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SCIENCE

What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades

By MARIA KONNIKOVA
    Michael Mabry

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    Does handwriting matter?
    Not very much, according to many educators. The Common Core standards, which have been adopted in most states, call for teaching legible writing, but only in kindergarten and first grade. After that, the emphasis quickly shifts to proficiency on the keyboard.
    But psychologists and neuroscientists say it is far too soon to declare handwriting a relic of the past. New evidence suggests that the links between handwriting and broader educational development run deep.
    Children not only learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write by hand, but they also remain better able to generate ideas and retain information. In other words, it’s not just what we write that matters — but how.
    “When we write, a unique neural circuit is automatically activated,” saidStanislas Dehaene, a psychologist at the Collège de France in Paris. “There is a core recognition of the gesture in the written word, a sort of recognition by mental simulation in your brain.
    “And it seems that this circuit is contributing in unique ways we didn’t realize,” he continued. “Learning is made easier.”

    So, once again, it's another portion of learning that is left to those at home.  Hmm..."home schooling"..I'm beginning to get the concept.  Not that I'm a proponent but I get it a little more each year.  This summer will now be filled with fun, facts (math) and fluency.  We can do that.......................but some folks can't and therein lays the problem.  As each year passes, those little brains soak in more and more.  It's said that the basic learning skills are achieved in PRIMARY grades.... that's preschool through 3rd grade in most schools.  Hard to think of 10 year olds as "old" but they're becoming "old dogs" by then and you've heard all about new tricks!!  
    I have lots of letters to pass down to Bailee. Letters from my Dad to me and even love letters from her great grandparents to each other.  It would be really nice if she could read them.  And read them she will!!!!  I can do this..many can't!  Come on folks, the handwriting's on the wall!