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Handwriting Shows Unexpected Benefits Over Typing

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New research shows that writing by hand – instead of relying on a keyboard – helps boost learning and memory.

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We learn much better when writing by hand instead of on a keyboard. Using fine motor skills is important for children’s brain development.

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8 Reasons Why Handwriting is an Essential Brain Exercise

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Handwriting may be a dying art especially with the onset of typing, but studies have shown that writing by hand is a beneficial brain exercise.

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How handwriting benefits your brain | Neuropsychologist Dr. Audrey van der Meer

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Why Writing by Hand Is Better for Your Brain

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Don’t throw out your keyboards, but adding some writing by hand into our daily routines can increase insight, aid recall, and may protect against cognitive decline.

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Questions or comments on this article? E-mail us at feedback@sciencenews.org | Reprints FAQ

Citations

A. van der Meer and F.R. van Der Weel. Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity: a high-density EEG study with implications for the classroom. Frontiers in Psychology. Published online January 26, 2024. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1219945.

N.A. Herweg, E.A. Solomon and M.J. Kahana. Theta oscillations in human memory. Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Vol. 24, March 2020, p. 208. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2019.12.006.

P.A. Mueller and D.M. Oppenheimer. The pen is mightier than the keyboard: advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science. Vol. 25, June 2014, p. 1159. doi: 10.1177/0956797614524581.

T.J. Smoker et al. Comparing memory for handwriting versus typing. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. Vol. 53, October 2009, p. 1744. doi: 10.1177/154193120905302218.

A.E. Cunningham and K.E. Stanovich. Early spelling acquisition: Writing beats the computer. Journal of Educational Psychology. Vol. 82, March 1990, p. 159. doi: 10.1037/0022-0663.82.1.159.

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Handwriting may boost brain connections more than typing does

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Students asked to write words showed greater connectivity across the brain than when they typed them, suggesting writing may be a better boost for memory.

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Elizabeth DeWitt, Cheryl Lundy Swift & Christina Bretz

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The Power of Handwriting: Improved Reading, Thinking, Memory and Learning

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Educators’ view: Far from being a relic of the past, writing by hand engages multiple senses at once and strengthens cognitive abilities.

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Teaching children to hold a pencil correctly does far more than improve penmanship - it helps shape their brains for thinking, storytelling and lifelong learning.

In an age where young children spend hours each day swiping, tapping and typing, CQUniversity Adjunct Senior Education Lecturer Dr Ragnar Purje says how children learn to write can profoundly influence how they learn to think.

"Handwriting isn't just about neat letters," Dr Purje said. "It's a brain-building exercise. When children learn to write by hand using the correct technique, they're wiring their brains for creativity, critical thinking and communication."

Decades of research show that handwriting activates the brain in ways typing does not. Studies using brain scans have found that writing by hand sparks more complex neural activity, strengthening the areas linked to language, memory and problem-solving.

"Typing on a keyboard doesn't stimulate the same learning pathways," Dr Purje explained. "When a child writes by hand, they engage fine motor muscles, visual recognition and cognitive control all at once. That process builds stronger mental connections and a deeper understanding of language."

A seemingly small detail - how a child holds their pencil - makes a big difference. The tripod grip, where the pencil is held between the thumb and index finger while resting on the middle finger, is the most biomechanically efficient.

"Using the tripod grip sets children up for success," Dr Purje said. "It provides the control, stability and endurance needed for fluent writing. Once handwriting becomes automatic, a child's cognitive load decreases, freeing their mind to focus on what they're writing rather than how they're writing."

This automaticity, he says, is the foundation for creativity and critical thinking.

"When handwriting feels effortless, that's when more advanced analytical thinking begins. Children can let their ideas flow, develop deeper narratives and express themselves freely."

Dr Purje warns that increasing screen time is affecting this process. Research shows children now spend more than two hours a day on screens, and one in four shows developmental delays by school age - including in motor skills and language.

"These findings are a wake-up call," he said. "If children aren't using their hands to create and write, they're missing out on vital brain development."

He likens learning to write to learning a sport or musical instrument. "No one becomes good at piano by watching someone else play. The same is true for writing," he said.

"Children need guided demonstration, followed by practice and repetition. Over time, this builds the muscle memory and neurological networks needed for fluent, expressive writing."

Ultimately, Dr Purje believes handwriting is more than a mechanical skill - it's a gateway to imagination.

"Writing by hand helps children connect thought to language in a very physical way," he said. "When we get the basics right early, we're giving young people the tools to tell their stories, think creatively and express themselves with confidence throughout life."

CQUniversity's Head of Educational Neuroscience Professor Ken Purnell agrees, describing handwriting as one of the most powerful - yet underappreciated - tools for learning.

"Handwriting lights up the brain like a Christmas tree - linking movement, memory and meaning in one act," Professor Purnell said. "Typing records words; handwriting builds understanding."

"When we write by hand, the brain integrates fine motor control, spatial coordination and linguistic processing simultaneously," he explained. "These muscular and cognitive demands forge stronger neural connections between sensory, motor and language areas, creating the conditions for deep learning and durable memory."

"Each handwritten word is purposefully built, not just produced by tapping," he added.

"That physical shaping of letters and ideas engages the whole brain. It's akin to an artist tracing information instead of creatively transforming it - one is copying, the other is creating."

"Your pen is a cognitive gym," Professor Purnell concluded. "If we want students to think critically and retain what they learn, we should put the pen back in their hands."
This article originally appeared as a media release by CQUniversity.

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Early handwriting skills can boost creativity and learning - study

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Teaching children to hold a pencil correctly does far more than improve penmanship - it helps shape their brains for thinking, storytelling and lifelong learning

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Gen Z is abandoning handwriting and the deeper human connection it brings as 40 percent quietly let a 5,500 year old skill die and parents argue whether this is progress or a cultural collapse

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The girl at the café never looks up. Her eyes move in tiny diagonal jumps, blue-light reflections flickering in her glasses as her thumbs fly over the

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You don’t have to scroll far on social media to see how pretty handwriting is almost synonymous with Bullet Journaling. Your journal doesn’t have to be pretty, but if you want it to be, here are some tips on how to improve your handwriting.

