Children's handwritting
| Published: 25th February 2008 15:44 |
A recent survey has revealed there is a need for more focus on children's handwriting.
What do you do to encourage your children to practice their handwritting? If you do why not share what you do with other parents - give us details in the commnet box below.
Are you aware of Write a letter Week? What are you doing to support it?
Only 5% of children have a pen-pal today compared to 64% of their parents having one when they were a child, new figures from a nationwide study of children and their parents' handwriting and letter-writing habits and thoughts, have revealed.
The latest figures, conducted by my child, the education resource for parents of children aged three to 13, also showed that almost 1 in 5 children (17%) slip into text speak when writing while 1 in 4 children
(25%) don't own a stationery set.
Meanwhile 29% of parents surveyed said the last time they received a handwritten letter was over a year ago while 19% said the last time they wrote to someone was over a year ago.
The survey results, the most recent research conducted into handwriting since June 2006 (Institute of Education) is being officially released on Monday (25 February) to mark Write a Letter Week 2008 which takes place from 22 to 28 February 2008.
This survey showed that many children are moving on to secondary school with sub standard handwriting skills (Institute of Education), jeopardising their ability to keep up in class, tests and exams, and affecting achievement beyond into further education and even employment.
The first of its kind, Write a Letter Week 2008 is a national campaign, organised by my child inviting schools, parents, libraries, and children's centres to encourage children to improve their handwriting skills and celebrate the art of the handwritten letter.
Adults are also being urged to take part in Write a Letter Week too however, by using the week to write a letter to a friend, relative, young person, a former colleague or even to their local hero.
More than 80 schools across the country have already organised handwriting activities and events - many around the theme of the campaign ‘My Local Hero' - but all with one main aim, to get children to develop better handwriting.
The campaign follows evidence that consistently shows that many children are moving on to secondary school and beyond with sub standard handwriting skills (Institute of Education).
Chris Davies, managing director, my child, said: "The results clearly indicate that although parents realise the importance of handwriting, they could perhaps do more to set an example to their children.
"By seeing their mums and dads sitting down and taking the time to write to friends and family members, children will be more inclined to pick up a pen themselves and get in touch with someone that they would normally send an e-mail or text message to. Hopefully Write a Letter Week will kick-start this."
Suzanne Tiburtius, from the National Handwriting Association, said: "Some of the results of the survey throws into question the attitude of those, sometimes even including teachers, who suggest that teaching children to write is unimportant since ‘very soon we shall all be using computers'."
Several celebrities including Olympic bronze medallist Diane Modahl, children's author Julia Donaldson, and the children's favourite Postman Pat, are also supporting Write a Letter Week 2008.
Speaking of the handwritten letter, Julia Donaldson, said: "The handwritten letter is still very important in this day and age, because it is a physical object, and the writer's personality comes over in their handwriting and choice of paper as well as in what they actually write.
Also, I think ‘proper' letters which come through the letter box are much more exciting to receive than emails or texts, and it's nice to take time to read them over a cup of coffee, instead of just skimming through them the way you do on a computer."
Write a Letter Week 2008 is sponsored by Stabilo, and Basildon Bond, and supported by the National Handwriting Association.
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