With each passing day it seems that we are writing less and less. The pen has been replaced by the keyboard, shopping lists are made by our cell phones and now children play with tablets and no longer with pen and paper.
In fact, these new technologies streamline our daily lives and are easier to handle than writing with a pencil, for example. But what are the disadvantages of putting writing more and more to one side?
Recent research reinforces the importance of handwriting for motor and cognitive development in children and young adults, and the results are impressive. Keep reading to find out what they are!
Do we need to teach cursive handwriting?
Yes we need. Learning to cursive writing is a very important step in child development. This is because writing can become a manifestation of thought.
In this way, with the practice and use of cursive, thinking happens more fluidly, because from cursive writing, we are able to carry out the continuity of thought.
Cursive and the Brain
Studies carried out recently prove that cursive writing is important for areas related to learning and memory to be stimulated.
These studies monitored electrical activity in the brains of young adults and 12-year-olds as they wrote in cursive, typed on a keyboard, or while they drew the words that were presented.
The conclusion was that, among the three activities above, handwriting was the one that most activated the areas responsible for learning and memory in the brain, even when done on a digital screen.
Both handwriting and the act of drawing provide more sensory experiences, which makes the brain more receptive to stimuli that favor learning, due to sensor motor integration.
Benefits of handwriting for motor and cognitive development
1. Writing by hand makes the brain more receptive to encouragement
There’s a lot more going on in your brain when you use a pen and paper than when you use a keyboard. In other words, more areas of our brain are activated when we write by hand. These are areas related to rationality and cognition, as well as emotions and body memory.
2. Writing by hand helps to develop a greater sense of body
The way movement is involved in handwriting is particularly interesting. The tension created by our body when getting into position is followed by the need to develop fine motor skills. The brain and body come together to master all the small movements of the hands, wrists and fingers.
3. Writing by hand improves neurological connections
Some neurological circuits are not activated when typing with a keyboard. When we use handwriting, instead, this activity is constant. When we write by hand, we are performing a mental exercise that strengthens our neurological connections.
4. Writing by hand helps the brain retain information
The movements we make when we write by hand leave an impression on the area of our brain responsible for processing sensorimotor information. This helps create a memory footprint of the action in the brain.
With this, we can conclude that even in an increasingly technological world, we need to reinforce and continue to stimulate writing skills! After all, writing stimulates parts of the brain that are responsible for very important functions for good cognitive and motor development!
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