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Handwriting? Worth the trouble these days?

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National Institute for Direct Instruction

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A few years ago I developed The Writing Rope as a framework to organize the writing skills that are woven into skilled writing. One of the components is transcription skills, which includes spelling and handwriting. When students develop fluent handwriting skills, they can focus their attention on composing. Difficulty with handwriting can have negative consequences for later writing ability. Teaching handwriting should be an essential part of a writing curriculum.

Stephen Graham (2009-2010) explains it this way:

"Of all the knowledge and skills that are required to write, handwriting is the one that places the earliest constraints on writing development. If children cannot form letters - or cannot form them with reasonable legibility and speed - they cannot translate the language in their minds into written text. Struggling with handwriting can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy in which students avoid writing, come to think of themselves as not being able to write, and fall further and further behind their peers." (p. 20)

"Young writers typically cope with the multiple demands of handwriting and composing by minimizing the composing process (planning, organizing, etc.). Because so much of their thinking must be devoted to forming legible letters, they turn composing into a knowledge-telling process in which writing is treated as a forward-moving idea-generation activity. A relevant idea is generated and written down, with each new phrase or idea serving as the stimulus for the next one. Mostly absent from this approach to writing are more reflective and demanding thinking activities such as considering the constraints imposed by the topic, the needs of the reader, or the most coherent way to organize the text." (p. 21)
Why Teach Handwriting?

Handwriting instruction produces significantly better writing quality and productivity. Students' sentence-writing skills, the amount they write, and the quality of their writing all improve along with their handwriting.

Letter writing and fluency are related to both spelling and word reading. Handwriting supports and reinforces the learning of letter names and sound-letter correspondences.

Teaching handwriting underscores the idea that writing is a communication tool and reminds students that they need to produce text that is legible for other readers.

As students get older, the quality of their handwriting influences the way their writing is evaluated and graded.
(Graham, 2009-2010; Santangelo & Graham, 2015; Coker & Ritchey, 2015; Reutzel et al., 2017) Handwriting Instruction
There is significant research spanned over decades demonstrating that directly teaching handwriting enhances legibility and fluency (Graham 2009-2010). Handwriting instruction does not require a significant time investment, and opportunities to practice handwriting can be found throughout the school day. Based on research, Graham suggests that in kindergarten through grade 3, handwriting should be taught in short sessions several times a week or even daily, with 50 to 100 minutes a week devoted to its mastery.

There are three main aspects of handwriting instruction: pencil grasp, letter formation using writing strokes, and legibility.
Pencil Grip

Students need to be taught the correct way to grip a pencil so they can have optimal control over the pencil point. A tripod grip can support this where the index finger and thumb hold the pencil against the middle finger. Students with a poor pencil grasp may benefit from using tools such as a pencil grip.
Letter Formation: Teaching Writing Strokes

Printing letters ( manuscript) is a developmentally appropriate first step for handwriting instruction in kindergarten through grade 2. Letters can be grouped based on size and alignment. There are short letters ( a, c, e, i, m, n, o, r, s, u, v, w, x, z), tall letters ( b, d, f, h, k, l, t), and letters that extend below the line ( g, j, p, q, y). Students should be taught a consistent way to form a given letter every time they write it, and then practice forming that letter many times to develop automatic and fluent handwriting skills.

Letters are produced by a series of strokes that form curved and straight lines in different directions that are linked together. A stroke-based approach builds motor memory for the different combinations of strokes that are used to write letters. While some letters (e.g., f, t) require students to lift the pencil from the paper to make a second stroke, it is best to teach letter formation using a continuous stroke. Continuous stroke printing improves legibility, reduces letter reversals and directionality confusion, and increases the speed and flow of printing. Here are two examples:

b: Start at the top with a vertical stroke, then make the loop to the right without lifting the pencil rather than form the line and the loop in separate strokes.

m: Start at the top and draw the line down, then trace back up to start the first curve, then trace back up the first curve to make the second curve.

Students benefit from explicit instruction in how to form letters. This includes the teacher modeling by verbally explaining how to form a letter. Rhymes or songs can be used to help students remember the steps to form letters.

Students also benefit from lots of practice writing letters. Brief practice sessions are more effective than longer, periodic sessions. In the early grades, daily practice of 5-10 minutes per day is recommended. Students may need multiple opportunities (at least 5-10 times) to practice a letter using a variety of different practice formats such as copying and tracing on paper, or by tracing letters in something that gives tactile reinforcement (e.g., sand, rice, shaving cream). (Coker & Ritchey, 2015)
Letter Formation During Instruction for Letter Naming and Sound-Letter Correspondence
Research has demonstrated a correlation between letter-naming and letter-writing fluency (Reutzel et. al., 2017). Handwriting should be integrated with beginning phonics instruction. As students learn to write the features of letters, they also learn to recognize them more fluently. Students should be taught how to form the uppercase and lowercase of a letter as they learn each letter. Practice with letter formation should be combined with learning sound-letter correspondences. As students write a letter, have them name it and say its sound.

Instructional Suggestions:

Encourage students to begin all uppercase letters from the top and lowercase letters from the middle or top.

Practice letters in groups that have similar shapes so students have practice reinforcing the same motor pattern. Examples:

straight-line letters: i, l, t
letters that start with a small c shape: a, c, d, g, o, q, s

letters that start with a straight line down and then come back up and over to form a bump: b, h, m, n, p, r

diagonal letters (more difficult to form): k, v, w, x, y, z

Spiral back each day to review previously taught letters.

At first, focus on having students learn the correct motor movement to form a word. Focus attention on legibility once there is motor memory.

Always provide visual guidance for what a letter should look like and use visual aids such as arrow cues for stroke direction and dotted letters for tracing.

