“In opposition to the current trends of promoting screen time and keyboard use by students, educators and parents have overlooked the benefits of handwriting in stimulating several areas of the brain, creating deeper memory pathways, lowering emotional tension, increasing fine-motor coordination, producing fluency, establishing multi-processing efficiency, and clarifying personal thought” (Hopkins, 2016, p. 5)

“Mastery of script by a child is one of the most important signs of a child’s socialization into humanity and its intellectual treasures. Writing is the principal basis for the development of abstract thinking. Writing transforms our cognitive abilities, heightening awareness of the implicit properties of language” (Grigorenko, 2012).

“Children today who do not learn the skill of handwriting, like generations before them, may be missing out on an important developmental process. Compared to using two hands to type out letters on a keyboard, writing with one dominant hand uses more complex brain power. Writing by hand is more complicated because it integrates three brain processes” (Berniger, 2012).

Reference:

• Berninger, V. Evidence-based, developmentally appropriate writing skills K-5: Teaching the orthographic loop of working memory to write letters, spell words, and express ideas. University of Washington, Handwriting in the 21st Century: An Educational Summit, Washington, D.C., 2012
• Grigorenko, E. Writing: A mosaic of new perspectives. Handwriting Summit, Washington, D.C. 2012
• Hopkins, Kathleen. (2016) Getting a grip. India: Indo American Books.