On a trip recently, I was talking with a friend about how little we seem to write these days. She was commenting on how it felt strange to write on paper after typing most of the time.
I knew what she meant, and it made me a little sad.
Because there is something so special about writing something by hand. To take the time to send a handwritten letter, instead of just an email. Or to leave sweet notes in a lunchbox or briefcase to show family members we care.
Or to find a sweet handwritten note from one of our kids.
Kids have become so used to texting with abbreviated (misspelled!) words, and typing in emails, that they aren’t able to write well anymore. In fact, 75% of American students grades 4-12 were writing below grade level on a national writing exam and 33% of college students were unprepared to write at a college level.
That’s terrible!
Thankfully, it appears my kids have gotten my love for writing. There are probably no fewer than 30 planners, notebooks, journals or cute notepads throughout our house.
The kids and I love to write lists, plans, ideas, calendar tasks and other thoughts down on paper.
And I’ll encourage them to continue with their writing, because besides being fun, it’s actually good for them.
In fact, experts recommend at least 15 minutes of handwriting each day for students. It engages lots of different abilities, including visual focusing, hand-eye coordination, tactile input, motor planning, organization and spatial perception.
So whether I challenge the kids with a fun activity like design an invention and write about its features, or encourage the kids to keep a daily journal, I will continue to encourage the kids to write.
BIC is hoping that we can help save handwriting. By heading over to BICFightForYourWrite.com and signing the pledge to save handwriting, we can show children just how great writing can be.
Follow the hashtag #BICFightForYourWrite to see more fun writing ideas.
Sweepstakes
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Enter to win a $1,200 BIC Prize Pack to help your children write more at home.
Head over to BIC Fight For Your Write to enter! Hurry – sweepstakes ends 9/14/2015.