Legibility
The following elements affect legibility: letter formation, letter spacing, letter alignment, letter size, word spacing. Teachers should provide specific feedback to students about how they can improve the legibility of their writing. To support letter formation and size, provide specially lined paper. For each line of print, there is a horizontal, dotted line in the middle. Short letters are written below the dotted line and above the bottom line. Tall letters are written between the top and bottom lines. The letters g, j, p, q, y extend below the bottom line.

For problems with word spacing, students can be taught to use a space between words by placing a popsicle stick or a finger after one word before starting another.
Additional Resources:
References:

Coker, D. J., & Ritchey, K. D. (2015). Teaching beginning writers. New York: The Guilford Press.

Graham, S. (2009-2010). Want to improve children's writing? Don't neglect their handwriting. American Educator, Winter 2009-2010.

Reutzel, P., Mohr, K.A.J., & Jones, C. D. (2017). Exploring the relationship between letter recognition and handwriting in early literacy development. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy. 19 (3) 349-374.

Santangelo, T. & Graham, S. (2015). A comprehensive meta-analysis of handwriting instruciton. Educational Psychology Review 28 (2).

Joan Sedita

Joan Sedita is the founder of Keys to Literacy and author of the Keys to Literacy professional development programs. She is an experienced educator, nationally recognized speaker and teacher trainer. She has worked for over 35 years in the literacy education field and has presented to thousands of teachers and related professionals at schools, colleges, clinics, and professional conferences.

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A few years ago I developed The Writing Rope as a framework to organize the writing skills that are woven into skilled writing. One of the components is transcription skills, which includes spelling and handwriting. When students develop fluent handwriting skills, they can focus their attention on composing.

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Iowa Reading Research Center - The University of Iowa

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Handwriting can be an effective way for students to learn important early reading and writing skills. As noted in a recent systematic review, handwriting instruction during kindergarten can improve both writing and reading outcomes, such as knowledge of letter names and sounds, spelling, and word reading (Ray et al., 2022). Indeed, research suggests a close link between writing and reading overall, including a strong relationship between the development of early writing and reading skills, such as spelling and word reading (Kim et al., 2024). In spite of these ties, handwriting is rarely mentioned in the national conversation on how to improve the reading performance of elementary students.

There are several likely reasons why handwriting is an often forgotten aspect of reading instruction. One reason is that academic standards used by most states quickly pivot from emphasizing printing and handwriting by the end of first grade to use of technology (e.g., digital tools or keyboarding) in subsequent grades (National Governors Association & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010). Despite rapid advances in computer technology, handwriting with a pencil and paper is likely here to stay. Put simply, handwriting is portable and practical: A pencil or pen can be easily carried and used, and they are much less expensive than high-technology devices, such as laptops or tablets. If a pencil tip breaks, then students just need access to a pencil sharpener. If a laptop or tablet breaks? That is a more complicated problem.

Another reason handwriting is often forgotten is because it can be easy to confuse handwriting as more closely associated with drawing than reading. In its most basic form, handwriting occurs when students use a pencil, or any writing utensil (e.g., crayons or marker), to form letters of the alphabet. Similar to drawing, handwriting relies on physical and visual actions-see Datchuk (2015) for brief descriptions of the processes. When kindergarteners draw pictures of their families or write the letter "b," they use fine-motor movement to make subtle adjustments to their pencils and visual-motor coordination to adjust lines and shapes based on visual feedback (e.g., staying within the margins of a paper).

What distinguishes drawing from handwriting is knowledge of the alphabet-specifically, skills related to letter identification (e.g., name or sound of each letter) and formation (e.g., appropriate shape, size, and slant of letters). To handwrite letters of the alphabet, students use orthographic and phonologic information or memories of each letter shape, formation, and name (Datchuk & Kubina, 2013). This knowledge needed for proficient handwriting also contributes to proficient reading. For example, when students read or write the letter "b," they draw upon their memorized representation of the letter shape, formation, and name or sound of "b." Because dyslexia, a common reading disability, affects one's ability to connect speech sounds with the symbols that represent them, it is not surprising that students with dyslexia and other reading disabilities often have difficulty with handwriting (Alamargot et al., 2020).

Cognition of Early Reading and Writing

The interplay between working and long-term memory plays a central role in explaining the benefits of handwriting to overall literacy development (e.g., Graham, 2018). Working memory allows for the temporary storage of information for immediate use, such as remembering a sequence of numbers as you dial a phone number, whereas long-term memory stores information relatively permanently. Engaging in writing and reading are cognitively demanding tasks. The numerous skills involved in writing (e.g., text generation of multiple sentences on a topic) and reading (e.g., decoding and interpreting vocabulary) all compete for a limited amount of working memory resources. Put simply, it is hard to juggle all the skills, content, and processes involved in reading and writing at the same time.

One of the ways to make it easier for students to read and write is to develop fluency-accuracy and efficiency-with foundational skills. When skills are fluent, they are stored in long-term memory, thereby freeing up cognitive resources to attend to other aspects of a composition or passage. The shifting of letter knowledge (e.g., letter identification and formation) from working memory to long-term memory is likely one of the key reasons handwriting instruction improves reading. Specifically, handwriting helps facilitate the storage of alphabetic knowledge-shape, formation, name, and sound of letters-that can also be used to learn how to read.

What Can Elementary Teachers Do?

