are also seriously affected. With this general outlook, it can be understood why handwriting should appear again within the basic teaching processes.

Can handwriting really facilitate learning?

Handwriting is associated with the acquisition of basic skills and the development of cognitive psychology -- which covers everything from perception to language to problem solving, etc.

Seen in this way, handwriting is a tool to speed up the elementary mental processes necessary for the development of more complex mental processes.

Understanding learning as a cognitive process through which new knowledge is acquired or consolidated -- and the individual’s behavior is modified accordingly -- handwriting is necessary to facilitate learning.

Of course, handwriting will enhance processes that are not improved by the use of technological equipment in the classroom, and vice versa.

In fact, it could even generate better management and apprehension of them. Writing is one of the most effective ways to associate children with letters and word formation in general.

It is for this reason that the manuscript writing is recommended before cursive in the youngest. In this way, it will be much easier for them to associate the letter they are generating in their strokes with those they visualize daily in their computers.

Best attitudinal and procedural abilities thanks to handwriting

During the process of training an individual, it should be contemplated the acquisition of three types of skills or competencies, and these are the conceptual, attitudinal and procedural.

Handwriting is related to the acquisition of conceptual skills by becoming an ideal tool for the apprehension of terms and contents.

However, it is not here where this activity demonstrates its greatest potential.

Handwriting is involved with the acquisition of procedural skills in its majority. This is a type of learning that involves the development of skills by the individual, which also remains in constant evolution. This means that the child, as he grows and learns, will improve his writing process.

The development of attitudinal skills is reflected in the positive attitude reflected by children when they learn to write.

When this happens, as with reading, the child shows great interest in improving and putting into practice the knowledge acquired. This, of course, can be extended for the acquisition of other skills related to other necessary learning.

How should handwriting teaching be developed?

Writing within the school environment must meet certain criteria and characteristics that will make it a real tool for subsequent learning processes.

In this sense, these criteria determine the handwriting of the child, in order to systematize the process performed by the youngest.

The beginning of handwriting should focus, in principle, on the development of techniques and parameters that allow the achievement of writing properly.

Some children develop innate writing, and that is demonstrated even in the way they hold the pencil before using it.

In other children, the process is different. This first stage will then be represented by the correction of these aspects, which include from the way the pencil is held to the posture at the time of writing.

After the correction stage, the introduction to each letter begins. At this point, little matter the style or size with which these first letters are made by children.

Here it's important to focus on the making of a continuous line -- so that their writing is developed in the most continuous way possible.

Likewise, it is fundamental to differentiate between the letters, especially in those that show great similarity. In fact, it is recommended that these letters be presented together, in pairs like b and d, so that the child recognizes their differences more easily.

Consequently, no other letter should be introduced until there are proper handling and distinction of each pair.

The teaching of letters should be as mechanized as possible. The directions in which the strokes are made should be emphasized within the instructional moments. Of course, many times this will not be followed verbatim by the child but will give sufficient guidelines to write as recommended as possible.

What is the relationship between writing and reading?

Both writing and reading are supposed to be a cohesive team. Although the writing process usually precedes the action of reading. This means that the child will probably have the first contact with a pencil and a crayon to make a stroke before having a suitable reading comprehension for his age.

This does not always happen in the same way, nor is it a mandatory requirement. Each child is different. However, it is undeniable that writing facilitates the process of reading.

Through it, the child has a much more ingrained approach with the characters that make up the alphabet. This, of course, will facilitate the subsequent recognition of words.

Reading and writing must be developed, from a certain point, as a whole. Reading allows children to understand the function of these letters since they already recognize the existence of words and their confirmation.

On the other hand, handwriting also allows them to reinforce each of the letters in their memory. It is a feedback process.

Can you teach how to write?

Learning to write is an individual process, and therefore, is totally conditioned by the characteristics of each person.

However, its teaching is possible thanks to the systematization. Writing develops as a gradual process that goes from the simplest to the most complex, from recognition to the development of a personal handwritten font.

Final thoughts

At present, the training and incorporation of information and communication technologies in classrooms is essential to respond to the needs of the new generations.

This has allowed us to solve many problems and improve the experience of children and young people within the school.

However, this does not imply that cursive instruction and handwriting can be left aside. In fact, this basic learning does not take long before becoming an essential tool for the construction of more complex learning.

Writing is associated with reading and is an essential tool to provide answers to non-verbal language difficulties.

Consequently, it is not only basic learning but also an essential part of other elementary learning processes to develop communication.

Despite having numerous tools that allow the transcription in a systematic way in some type of computer, handwriting is linked to the development of various cognitive processes that must be in an advanced stage before complex cognitive processes start to work.

Consequently, learning to write by hand in the correct way should be a requirement.

The formation of an individual must be contemplated in the most ecliptic way possible, that is to say, all the aspects linked to the learning processes must be considered, from the most basic to the most complex.

Knowing how to write correctly allows the child to associate in more appropriate ways of reading, understanding, and analyzing texts.

Handwriting begins to be part of the schooling process for a very simple reason: it is an effective tool for communication. Through them, the little ones communicate with their teachers and leave traces of their learning.

Of course, from the first contact with a crayon or pencil, the individual will begin a long process of learning that leads to continuous improvement.

For this reason, handwriting must return to the classroom as an essential process that must be developed.

The time dedicated to this activity will be relevant to promote its learning and continuous improvement. Writing is elementary learning that is related to most of the school processes developed by young people.

Handwriting, hand in hand with reading are the most powerful tools for effective learning.