What Could Do All That???

According to this article in the Chicago Tribune, practicing handwriting aids in memory and inspires confidence. It engages different parts of the brain than typing and correlates with better grades. “For children handwriting is extremely important. Not how well they do it, but that they do it and practice it” said Karin Harman James, an assistant professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences at Indiana University. The article goes on to say that “handwriting changes how children learn and how their brains develop.” Who knew handwriting practice was so amazing!?

You can listen to an audio version of this blog post at the Ridge Light Ranch podcast called Anyone Can Teach Art. (4:10)

Handwriting is important for many reasons. Numerous studies have shown that writing something down makes you more likely to remember it. In this article from the NY Times, “When we write, a unique neural circuit is automatically activated,’ said Stanislas Dehaene, a psychologist at the Collège de France in Paris. He continued. ‘Learning is made easier.”

Handwriting is an Art

Handwriting is an art form all it’s own. We teach it through tracing and copying and the best way to improve handwriting is simple practice. Go ahead and google something like “how to improve my handwriting” and you find almost everyone agrees: PRACTICE.

If you’re studying historical artists with us, I have some handwriting packages available that correspond to the amazing artists we study:

• Amazing Artists: Baroque – Impressionist: Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Linnaeus, Monet, Degas, and Morisot. 
• Amazing Artists: Americans:  Grandma Moses, Rockwell, O’Keeffe, Wyeth, Lichtenstein, Davis, Wood, and Warhol

These are a fabulous way to get some extra handwriting practice and memorize a bit of information about each of these amazing artists. Even adults can benefit from practicing their handwriting, so consider printing a copy for you to write out as well!