During instruction focused on early literacy skills (e.g., phonemic awareness and phonics), schedule specific time for handwriting instruction. For efficient lessons, when students are learning letter identification, also engage them in learning how to form the letter: appropriate shape, size, and slant. Research suggests there are several effective instructional techniques to help students acquire handwriting, including:

showing visual-cues of letter shape and formation (e.g., using materials in which letters appear as dotted lines to be connected, along with arrows and numbers showing suggested shape and sequence, as shown below)

providing students with practice retrieving letters from memory (e.g., activities like "cover-copy-compare," in which students look at a letter, say the letter aloud, cover it, write it on their own, and then uncover the original letter and compare it to what they wrote")

use of systematic and explicit instruction techniques (e.g., lessons featuring scaffolding in which teachers model letter identification and formation, guide independent practice, and test for student independence)

Incorporating these three elements of research-based handwriting instruction, the Iowa Reading Research Center is developing an online tool that allows teachers to create customizable handwriting materials that align to their reading instruction (to be available mid-July 2024). The tool is called the Literacy LIFTER-Letter Identification and Formation for Transcription and Early Reading. The materials include visual cues (e.g., arrows and numbers) showing legible letter shape and formation, practice activities where students gradually recall more letters from memory, and instructional scripts that structure each lesson in a systematic and explicit manner.

Handwriting is an often forgotten and misunderstood element of early literacy instruction. It deserves more attention, however, as the knowledge and skills related to handwriting underpin not only writing development but also reading. The IRRC's Literacy LIFTER aims to demystify the instruction of handwriting. When incorporated into reading instruction, this tool helps reinforce the foundational skills that underlie reading.

References

Alamargot, D., Morin, M. F., & Simard-Dupuis, E. (2020). Handwriting delay in dyslexia: Children at the end of primary school still make numerous short pauses when producing letters. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 53(3), 163-175. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219420903705

Datchuk, S. M. (2015). Teaching handwriting to elementary students with learning disabilities and writing difficulties: A problem-solving approach. Teaching Exceptional Children, 48, 19-27.

Datchuk, S. M., & Kubina, R. M. (2013). A review of teaching sentence-level writing skills to students with writing difficulties and learning disabilities. Remedial and Special Education, 34, 180-192.

Graham, S. (2018). A revised writer(s)-within- community model of writing. Educational Psychologist, 53(4), 258-279. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2018.1481406

Kim, Y. S. G., Wolters, A., & Lee, J. W. (2024). Reading and writing relations are not uniform: They differ by the linguistic grain size, developmental phase, and measurement. Review of Educational Research, 94(3), 311-342. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543231178830

National Governors Association for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers. (2010). Common core state standards for English language arts and literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. https://www.thecorestandards.org/wp-content/uploads/ELA_Standards1.pdf

Ray, K., Dally, K., Rowlandson, L., Tam, K. I., & Lane, A. E. (2022). The relationship of handwriting ability and literacy in kindergarten: A systematic review. Reading and Writing, 35(5), 1119-1155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-021-10224-8

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Handwriting: Beneficial to Reading and Often Misunderstood

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Handwriting can support early reading skills. This post explains why and describes several techniques teachers can use to help their students acquire handwriting.

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Writing by hand helps with children’s literacy and academic development – BOLD

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Handwriting is a complex skill which engages multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, including regions responsible for cognitive, perceptual, and motor skills. It is best learned through direct instruction and should be taught in schools and preschool.

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For years, smartphones and computers have threatened to erase writing by hand. Would that be so bad?

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Berninger, V., & Graham, S. (1998). Language by hand: A synthesis of a decade of research on handwriting. Handwriting Review, 12, 11-25.

Connelly, V., Dockrell, J., & Barnett, J. (2005). The slow handwriting of undergraduate students constrains overall performance in exam essays. Educational Psychology, 25, 99-107.

Edwards, L. (2003). Writing instruction in kindergarten: Examining an emerging area of research for children with writing and reading difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36, 136.

Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Fink, B. (2000). Is handwriting causally related to learning to write? Treatment of handwriting problems in beginning writers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 620-633.

Graham, S., Struck, M., Richardson, J.,& Berninger, V. (2006). Dimensions of good and poor handwriting legibility in first and second graders. Developmental Neuropsychology, 29, 43-60.

Graham, S., Weinstein, N., & Berninger, V. (2001). Which manuscript letters do primary grade children write legibly? Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 488-497.

Other helpful sources

Berninger, V. (2004). Understanding the graphia in dysgraphia. In D. Dewey & D. Tupper (Eds.), Developmental motor disorders: A neuropsychological perspective (pp. 328-350). New York: Guilford.

Berninger, V. W., & Amtmann, D. (2003). Preventing written expression disabilities through early and continuing assessment and intervention for handwriting and/or spelling problems: Research into practice. In H. L. Swanson, K. R. Harris, & S. Graham (Eds.), Handbook of Learning Disabilities (pp. 345-363). New York: Guilford.

Troia, G.A. (2006). Writing instruction for students with learning disabilities. In C.A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research. New York: Guilford.

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Berninger, V., & Graham, S. (1998). Language by hand: A synthesis of a decade of research on handwriting. Handwriting Review, 12, 11-25. Connelly, V., Dockrell, J., & Barnett, J. (2005). The slow handwriting of undergraduate students constrains overall performance in exam essays. Educational Psychology, 25, 99-107. Edwards, L. (2003).

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If you're like many digitally savvy Americans, it has likely been a while since you've spent much time writing by hand.

The laborious process of tracing out our thoughts, letter by letter, on the page is becoming a relic of the past in our screen-dominated world, where text messages and thumb-typed grocery lists have replaced handwritten letters and sticky notes. Electronic keyboards offer obvious efficiency benefits that have undoubtedly boosted our productivity - imagine having to write all your emails longhand.

To keep up, many schools are introducing computers as early as preschool, meaning some kids may learn the basics of typing before writing by hand.

But giving up this slower, more tactile way of expressing ourselves may come at a significant cost, according to a growing body of research that's uncovering the surprising cognitive benefits of taking pen to paper, or even stylus to iPad - for both children and adults.

In kids, studies show that tracing out ABCs, as opposed to typing them, leads to better and longer-lasting recognition and understanding of letters. Writing by hand also improves memory and recall of words, laying down the foundations of literacy and learning. In adults, taking notes by hand during a lecture, instead of typing, can lead to better conceptual understanding of material.

