Teaching Kids Handwriting to Help Them Read - Psychology Today

David Ludden, PhD, has a great read from earlier this year about how handwriting can support reading skills, in ways that computer screens and TV screens just can't.

Here's a snippet of the article:

"Indiana University psychologist James argues it’s precisely poor penmanship skills in these youngsters that helps them master letter recognition. When children copy letters, their reproductions are far from exact. Lines are tilted, angles are off, and curves aren’t balanced. Still, when children look at what they’ve drawn, they know it’s “the same” as the original because they wrote it. Furthermore, as they gain more practice in handwriting, children learn the essential elements of letters are that run across families of fonts and different people’s penmanship."

Handwriting does so much for bilateral integration — knitting together both sides of the brain — and for creative thought. Those of you who think "Everything is going to be done on computer, so no need to teach handwriting" should give this one a read!

Handwriting guide illustration: © 2018 Sedda Wuller