Now that two weeks
worth of holidays are behind us, it is time to make the best use of the
remainder of the summer vacation. It is hoped that our students’ time has been
well spent, and they are thoroughly enjoying themselves in the company of
friends and family.
We had previously
discussed about ways to protect ourselves from dehydration and heat strokes in
the summer, which pose great and sudden danger to the people exposed to the sun
when it is hottest and when adequate precautions have not been taken.
We had also talked
about the prudency of staying indoors when it is really hot and doing small
projects like the family photo album to help children to put their time to good
use.
Here’s
one more addition to the list - cursive writing.
Encourage
your children to take up cursive writing this summer as the benefits are
immense.
With the advent of
computer-based technology in the field of education, writing in general is
slowly being replaced by typing. It may be noted that typing as a skill is
important too, but from the point of view of the overall development of the
child, writing by hand is priceless.
What is cursive writing and why it
is important?
According to
Wikipedia, “Cursive, also known as longhand, script, handwriting, looped
writing, joined-up writing, joint writing, or running writing is any style of
penmanship in which the symbols of the language are written in a conjoined
and/or flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster.”
Educational
experts and researchers opine that writing by hand with the characters joined,
otherwise known as cursive writing, has the following benefits:
● Think
and write: Writing
cursively by hand using pen and paper gives students the time and space to
ponder what they have learnt.
● Less
distraction: Improves
concentration levels in children who
sometimes tend to play games or surf the internet while using a computer.
● Greater
satisfaction: As it
takes greater effort to pen one’s thought, end result is far superior and more
clear. The sense of fulfillment and pride in children is greater when they
write a piece of poetry or verse in their own hand.
● Mental
alertness: Writing
longhand sharpens memory as repeated reading of what we write improves our
memory and keeps us mentally alert.
● Clarity
of thought: Helps
children to learn to use their own ability to organize their thoughts and
present the information in a coherent manner instead of relying on pre-defined
and standard templates designed by others for the purpose.
● Promoting
individuality and creativity:
Cursive writing is all about expressing one’s thoughts through writing, and
helping children to find their own niche and develop their individuality.
To conclude, there
are many screenwriters, journalists, and authors who still write in the
traditional way and they also encourage others to do so.
Jhumpa Lahiri,
Pulitzer Prize winning author of Indian origin, prefers writing using longhand.
The eminent writer says that she feels “freer when she writes by hand,” thus
strengthening the case for the use of cursive writing as an important
educational and child development tool.