"There's actually some very important things going on during the embodied experience of writing by hand," says Ramesh Balasubramaniam, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Merced. "It has important cognitive benefits."

While those benefits have long been recognized by some (for instance, many authors, including Jennifer Egan and Neil Gaiman, draft their stories by hand to stoke creativity), scientists have only recently started investigating why writing by hand has these effects.

A slew of recent brain imaging research suggests handwriting's power stems from the relative complexity of the process and how it forces different brain systems to work together to reproduce the shapes of letters in our heads onto the page.

Your brain on handwriting

Both handwriting and typing involve moving our hands and fingers to create words on a page. But handwriting, it turns out, requires a lot more fine-tuned coordination between the motor and visual systems. This seems to more deeply engage the brain in ways that support learning.

"Handwriting is probably among the most complex motor skills that the brain is capable of," says Marieke Longcamp, a cognitive neuroscientist at Aix-Marseille Université.

Gripping a pen nimbly enough to write is a complicated task, as it requires your brain to continuously monitor the pressure that each finger exerts on the pen. Then, your motor system has to delicately modify that pressure to re-create each letter of the words in your head on the page.

"Your fingers have to each do something different to produce a recognizable letter," says Sophia Vinci-Booher, an educational neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University. Adding to the complexity, your visual system must continuously process that letter as it's formed. With each stroke, your brain compares the unfolding script with mental models of the letters and words, making adjustments to fingers in real time to create the letters' shapes, says Vinci-Booher.

That's not true for typing.

To type "tap" your fingers don't have to trace out the form of the letters - they just make three relatively simple and uniform movements. In comparison, it takes a lot more brainpower, as well as cross-talk between brain areas, to write than type.

Recent brain imaging studies bolster this idea. A study published in January found that when students write by hand, brain areas involved in motor and visual information processing " sync up" with areas crucial to memory formation, firing at frequencies associated with learning.

"We don't see that [synchronized activity] in typewriting at all," says Audrey van der Meer, a psychologist and study co-author at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She suggests that writing by hand is a neurobiologically richer process and that this richness may confer some cognitive benefits.

Other experts agree. "There seems to be something fundamental about engaging your body to produce these shapes," says Robert Wiley, a cognitive psychologist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. "It lets you make associations between your body and what you're seeing and hearing," he says, which might give the mind more footholds for accessing a given concept or idea.

Those extra footholds are especially important for learning in kids, but they may give adults a leg up too. Wiley and others worry that ditching handwriting for typing could have serious consequences for how we all learn and think.

What might be lost as handwriting wanes

The clearest consequence of screens and keyboards replacing pen and paper might be on kids' ability to learn the building blocks of literacy - letters.

"Letter recognition in early childhood is actually one of the best predictors of later reading and math attainment," says Vinci-Booher. Her work suggests the process of learning to write letters by hand is crucial for learning to read them.

"When kids write letters, they're just messy," she says. As kids practice writing "A," each iteration is different, and that variability helps solidify their conceptual understanding of the letter.

Research suggests kids learn to recognize letters better when seeing variable handwritten examples, compared with uniform typed examples.

This helps develop areas of the brain used during reading in older children and adults, Vinci-Booher found.

"This could be one of the ways that early experiences actually translate to long-term life outcomes," she says. "These visually demanding, fine motor actions bake in neural communication patterns that are really important for learning later on."

Ditching handwriting instruction could mean that those skills don't get developed as well, which could impair kids' ability to learn down the road.

"If young children are not receiving any handwriting training, which is very good brain stimulation, then their brains simply won't reach their full potential," says van der Meer. "It's scary to think of the potential consequences."

Many states are trying to avoid these risks by mandating cursive instruction. This year, California started requiring elementary school students to learn cursive, and similar bills are moving through state legislatures in several states, including Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina and Wisconsin. (So far, evidence suggests that it's the writing by hand that matters, not whether it's print or cursive.)

Slowing down and processing information

For adults, one of the main benefits of writing by hand is that it simply forces us to slow down.

During a meeting or lecture, it's possible to type what you're hearing verbatim. But often, "you're not actually processing that information - you're just typing in the blind," says van der Meer. "If you take notes by hand, you can't write everything down," she says.

The relative slowness of the medium forces you to process the information, writing key words or phrases and using drawing or arrows to work through ideas, she says. "You make the information your own," she says, which helps it stick in the brain.

Such connections and integration are still possible when typing, but they need to be made more intentionally. And sometimes, efficiency wins out. "When you're writing a long essay, it's obviously much more practical to use a keyboard," says van der Meer.

Still, given our long history of using our hands to mark meaning in the world, some scientists worry about the more diffuse consequences of offloading our thinking to computers.

"We're foisting a lot of our knowledge, extending our cognition, to other devices, so it's only natural that we've started using these other agents to do our writing for us," says Balasubramaniam.

It's possible that this might free up our minds to do other kinds of hard thinking, he says. Or we might be sacrificing a fundamental process that's crucial for the kinds of immersive cognitive experiences that enable us to learn and think at our full potential.

Balasubramaniam stresses, however, that we don't have to ditch digital tools to harness the power of handwriting. So far, research suggests that scribbling with a stylus on a screen activates the same brain pathways as etching ink on paper. It's the movement that counts, he says, not its final form.
Jonathan Lambert is a Washington, D.C.-based freelance journalist who covers science, health and policy.

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Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning

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Researchers are learning that handwriting engages the brain in ways typing can't match, raising questions about the costs of ditching this age-old practice, especially for kids.

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The opening essay of series of five articles about the many aspects of handwriting, from the late 19th century to the present day, examining the emergence of new handwriting schemes in Europe and the United States, developed for the sake of public health, or for business.

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The Neuroscience Behind Writing: Handwriting vs. Typing—Who Wins the Battle?

