Is Teaching Handwriting a Dying Art? Why Penmanship Still Matters.

When was the last time you took pen to paper and wrote a sentence? A paragraph? What about a whole page?

Teaching Handwriting: is it still relevant?

A common sentiment often shared is that handwriting is not essential, and that how often we handwrite as a society is on a steep and steady decline.

With the prevalence of smartphones, tablets and other digital devices, it’s easy to see why many feel that teaching handwriting is no longer a skill needed to navigate life.

That being said, despite this increasingly digital age, handwriting is still largely the way that most students produce written work in the classroom and for examinations in primary and secondary schools.

As such, students are expected to produce legible and fluent writing not only so that the teacher can decipher what they’ve written, but also so that the student can proofread and amend their work.

It’s not currently practical or reasonable to give every student a computer in all schools across the UK, so pen and paper still remain the dominant mode of writing (for now!); but is that the only reason that we need to teach handwriting?

Why is it so important that this skill does not become a lost art and what benefits may it actually offer?

Why chicken scratch just won’t cut it

The National Curriculum guidelines for teaching English defines the role of handwriting as a functional tool in the writing process, so that students can communicate their ideas effectively.

The writing framework also focuses on encouraging not only the legibility of a student’s handwriting, but also the student’s stamina to write.

Once a student begins Key Stage 3, they are expected to be able to write accurately (but as we all know – this is not always the case).

If a student has problems with forming letters or making their writing legible to not only themselves but to others, this will slow down communication, lead to mistakes in their work, and teachers as well as examiners may have difficulty interpreting their answers.

External studies have also highlighted that there exists a significant correlation between a student’s academic performance and a student’s ability to write legibly.

Be warned: this isn’t just limited to English. Hard-to-read handwriting has a negative effect on other areas too, and can weaken educational progress in subjects like mathematics.

Handwriting benefits

According to several studies, handwriting can actually be divided into two distinct constructs: handwriting fluency and handwriting legibility. Both are important components of wider literacy development whilst also being indicative of a child’s motor skills.

A very interesting study by a group of Norwegian researchers found that “connectivity between different brain regions is more elaborate when letters are formed by hand” rather than by typing.

Greater brain connectivity is how effectively different parts of the brain communicate and work together to process information.

This means that writing by hand is crucial to not only retaining that information, but also forces your brain to conceptualise the information too.

In other words, students really do learn better when writing notes by hand!

How to develop better penmanship

How can we encourage handwriting to be taken more seriously?

As a tutor, try to weave more selective opportunities for selective opportunities for note-taking in your lesson for slightly older learners, and encourage them to use a ruled notebook rather than plain paper.

For younger learners in Key Stage 1 or 2, start small by identifying one or two letters which need improvement either in terms of form or placement.

Then, explain what you will be looking out for and model the correct letter formation, and assign this as handwriting homework practice. Even 10 minutes of practice a day can make massive strides in a student’s progress!

For readers seeking advice for parents, handwriting with your children is a key to success and can start from a young age. Teach your very young children how to form letters correctly by drawing alphabets in a sand tray.

Holding a pencil correctly will also help to build stamina, and there are many videos online which delve into different methods including the ‘Snappy Alligator’. The NHS shared excellent guidance for parents outlining common difficulties of young writers and how to overcome them!

There is no reason for handwriting to be a dull activity: turn it into a game or try window markers!

It’s never too late to improve your own handwriting either if you’re an adult learner.

The National Adult Literacy Agency published an excellent guide chock-full of tips, including warm-ups for your hands and advice for left-handed writers.

Remember: the key to good handwriting is not whether your letters look beautiful (though that certainly won’t hurt!).

Everyone has their own style: spiky letters, squiggly letters… no one’s handwriting is exactly the same.

What matters most is whether the writing is legible and clearly formed, and whether the people who need to can read your work!

Looking to boost your child's handwriting, literacy skills or study confidence?

Contact our expert tutors at Titanium Tutors today to find the perfect match.

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Blog Post Crafted by Cheryl

Cheryl manages our Admin Team, and is a qualified teacher with 5 years' experience in schools across England and Canada.

Cheryl graduated from University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Education. She tutored secondary school students in English for over nine years in Canada.

Cheryl speaks Cantonese, English and French, and in her spare time, she can be found illustrating and reading children’s books for inspiration.