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With more and more learning occurring in digital environments, some may believe that spending precious instructional time on handwriting skills doesn't make sense. But research suggests that handwriting skills can help develop critical thinking, and that instruction and practice in handwriting can more effectively connect reading with writing.

The complex task of learning to put pen or pencil to paper affects students' self-esteem as well as their academic success. Fine-motor control, bilateral and visual-motor integration, motor planning, in-hand manipulation, visual perception, sustained attention, and sensory awareness of the fingers work together to help students feel accomplished.

Despite the widespread use of computers, legible handwriting is a skill in which students feel pride.

References

  • Alstad Z., Sanders, E., Abbott, R. D., Barnett, A. L., Henderson, S. E., Connelly, V., & Berninger, V. W. (2015). Modes of alphabet letter production during middle childhood and adolescence: Interrelationships with each other and other writing skills. Journal of Writing Research, 6(3), 199-231.
  • American College Testing. (2011). Scoring guidelines. http://www.actstudent.org/ writing/ scores/guidelines.html.
  • Christensen, C.A. & Jones, D. (2013). Handwriting: An underestimated skill in the development of written language. Handwriting Research: Impact on the Brain and Literacy Development, 48-158.
  • Feder, K.P. & Majnemer, A. (2007). Handwriting development, competency, and intervention. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, Apr; 49(4), 312-317.
  • Graham, S., Harris, K.R. & Fink, B. (2013). Is handwriting causally related to learning to write? Treatment of handwriting problems in beginning writers. Handwriting Research: Impact on the Brain and Literacy Development, 159-166.
  • Langer, Judith A. & Applebee, Arthur N. (1986). Reading and writing Instruction: Toward a theory of teaching and learning. Review of Research in Education, Vol.13, 171-194.
  • Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read, (2000). https://www. nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/smallbook.
  • Semeraro, C., Coppola, G., Cassibba, R., & Lucangeli, D. (2019). Teaching of cursive writing in the first year of primary school: Effect on reading and writing skills. PLoS ONE 14(2): e0209978.
  • Trap-Porter, Jennifer, Cooper, John O., Hill, David S., Swisher, Karen & Lanunziata, Louis J. (1984) D'Nealian and Zaner-Bloser Manuscript Alphabets and Initial Transition to Cursive Handwriting, The Journal of Educational Research, 77:6, 343-345.