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Background: The advent of digital technology has significantly altered ways of writing. While typing has become the dominant mode of written communication, handwriting remains a fundamental human skill, and its profound impact on cognitive processes continues to be a topic of intense scientific scrutiny. Methods: This paper investigates the neural mechanisms underlying handwriting and typing, exploring the distinct cognitive and neurological benefits associated with each. By synthesizing findings from neuroimaging studies, we explore how handwriting and typing differentially activate brain regions associated with motor control, sensory perception, and higher-order cognitive functions. Results: Handwriting activates a broader network of brain regions involved in motor, sensory, and cognitive processing. Typing engages fewer neural circuits, resulting in more passive cognitive engagement. Despite the advantages of typing in terms of speed and convenience, handwriting remains an important tool for learning and memory retention, particularly in educational contexts. Conclusions: This review contributes to the ongoing debate about the role of technology in education and cognitive development. By understanding the neural differences between handwriting and typing, we can gain insights into optimal learning strategies and potential cognitive advantages, in order to optimize educational, cognitive, and psychological methodologies.

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✉Robert W. Wiley, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Department of Psychology E-mail: rwwileyuncg.edu

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The Effects of Handwriting Experience on Literacy Learning

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Previous research indicates that writing practice may be more beneficial than nonmotor practice for letter learning. Here, we report a training study comparing typing, visual, and writing learning conditions in adults (N = 42). We investigated the…

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Writing by hand helps with children’s literacy and academic development – BOLD

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Handwriting is a complex skill which engages multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, including regions responsible for cognitive, perceptual, and motor skills. It is best learned through direct instruction and should be taught in schools and preschool.

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Dear participants! I am very grateful to everyone who took part in the discussion of this problem. Thank you for sharing your views and concerns. It was very interesting to read your posts. V.Gatalska

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Dear participants! I am very grateful to everyone who took part in the discussion of this problem. Thank you for sharing your views and concerns. It was very interesting to read your posts. V.Gatalska

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Rey Carlos III Highschool, Águilas, Spain

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Rey Carlos III Highschool, Águilas, Spain

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Handwriting is important to express our own personality and mood. It shows our ups and downs too. It's interesting paying attention to our handwriting all along the years to compare with our life evolution. You can apply this to students, comparing their first copies in september with those in june. I know a bit about graphologie and it works, you can even detect anxiety or excess of control problems.
I teach using both, handwriting and typing. The second one is better to do it proper and faster but doesn't show you the "student's soul".
Moreover, when you study by handwriting your mind maps or summaries your hand is making more accurate movements than when you type, so, your brain is more implicated in this action and therefore contents or ideas studied are reforced: the more different channels you use to learn, the deeper your brain will keep that knowledge. :)

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Once I read that our handwriting shows our attitude to the people. From time to time I tell my students about it. Some of them writes very beautifully, and I check their works with pleasure. But handwriting of some other students are really awful. It's very difficult to check their copybooks. By the way, among the students with a bad handwriting there are lots of smart ones.

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Handwriting is vital in developing a variety of human aptitudes, including attention, concentration, memory, organization, and methodology. Writing is a precursor to learning; without the essential psychomotor development associated with writing, children are less able to fix the subjects and lesson material.Handwriting helps to learn more easily, to write better, maintain intelligence.Expression of emotions through written words speeds up healing and helps the mind.

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I love handwriting! It has an unique beauty. You try to explore the soul of another person.
You try to know his/her thoughts, his/her perceptions, his/her unfulfilled desires.

The computer writing is cold and impersonal.

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Handwriting is important, it is unique for each person.  It requires different skills. It would be a pity to lose them. Cursive  helps you to follow your thoughts as you lie them down. Organizing the page  in a clear layout helps to develop organizational skills. 

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Handwriting is important, it is unique for each person.  It requires different skills. It would be a pity to lose them. Cursive  helps you to follow your thoughts as you lie them down. Organizing the page  in a clear layout helps to develop organizational skills. 

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Is teaching a manual writing needed?

Writing on a computer does not develop as much brain and coordination as manual writing.

There is also  ,,motion memory" - we remember better and for a long time what we write ourselves.The study was carried out on students of the university in the US.They were divided into two groups, the first learned to memorize Chinese characters by writing manually, the second learned on the computer. The number of characters saved was mostly higher in the first group.

The test was repeated, each time the result was higher in the group of people who write by hand. Conclusion: writing helps in memorizing.

When we write by hand, we remember more by learning to test. If, in addition to traditional notes, we do mind maps (Tony Buzan) or we use Sketchnoting, shapes, pictograms and colors, the result of memorizing may surprise.

What should students do to write legibly?

I agree with what Inna Dubovik wrote. What if the student writes illegibly?

Perhaps he is a Dysgraph. This deficit, like Dyslexia in the science of reading, is a serious problem in learning shapely and readable writing. It requires systematic exercises, hand therapy. We allow these students to write essays, longer written forms on the computer while teaching them a clear letter. It is simplified, reminiscent of a print or technical letter.

I work with students with specific learning disabilities, including Dysgrafia for 6 years. So far, only one student has managed to achieve a lasting improvement in the handwriting. Others can write legibly if they do not hurry. They do not care about permanent change of habits. It is a problem of motivation, perseverance and exercise. Writing in print makes them too tired and they do it too slowly. They do not keep up with taking notes in class, they abandon quality for quantity.

Despite this, we encourage students to make the effort. I posted a photo of an information board encouraging training in writing and calligraphy. Students can also take exercises, it is very popular. Clear and shapely writing is useful for making posters, invitations, writing wishes. It still has more emotional value than email or text message, it is a sign of personal commitment.

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I think children's handwriting is an integral part of their learning and extremely important for expression and creativity in literacy. All children should learn how to write by hand before they start using computer keyboards... Of course computer tools are very useful specially for children with dislexia and other learning problems. However writing by hand should never be lost. Students can practice joined up writing when they start so that it helps with their spelling and also chain of thought. In this day of technology, we should embrace both worlds... How wonderful it is for students to receive a handwritten letter or postcard from a partner!!

