“This myth that handwriting is just a motor skill is just plain wrong. We use motor parts of our brain, motor planning, motor control,..”
New York Times columnist, Perri Klass, M.D, explains why it’s so important to continue teaching cursive writing to young children:
“As a pediatrician, I think this may be another case where we should be careful that the lure of the digital world doesn’t take away significant experiences that can have real impacts on children’s rapidly developing brains. Mastering handwriting, messy letters and all, is a way of making written language your own, in some profound ways.”
Klass quotes Dr. Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington:
“This myth that handwriting is just a motor skill is just plain wrong. We use motor parts of our brain, motor planning, motor control, but what’s very critical is a region of our brain where the visual and language come together, the fusiform gyrus, where visual stimuli actually become letters and written words.”
“What we’re advocating is teaching children to be hybrid writers, manuscript first for reading—it transfers to better word recognition—then cursive for spelling and for composing. Then, starting in late elementary school, touch-typing.”
Leave a Comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *