1How are you getting on with the assignment on handwriting?
2Not too bad.
3You know, I hadn't realised that children benefit in so many ways from learning to write.
4It's such an important skill,
5and yet most people think handwriting is less important than in the past,
6because people hardly ever write by hand these days.
7Yes, and all the evidence suggests children should learn to write by hand before they learn to type,
8not least because it helps their memory.
9That's right.
10The physical act of writing helps children to remember letters.
11That seems pretty obvious when you think about it.
12What's less obvious is how it helps develop their concentration.
13They have to sit still and focus on one thing.
14Yeah, that aspect of handwriting had never occurred to me before.
15Same here.
16I'm not sure I understand how it improves children's imagination, though.
17Well, there was that study which showed that...
18primary-aged children generated more ideas when they were writing by hand than using a keyboard.
19I would have guessed that would be the case.
20Yeah, I'd never associated spatial awareness with handwriting either.
21I thought spatial awareness was more to do with knowing where you are in relation to objects or other people.
22Hmm... I thought that too.
23But good spatial awareness is essential for writing because you have to space words correctly.
24It's not just fine motor skills that improve through writing, as I'd always assumed.
25Handwriting is so much harder for children with dyspraxia,
26who have problems coordinating movement.
27It's good there are lots of things you can do in the classroom to help them.
28They need so much more support with letter formation.
29You need to play lots of games to help them distinguish letter shapes.
30It takes a lot of patience.
31Yeah, I like the idea of using one of those pens that lights up if you press too hard.
32That seems like a really simple solution.
33Yes, absolutely.
34I'm not sure there's much you can do about children with dyspraxia writing very slowly.
35It's more important to focus on accuracy
36and as they get more confident, I think they eventually speed up.
37One quite simple thing you can do is to use grid paper.
38So they write each letter in a box
39and that trains them to space the letters correctly.
40Indeed, that's more important for legibility than trying to get them to write in a straight line.
41For some children, it might be better to teach them to write on a laptop rather than by hand,
42like children with dyslexia.
43They often really struggle with handwriting and some just give up.
44Yeah, it's not as frustrating for them if they get things wrong.
45On a keyboard, they can be more willing to have a go.
46But I read that developing fluency isn't any faster.
47That's right.
48Did you read that article on the benefits of teaching print rather than cursive handwriting, where the letters are joined up?
49Yes.
50Well, in the past, cursive writing was certainly considered more stylish and educated,
51but not anymore.
52Teachers' attitudes have changed because it's been proved that cursive is more difficult to learn,
53especially for children with learning difficulties who find joining up letters really challenging.
54I agree.
55I was always worried that my poor handwriting affected my exam results,
56and now research shows that I was right to worry.
57I'm sure a lot of students think it's unfair that they're being judged on their handwriting, not just their knowledge.
58Marks are definitely affected if examiners can't read the script.
59That is why it has always been so important to teach children to write legibly.
60Do you think the role of handwriting will change in the future?
61Hmm... I can't see that changing much.
62Touch typing still isn't taught in most schools, which is a shame.
63But maybe that won't be necessary in the future,
64because people will also be able to write by hand on digital devices.
65Anyway, teachers understand the value of handwriting.
66It's a basic life skill.
67True.
68However, the fact is that people are writing by hand less and less and relying on digital devices.
69That does cause some problems.
70You mean like note-taking?
71There are lots of apps for that.
72And for reading historical documents, apparently.
73But my mum is shocked by my awful spelling and the fact that my punctuation is really inconsistent.
74I think you can put that down to lack of practice.
75I expect so.
76Personally, I miss writing by hand.
77I hardly ever write anything now.
78I remember my grandparents had such beautiful handwriting and it was so individual.
79Nobody I know would be able to identify my handwriting now.
80It's a shame.
81I know.
82I feel the same way.
83I used to write a diary by hand and now I do that digitally.
84It just seems less effort to do it that way.
85So it's not just a problem...