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I believe that handwriting defines us as persons.It tells so much about our own personality.
In Romania children are taught to write from the first grade.In the second grade they know it very well.From now on they take notes, do their homework using a notebook and a pen. We use computers ,tablets to help us the teachers in the teaching process. Children write a lot in their learning process. Hundreds of notebooks during the school years....
I believe that writing and making your own notes help you learn,understand  and remember information better.
How wonderful it is when you get a letter or a postcard handwritten  .Isn't it different written on a computer?
I noticed  though that with the new technology children know less and less, they are less interested in  learning, in anything actually.I don't think computers made us a better world ,but a  needy world- we spend a lot of time on the computer, so little time with our children,when we are together we search for something else and don't pay attention.
And the sad thing is that in a world where time is money and where we tend to use the computer more and more in order to save this "precious "
time,not only we forget to use our handwriting , but we also become insensitive as people.

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Children in

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Handwriting  is a form of art. Hand writing is personal. It helps the brain make vital and intricate neural connections. You don't need electricity, you can write on anything. Even if it is not cursive it is unique for each one of us. I strongly believe that we shouldn't stop learning how to master handwriting

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A first sight the battle between keyboards and pens might seem to be no more than the latest twist in a very long story, yet another new tool that we will end up getting used to. What really matters is not how we produce a text but its quality, we are often told. When we are reading, few of us wonder whether a text was written by hand or word-processed.But experts on writing do not agree: pens and keyboards bring into play very different cognitive processes. “Handwriting is a complex task which requires various skills – feeling the pen and paper, moving the writing implement, and directing movement by thought,” says Edouard Gentaz, professor of developmental psychology at the University of Geneva. “Children take several years to master this precise motor exercise: you need to hold the scripting tool firmly while moving it in such a way as to leave a different mark for each letter.”Operating a keyboard is not the same at all: all you have to do is press the right key. It is easy enough for children to learn very fast, but above all the movement is exactly the same whatever the letter. “It’s a big change,” says Roland Jouvent, head of adult psychiatry at Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris. “Handwriting is the result of a singular movement of the body, typing is not.”

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A first sight the battle between keyboards and pens might seem to be no more than the latest twist in a very long story, yet another new tool that we will end up getting used to. What really matters is not how we produce a text but its quality, we are often told. When we are reading, few of us wonder whether a text was written by hand or word-processed.But experts on writing do not agree: pens and keyboards bring into play very different cognitive processes. “Handwriting is a complex task which requires various skills – feeling the pen and paper, moving the writing implement, and directing movement by thought,” says Edouard Gentaz, professor of developmental psychology at the University of Geneva. “Children take several years to master this precise motor exercise: you need to hold the scripting tool firmly while moving it in such a way as to leave a different mark for each letter.”Operating a keyboard is not the same at all: all you have to do is press the right key. It is easy enough for children to learn very fast, but above all the movement is exactly the same whatever the letter. “It’s a big change,” says Roland Jouvent, head of adult psychiatry at Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris. “Handwriting is the result of a singular movement of the body, typing is not.”

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Öğrenciler el yazısı kullanmalı.

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We live in a technological society. My students love digital tools but I always tell them how handwriting is charming. When you read something handwritten you have the feeling to understand some more about the person who wrote it. So use digital tools, it is necessary, but please don't forget handwriting.

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Dear Valentyna , thank you for the topic because it is both important and interesting point. I've never used handwriting in my career so far and I always want my students type . As I teach English , it is necessary to type original letters to be understood.

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I am for writing handwriting, it is something personal and says a lot about the person. Of course, most texts nowadays use digital tools, but handwriting will always continue, I compare this with printed reading and online reading, both co-exist!
The handwriting is special!!!

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My students are allowed to use tablets (we call them classes 2.0), it is nice, innovative, but what happens is that students have big difficulties in handwriting. I do like the introduction of new technologies, but I also think it's very important not to give up handwriting. Fort this reason I ask my students to use both tablet and notebooks.

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Grammar is fun! Enjoy our interactive notebooks! Have fun with us! :)

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TOUCH this image to discover its story. Image tagging powered by ThingLink

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Handwriting teaches resposibility for the student's learning process. It shows young people aesthetics. Last time I incorporate the idea of formative assessment notebook. It is a broad notion yest involves writing notes in an attractive, well organized way.

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Personally, I think  handwriting  helps developing  movements' coordination  and  stimulates creativity since when we write we are asked to fill  in a blank space. It's just  my  opinion  and it's not  supported  by  any  scientific  theory  or evidence. 

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Personally, I think  handwriting  helps developing  movements' coordination  and  stimulates creativity since when we write we are asked to fill  in a blank space. It's just  my  opinion  and it's not  supported  by  any  scientific  theory  or evidence. 

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Handwriting
In my belief, people who can write opinions, ideas even for themselves have a good self-esteem. The first step that a person have to do to understand hisself is to write his characteristics, beliefs and to describe himself.
Students that just use the computer to write something they forget, or in the worst situations they never learn to touch the knowlegde, to make mistakes without having autocorrect and to see what your hand had made in the letter in front of you.
We live in a technology century and the problem is that we have childen who grow up without childhoud. Almostly lots of users who are under 16 years old, can't speak or write his own language as well, can feel emotions of body language and havw memory problems. Moreover teenagers want to have everything ready and forget to try to win something. That's because small problems create big problems. It is not, not using handwriting the big problem, but that's the first step of the problem to have a disorder communication and behaviour

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Science graphology, studying handwriting, can reveal secrets, which people do not know about themselves. For professionals, it's enough to look at some handwritten pages. A useful science will help you understand what kind of person you are dealing with.So, without having much knowledge, you can learn about the character of a person. It should be borne in mind that the handwriting may vary depending on the mood or other causes. A permanent change in the manner of writing will tell you that you are dealing with a creative and vulnerable nature.As for me, it does not matter to me what the handwriting is written by my children, most importantly that I can read this inscription:)

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The Georgian language is very important for our country .Very difficult for the country to protect its language. April 14 is the day of Georgian language. Even the monument is standing. Every year we have a spell contest. Pupils are very interested

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The Georgian language is very important for our country .Very difficult for the country to protect its language. April 14 is the day of Georgian language. Even the monument is standing. Every year we have a spell contest. Pupils are very interested

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Inna Dubovik                               In order for children to write legibly.

