Handwriting and Literacy Potential

The International Journal of Disability, Development and Education published research 284 elementary school children to explore possible factors that contribute to poor handwriting.

The results indicated the following:

• correlations were found between poor handwriting, lower cognitive and literacy scores, and a longer duration for handwriting tasks.

The researchers concluded that if children are given handwriting practice time to increase the level of automaticity this may release working memory.  In turn this working memory can be applied to the cognitive demands of the task therefore potentially raise a student's level of attainment.

Reference:   Debra McCarney, Lynne Peters, Sarah Jackson, Marie Thomas, Amanda Kirby.  Does Poor Handwriting Conceal Literacy Potential in Primary School Children?  International Journal of Disability, Development and Education Vol. 60, Iss. 2, 2013 

Check out Your Therapy Source for various electronic titles for handwriting practice.