Brain prefers pen and paper over gadgets
As we live in the era of computers, downloading tons of information in just one click and storing it in a notebook-sized device, libraries may feel a carryover and handwriting losing it to the advancement of technology.
Today's children pick up keyboards well ahead of their 1st grade. Educational system keeps pace with new technologies, which is clearly inevitable. Speed typing and working with various pieces of software are paid much attention, however, according to some neuropsychologists, it's more beneficial to master touch-typing, when you don't have to look at your keyboard. This method resembles handwriting the most as it engages brain areas responsible for tactual sensations. This is why it has to become a part of the curriculum.
However we should not neglect handwriting when teaching our children how to use keyboards. Handwriting is something a young and developing mind needs, but it is also one of the few distinguishing factors, which make every human unique. There are no two identical handwritings in the world. The history of handwriting development is reckoned in thousands of years, and it's likely to be the same period of time as people attempted to understand one's personality through handwriting. Aristotle and some great Renaissance Italians spoke of the connection between handwriting and human's inner world. And the new technologies are just enabling the practice. For instance, a touch-screen display made it possible to enter data using handwriting, or there are some Arabic script-based algorhythms to recognize doctor's handwriting. Developers are also working up on the software to improve one's handwriting.
In the modern world it's up to us whether we choose to handwrite or share the information with a computer. Yet a great many of people forget of the huge role handwriting plays both in education, and in the life itself. It's not only about the aesthetics and fine decoration, but also about the advantages and brain impact.
Applicative magnetic resonance imaging helped the scholars see that handwriting activates brain areas responsible for memory and conceptual learning, imagination and lexical diversity of our speech. It turns, the mechanism employed to remember a text is a process of creating a mental map. To find a certain piece of information, our memory utilizes a series of clues being the tactual sensations that emerge as we touch a book or a page texture, see its cover and design. We then are able to mentally travel around the book, building a unique “architecture” of what we read that helps our brain unmistakably tell one piece of information from another. Some neuropsychological tests revealed a direct connection between stress relief and daily writing practices, which are 70% more efficient compared to listening to music or walking.
Medical statistics demonstrate 32% slower rate of imbecility among above average readers and writers versus their peers, while those ignoring books may suffer 50% more intense Alzheimer’s progression compared to its typical course.
Apparently, the above is not supposed to take the gadgets away from your children. It’s important to remember: the more writing practice your child does, the more psychomotor connections are formed. Any teacher is able to teach calligraphy to children, if he or she is willing to do it. A few decades ago calligraphy or penmanship used to be a part of the curriculum. Today it is an art for the few, an analogue of meditation. While the art of calligraphy is the preserve for the few, there are special courses that may let you in the tricks of calligraphy. If you’re after a fine handwriting, wish to expand your horizons or venture into a designer’s role, it may be your option. Calligraphy is an unforgettable pleasure and an essential experience that helps us adapt in today’s stressful world. Moreover, the uniform state exam will demand a legible handwriting.
There are large and well-known calligraphy training centres all over the world, including Russia – Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Yaroslavl, Rostov-on-Don and many more. Soon a technopolis in Biysk, Siberia, expects to open the 2nd Russian and 11th global Museum of Calligraphy and a school of calligraphy for all ages. The idea gemmated from a penmanship programme in a local Orthodox school, initiated by its director, Nikolay Afonin. Preparation for a class here is a complete multi-stage warm-up – just like the one you do before a workout: a hand used to type on a smartphone needs to be trained. Curls, tails, flourishes, free lines and zigzags are all calligraphy. Yet every decorated letter remains legible and crystal clear for anyone. The uniform state exam requires one’s handwriting to be legible. The teachers intend to share their developments with the schools in Altai region, and across Russia in the long run.
Fine and neat handwriting equals to hardworking, self-cultivation, adequate self-esteem and reflection of an inner world, and will remain relevant forever. And most importantly, a text on the screen will never convey emotions as a handwritten message will! Epistolary genre is as valid as ever. Our friends and family will no doubt enjoy an individual piece much more – just as we will too. Such a gift says a lot about ourselves and our attitude towards the addressee, the place they hold in our heart. We hope this cultural and educational bridge between Central Russia and Siberia will enable intellectual and moral revival of the society.
Brain prefers pen and paper over gadgets
