Primary Times - the definitive what’s on and where to go family guide of activities and events for children of primary school age. Things to do with your kids during the school holidays including arts and craft activities, music and theatre for children, parties, competitions, days out, and family attractions along with term time drama schools, dance classes, after school clubs and sports activities. Things to do at a place near you!
How handwriting is good for the brain
We question how much time we spend reading with our kids and worry about their increasing screen time but when did we last practise handwriting with them? In an era of digital transformation, the question of the keyboard replacing handwriting raises questions about how this may impact on the brain development of children in education. A recent infographic by National Pen celebrates the power of the pen in education and how handwriting is good for the brain.
Does the development of handwriting help with the development of reading?
In the research findings for The effects of handwriting experience on the functional brain development in pre-literate children, they argued that the development of the brain’s previously identified “reading circuit” is linked to handwriting. They conducted MRI scans on a sample of 5 years olds while they printed, typed, traced, wrote and were shown images of letters. They found that the reading circuit was created only after handwriting had taken place which lead to the belief that handwriting may help in the development of reading in young children.
University challenged students remembered more from handwritten notes.
Students who handwrote their notes could recall more information and answer more questions about their lecture compared to those who typed out their notes on a variety of devices. The Pen is Mightier than the keyboard report found that students who typed notes didn’t edit the information in the same way as those who wrote them down. The filtering or editing of information was the seen as the key to better comprehension and recall of knowledge.
Hand to eye coordination
When writing by hand, the brain is engaged in multiple tasks such as hand to eye coordination, visual tracking and corrective feedback. When we are writing, more areas of the brain are activated when compared to typing. Learning to write and the act of writing requires greater neural activity compared to typing. Learning to write is a greater neural activator than learning to type so it might be a good idea to let the kids graffiti the kitchen table after all.