4 Research-Backed Reasons Handwriting is Key to Boosting Your Child’s Reading Skills

“Why do you need handwriting when everything is on the phone or laptop?” - this is a legitimate question that I got asked by many, including my husband. He didn’t understand why I insisted on teaching our kids handwriting, starting with tracing worksheets and moving on to creative writing sessions with my 3rd grader.

I believe handwriting is here to stay, even in this digital world. While there isn’t a ton of research yet on how handwriting affects things like mood or stress, we all know from experience that there is something calming and restoring in the act of taking a pen and writing by hand.

But when it comes to kids’ reading skills, handwriting is not a nice to have—it’s essential. In this article, I’ll explore research-backed ways handwriting improves reading skills, particularly in young children.

The main way handwriting boosts reading is by supporting letter recognition and making it automatic. Automaticity means that a child can recognize letters quickly and without conscious effort. This skill is key for fluent reading because it frees up cognitive resources for more complex processes, such as comprehension. When letter recognition becomes automatic, children can focus on blending sounds, recognizing words, and understanding meaning, rather than being slowed down by figuring out each letter.

There’s a specific part of the brain that helps with recognizing letters. Cognitive scientist Stanislas Dehaene calls it “Letterbox.” According to him, this part of the brain wasn’t originally meant for reading—it was built for face recognition, and then during learning to read, it gets rewired to function for letter recognition (Dehaene, 2010). This explains why children often confuse mirror letters such as "b" and "d." The brain naturally sees them as the same because faces must appear the same and be recognized no matter from which side we look into them. So when your child mixes up letters, it’s not because they’re not trying—it’s just how the brain works at first.

Handwriting helps rewire the brain to spot the small differences between letters. When kids write by hand, their brains have to work harder to differentiate between letters, reinforcing their ability to recognize letters quickly and accurately. They are also developing motor memory for each letter. This is similar to how riding a bike becomes second nature after practice—the more they write, the easier it becomes to recognize letters instantly.

Multiple studies back this up. For example, researchers found that children who practiced handwriting had better letter recognition than those who used typing (Longcamp, Zerbato-Poudou, & Velay, 2005; Bara & Gentaz, 2011). The motor actions involved in handwriting lead to more robust memory traces, making letter recall easier. The connection between seeing and doing, also known as action-perception coupling, which occurs when a child physically writes a letter, reinforces their ability to recognize that letter later on.

This is supported by the work of James (2017), who used brain imaging to show that handwriting activates key brain areas like the left fusiform gyrus, responsible for visual letter processing. Similarly, In a study that used functional MRI scans to observe brain activity in children, researchers found that when kids wrote letters by hand, it activated multiple regions of the brain involved in reading, writing, and language processing (James and Engelhardt, 2012). On the other hand, when children typed letters, the brain activation was much less extensive. It's like the difference between a full-body workout and just moving your fingers!

Typing lacks the sensory-motor engagement that handwriting provides. While it might seem more efficient, typing simply doesn’t activate the brain’s visual and motor systems in the same way. Studies by Kiefer et al. (2015) demonstrated that children trained in handwriting outperformed those trained in typing on tasks such as letter recognition and word reading. The tactile feedback from forming letters by hand creates a richer learning experience, which is missing when letters are typed on a keyboard.

Another study found that adults who learned new characters through handwriting showed stronger activation in the brain's reading network when later recognizing these characters, compared to those who learned through typing or visual practice alone (Longcamp, et al., 2008).

Handwriting also allows for variability in letter formation, which contributes to stronger letter recognition. When children write letters by hand, they do not produce uniform shapes every time. This slight variation helps them better categorize and recognize letters under different circumstances. James (2017) emphasized that this variability contrasts with tracing, where letters are reproduced exactly the same each time, offering less cognitive benefit for long-term recognition.

So, how can you help your child improve their letter recognition through handwriting? Here are a few simple tips to try at home:

• Start with Tracing: Give your child tracing worksheets where they can follow the shape of each letter. This helps them get used to the correct movements.
• Move to Independent Writing: Once they’re comfortable tracing, let them practice writing letters on their own. Encourage them to form the letters without any guides, but be patient if they need help at first.
• Make It Fun: Handwriting doesn’t have to be boring! Use colorful pens or markers to make the activity more enjoyable.
• Short Sessions: Aim for short, frequent handwriting practice. Even 5-10 minutes a day can make a big difference. Keep it light and fun so your child doesn’t feel overwhelmed.

Phonological awareness, or the ability to recognize and manipulate sounds in language, is crucial for developing reading and spelling skills. Phonological awareness is strongly linked to reading success. Children with a strong understanding of how sounds correspond to letters can more easily decode unfamiliar words, improving their reading fluency. Research shows that phonological awareness is one of the most reliable predictors of early reading success (National Reading Panel, 2000).

Handwriting plays a vital role in building this awareness by encouraging children to engage with the sounds of words as they translate them into written form. According to Barnett et al. (2019), handwriting helps children map phonemes (speech sounds) to graphemes (the letters representing those sounds), supporting their ability to decode and spell words. As children write, they practice segmenting words into sounds and matching those sounds to letters, which is a critical skill for reading fluency and spelling accuracy.

The act of handwriting involves thinking about how the individual sounds of a word are represented by letters. This cognitive engagement deepens a child’s understanding of the phonological structure of language, which helps them break down and blend sounds when reading.

In addition to improving reading skills, handwriting also strengthens spelling. McCarney et al. (2013) found that poor handwriting is often linked to lower spelling scores, suggesting that difficulties in writing can interfere with a child's ability to spell correctly. By writing regularly, children practice the orthographic patterns of words, which reinforces their spelling skills.

