WHY HANDWRITTEN?
Have you ever wondered why writing things out by hand feels different from typing on a computer? Have you ever noticed that when you spell a word wrong, your brain tells you because you’ve written that word correctly before?
This happens because your brain has seen the correct spelling before, so it recognizes when there’s a mistake. It’s like a little alarm that goes off to let you know you made an error. It turns out that handwriting actually sends unique signals to our brains.
With computers becoming more common, the art of handwriting and cursive is fading away. But the way we write by hand can affect our brains in interesting ways. In this article, we’ll explore what happens in our brains when we write and why it’s important to keep doing it.
About 2,500 years ago, Socrates was worried that writing, the “then” new invention, would make students lazy. He thought that if people could write things down and store them, they wouldn’t bother to memorize important information. Some might say he was just an old man grumbling about change, but Socrates didn’t have scientific studies like we do today to prove that memorizing things is actually a helpful way to learn important concepts.
In an age of increasing technology, we are using keyboards more than ever, and this makes us wonder if handwriting will still be important in the future. It is a question about whether learning to write with a pen or pencil will still matter.
Scientists have researched into it, and found that learning cursive handwriting is actually great for our brains. When we write in cursive, it helps our brain become more specialized and efficient in processing things like touch, movement, and thinking. Unlike typing, which mainly uses one part of the brain, cursive writing activates multiple areas all at once. It’s great for improving our hand-eye coordination and developing our thinking skills. Also, when we write cursive in a meaningful context, not just copying letters, it’s like a brain workout that fires up both sides of our brain even more.
Stephanie Montero — who is an occupational therapist and works with kids — says that:
Learning to write by hand is really important for children. It helps them with memory, coordination (like using their hands), and even their posture (how they sit or stand while writing). It’s a skill that involves many different things working together, and a lot of kids can find it challenging.
It appears that it is not just about writing; it’s about building important skills for kids.
A 2013 study from Indiana University, where psychologists studied young kids who had not learned to read or write yet. They made these kids do different tasks related to reading and writing while scanning their brains. What they found was that the kids who practiced writing, even if it was regular print and not cursive, had way more activity in their brains compared to kids who just looked at letters.
Writing in regular print is good, but there’s something special about cursive that’s even better for your brain. Scientists say cursive is more challenging because it involves more complex movements compared to regular print. Plus, the different styles of cursive letters make our eyes better at recognizing things. They also believe that cursive makes students feel more connected and creative because they can develop their own style of writing. So, it’s not just about neat handwriting; it’s about giving your brain a great workout and letting your personality shine through your writing!
By: Ajadi Olamilekan