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Inna Dubovik                               In order for children to write legibly.

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In order for children to write legibly, the teacher must:
to develop visual-figurative and abstract thinking of the child so that he could understand the configuration of letters, the ratio of a letter with a certain sound, remember the plan for writing a letter;
to develop the ability of visual perception of various forms;
develop the ability to navigate in sheet space, lines, the ability to determine the relationship between letter elements, the distance between individual elements;
strengthen hands and improve coordination of movements, improve the small motor skills of the child;
teach how to use the pen;
teach automatically take the right posture of the letter: straight back, tilt of the hand, the correct grip of the pen, the position of the copybook;
make sure that the child correctly understands the concepts of "top", "bottom", "right", "left". Otherwise, the child can confuse the arrangement of the elements of letters, for example, B and D;
form the motivation of the child to have a beautiful, correct, legible handwriting.

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YES for handwriting!
One research has shown that when we write something down, our brains get activated in ways that aren’t activated when we type something. And this brain activation helps with recall when we are learning.

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I have noticed that my students with good handwriting are more organised, and do their assignments with more patience. On the other hand, students who are impatient, and have problems with attention, usually rush when writing something. I believe that it is very important to help our students in improving their handwriting. At the same time we teach them to be focused, and patient with learning.

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I have noticed that my students with good handwriting are more organised, and do their assignments with more patience. On the other hand, students who are impatient, and have problems with attention, usually rush when writing something. I believe that it is very important to help our students in improving their handwriting. At the same time we teach them to be focused, and patient with learning.

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Manual writing is still an important skill. Students are now so dependent on their laptops for writing notes.
Laptops are wonderful, but not if it means the end of the handwriting. I do not dare to criticize the wonders and usefulness of the laptop.
Probably, in the future, we will say goodbye to the usual school lessons

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A lot of drawing key to nice handwriting

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A lot of drawing key to nice handwriting

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I agree to some of the comments that good motor skills are key to our handwriting. Having that in mind, we have to ‚‚train‚our children to use and improve their motor skills.
By developing childrenş motor skills, we influence the development of their intelligence and synapsis in the brain.
There are various examles in mz practice that a child drawing badlz not only has the problem of holding the pencil inappropriately but to have unreadable handwriting.

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It was held on 23 January in Italy to campaign on cursiv writing. The Campaign gets inspiration from the  art. 29 United Nations Convention, that is referred to the chilcren' right for a high education. In this perspective handwriting is considered one of the most important aims to be considered and protected. On this subject another event happened, Campagna per il diritto di scrivere a mano( Campaign for the right to handwrite).

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I completely agree that handwriting is key process to learn and then recall learning. Fine motor control  adquired thoughout a long proccess since we are born gets to its perfection in handwriting.
I always recommend students to take notes when studying or when listening to a teacher explanation during lessons as a direct way to improve their focuson the task.

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Handwriting always becomes a problem for me, i tried, studied, hard to do it. But the problem just related to me, and my lack of skill (maybe no). according to research "handwriting reflects the personality" and i an against to the idea. İ want to write , , ,but i can't. :(

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BEFORE ALL, HELP HELP DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTUAL SKILLS
In childhood, there are millions of synaptic connections between the brain and writing, and writing just like playing games or using objects also stimulates brain activity and the development of these connections.
LEARNING OF HANDMADE CHILDREN'S IMPORTANCE FOR PSYCHOMOTOR DEVELOPMENT
The handwriting helps the muscles move synchronously. The fine motor control that coordinates the arms, hands or fingers, especially for small or complex movements, enhances this skill. Some experts even associate their writing skills with the ability to open a box or tie a shoe lace.
When the handwriting is fully learned and becomes automatic; children can focus on their work without thinking how to write letters.

AID RECOGNITION AND REMEMBER
In the tests conducted between school and adults, it is seen that the words learned while writing handwriting are often better spelled out than the words learned when writing on a computer. The adjoining handwriting helps the student to remember the characters better and then improve their visualization in the eye. Writing gives better appreciation and easier recall of ideas and concepts as it improves the attention and knowledge of the received data.

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Avatar of Valentyna Gatalska
Valentyna Gatalska
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My students develop their writing and other language skills at the computers, but they have to write letters, articles or essays with a pen. This method leads to very good results.

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As laptops become smaller and more ubiquitous, and with the advent of tablets, the idea of taking notes by hand just seems old-fashioned to many students today. Typing your notes is faster — which comes in handy when there's a lot of information to take down. But it turns out there are still advantages to doing things the old-fashioned way. In the study published in Psychological Science, Pam A. Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of the University of California, Los Angeles sought to test how note-taking by hand or by computer affects learning.

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Some researchers prove that handwriting can provide different cognitive benefits. 

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Some researchers prove that handwriting can provide different cognitive benefits. 

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They say, that handwriting may boost fine motor skills in your hands and fingers, for example. A study by the University of Washington found that while writing by hand and by keyboard had some overlap, they utilised different brain functions.

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Welcome to the event about handwriting! 

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Welcome to the event about handwriting! 

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We’re coming across this topic frequently in news articles, and it’s the subject of many online debates. Typing on keyboards and screens dominates written communication today. Even scribbling a signature is  becoming rarer due to the prevalence of chip-and-pin credit cards. Is handwriting about to be declared dead, and a useless skill? Is touch typing the future – and only – way of communicating non-verbally? Share your opinion. If you are trying to improve your students’ handwriting what activities help you to cope with this problem? V.Gatalska