Research Identifies the Right Way to Write

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In research conducted by Madigan et al. (2019), involving 2,441 children aged 24, 36, and 60 months (50.2 percent boys and 49.8 percent girls), the study reported that “[a]pproximately 98% of US children aged 0 to 8 years live in a home with an internet-connected device and, on average, spend over 2 hours a day on screens.”

As a result of this situation, the study found that “[b]y school entry, 1 in 4 children shows deficits and delays in developmental outcomes such as language, communication, motor skills, and/or socioemotional health." Consequently, this study by Madigan et al. (2019) inferred that, regarding their holistic development, the children were not developing as expected nor being holistically equipped to successfully engage in the personal, social, physical, or intellectual challenges of the learning environment that are present in schools.

In another meta-study conducted by Madigan et al. (2020), which examined 42 studies involving a total of 18,905 children under the age of 12, the researchers found that ongoing screen time had a profound negative impact on the brain, mind, and body of the children.

This included negative effects on language development, reduced verbal skills, and a decline in overall social and learning potential. All of these concerning issues also have an adverse flow-on effect on their learning and education, which also includes the important and crucial development of handwriting. As such, it is essential to note that the research informs that tapping on a keyboard is not the same as handwriting (Christakis et al., 2004; Hensch, 2005; Kuhl, 2010; Madigan et al., 2019; Stiles & Jernigan, 2010).

Tapping a Keyboard Does Not Stimulate the Brain, Mind, or Body as Effectively as Handwriting

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Advancing pedagogical, educational, and learning potential informs that handwriting engages and advances the brain in ways that typing does not. Research conducted by James and Engelhardt (2012) found that the act of handwriting activates neurological circuits related to reading and writing in children's brains.

Related to this is the research by Longcamp et al. (2005). This study found that preschoolers who wrote their letters through the process of handwriting recognized letters more effectively than those who used a keyboard.

This is further endorsed by the research undertaken by Mangen & Velay (2010), who found that handwriting is central to cognitive and language development, and is also central to not only advancing handwriting and literacy, but also to advancing cognitive and all learning potential, which continues into adolescence and adulthood.

For example, a study conducted by Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) found that university students who were handwriting in their notebooks during lectures and tutorials retained conceptual information at a higher analytical level than those who typed on their computers.

Additionally, research conducted by Van der Weel and Van der Meer (2023) using the electroencephalogram (EEG) found that handwriting produced significantly more complex brain connectivity than typing (James & Engelhardt, 2012; Mangen & Velay, 2010; Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014; Van der Weel & Van der Meer, 2024).

Learning and Narrative Handwriting Benefits of the Tripod Grip

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Research on handwriting shows that, of all the grip types used to hold a pen, the tripod grip is biomechanically the most efficient. The research also indicates that the tripod grip offers the skills, stability, and endurance necessary for immediate successful handwriting, which can then develop into longer beneficial narrative writing. This includes the eventual creation and presentation of more complex ideas, with the potential to lead to a deeper intellectual analysis when the reading of books takes place.

Furthermore, when developing complex neurological and neuromuscular connections, as well as the ongoing development of gross and fine motor skills related to handwriting, research confirms that the initial lesson in handwriting should commence with explicit teaching demonstrations of the biomechanically efficient tripod grip (James & Engelhardt, 2012; Li & James, 2016; Prunty et al., 2020; Schwellnus et al., 2012).

Since time immemorial, it has been a self-evident truth that skills do not "just happen." For any skill in any discipline, the skill (whatever it is) needs to be demonstrated, observed, and then immediately explicitly practised and applied. Studies also reveal that when automatic handwriting is achieved, it develops the cognitive and ‘free-flowing’ intellectual process of creating deeper narratives and enhancing higher creative writing abilities, which is connected to orthographic integration (Berninger et al., 2002; Feder & Majnemer, 2007; Graham et al., 1997; Schwellnus et al., 2012).

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Orthographic-Motor Integration and Orthographic Knowledge

Regarding the development of skilled and efficient handwriting, automaticity, and related creative narrative content, research suggests there is a valuable and significant link between the process of orthographic integration and the growth of a writer’s ability to craft higher and more sophisticated meaningful narratives (Limpo & Graham, 2020; Malpique et al., 2017).

Christensen (2004) emphasizes that “[o]rthographic-motor integration refers to the way in which orthographic knowledge is integrated with the fine-motor demands of handwriting.” Building on this, Apel (2011) explains that “[o]rthographic knowledge refers to the information that is stored in memory that tells us how to represent spoken language in written form.” Additionally, Apel notes that orthographic knowledge plays a crucial role in developing efficient and effective literacy skills and understanding (Apel, 2011; Christensen, 2004).

According to the research, the initial difficulty in creating and writing a cohesive narrative arises because the student is focusing on the mechanical aspects of letter formation in their handwriting. When this occurs, the indication is that the student has not developed the necessary neurological and neuromuscular coordination and automaticity that is required for narrative handwriting efficiency to take place.

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Research also suggests that this lack of handwriting automaticity also increases the writer’s cognitive load, which further contributes to their inability to develop a creative narrative. All of this highlights the vital role of engaging in task repetition. In principle, this is exactly what occurs across all levels of sport and other disciplines, from beginners to elites; repetition and ongoing distributed practice that also involves perseverance and resilience lead to the potential to then successfully advance the skills and knowledge in narrative handwriting.

As in sports, handwriting requires the use of both gross and fine motor muscles, along with all of the related neuromuscular and motor learning pathways, not only for efficient writing and complex storytelling but also for overall holistic human development.

Therefore, if the ongoing self-motivated action of repetition and distributed practice occurs, this action will tend to provide the means for the development of automatic handwriting, which may ultimately also enable the ongoing development of critical thinking capacities that can then progress to developing higher levels of thinking, along with sophisticated narrative handwriting abilities. All of which then leads to the powerful insight and understanding that you are now writing the right way (Berninger et al., 2002; Cameron et al., 2012; Feder & Majnemer, 2007; Graham et al., 1997).