A study by Cunningham and Stanovich (1990) published in the Journal of Educational Psychology found that children who practiced spelling words by writing them outperformed better on spelling tests compared to those who practiced by typing or just looking at the words.

Here's why this works:

• Writing each letter helps kids pay attention to the order of letters in a word.
• The physical act of writing creates a stronger memory trace in the brain.
• Handwriting engages multiple senses (touch, sight, and movement), which reinforces learning.

It's like your child is building a word brick by brick, rather than just snapping a photo of it. This hands-on approach makes the spelling stick.

You might wonder, "What do my child's finger movements have to do with reading?" Well, quite a lot. Research shows a strong connection between fine motor skills and early reading abilities.

A study by Cameron et al. (2012) published in Developmental Psychology found that children's fine motor skills at the start of kindergarten were a strong predictor of their reading achievement by the end of first grade.

Handwriting is one of the best activities for developing fine motor skills. When your child writes, they're:

• Controlling small muscles in their hands and fingers
• Coordinating their hand movements with what they see (eye-hand coordination)
• Developing hand strength and dexterity

So, how exactly do these hand skills help with reading? Here's the breakdown:

• Letter Formation: Writing letters helps kids understand their shapes and distinguish between similar-looking letters (like 'b' and 'd'). This skill transfers directly to reading.
• Left-to-Right Progression: The act of writing from left to right reinforces the direction of reading in English. It's like a physical rehearsal for how their eyes will move when reading.
• Spatial Awareness: Handwriting requires understanding how letters fit together to form words. This spatial awareness helps in recognizing word patterns while reading.
• Focus and Attention: The concentration required for handwriting helps develop the focus needed for reading.

A study by Dinehart and Manfra (2013) found that preschoolers with better fine motor writing skills achieved higher reading and math scores in second grade.

While handwriting is fantastic, it's not the only way to develop these crucial skills. Here are some fun activities that can help:

• Play-Doh or clay modeling: Squeezing, rolling, and shaping develop hand strength.
• Cutting with scissors: Great for hand-eye coordination.
• Lacing and beading: Excellent for developing pincer grip and hand-eye coordination.
• Puzzles: Helps with spatial awareness and problem-solving.

These are fun and easy activities that help to prepare your child's brain and hands for reading.

I discussed the ways in which handwriting helps kids learn reading. In this last section, I want to discuss how important this skill is for later in life to boost memory and learning. My argument is that it is crucial to teach our kids handwriting so they have this incredible tool for learning, thinking, and remembering.

When it comes to remembering what we read or consume in other ways, handwriting helps to retain most of the information, which is supported by many studies. A landmark study by Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) found that students who took handwritten notes during lectures performed better on conceptual questions compared to those who typed their notes.

So, what makes handwriting so special for memory? Here's the breakdown:

• Deeper Processing: When we write by hand, we can't possibly write down everything word-for-word. This forces our brains to summarize and rephrase information, leading to deeper processing and better understanding.
• Visual Memory: The unique way we form each letter and word creates a visual memory that can help in recall.
• Motor Memory: The physical act of writing engages motor memory, adding another layer to how we store information.
• Slowing Down: Handwriting is generally slower than typing, which gives our brains more time to process and retain information.

A study by Smoker et al. (2009) in the journal Memory found that handwriting was more effective than typing for learning new symbols. The researchers suggested that the motor memory involved in handwriting played a crucial role in this learning process.

Handwriting by itself is a powerful learning tool. Here's how:

• Active Reading: Jotting down notes or summaries while reading keeps the mind actively engaged with the text, leading to better understanding and retention.
• Vocabulary Building: Writing new words and their definitions by hand can help cement them in memory. A study by Cunningham and Stanovich (1990) found that children who wrote words by hand learned them better than those who typed them.
• Connecting Ideas: Handwriting allows for easy annotation, drawing arrows, or creating mind maps, which can help in connecting ideas across a text.
• Personalization: Handwritten notes often include personal symbols, abbreviations, or doodles that can aid in recall.

Handwriting offers endless benefits and I think it is our obligation to our kids to teach them handwriting both to help with reading and to make this wonder tool available for them. The best part? Kids generally like hands-on activities - this is the best time to teach them handwriting. As I recommended above, start with tracing and copying worksheets, and continue with the more elaborate worksheets and/or writing prompts. Encourage your child to write down their ideas and thoughts. Get them nice stationery for writing their notes. Help them make sense of the world through writing. There are tons of ways you can incorporate handwriting into everyday life, for example:

• Start a "quote of the day" tradition, where your child handwrites their favorite quote.
• Encourage them to make a written plan for the day. That way you are also teaching them planning skills.
• Create a family book club where everyone shares handwritten notes about the book.

My general observation is that handwriting receives very little attention in schools today, which I believe is a missed opportunity. Handwriting is a skill that helps with reading, learning, and thinking. One of my favorite non-fiction books, How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens, underscores the importance of writing as a primary tool for learning and thinking—even though Ahrens doesn’t explicitly argue for handwriting, he presents a compelling case for writing in general. He cites neuroscientist Neil Levy, who says, “Notes on paper, or a computer screen ... do not make contemporary physics or other kinds of intellectual endeavor easier, they make it possible.”

Handwriting remains fundamental in developing reading skills and supporting memory and learning. By encouraging its practice, parents and educators can equip children with a powerful tool for academic success and cognitive development. It’s time to acknowledge the unique benefits of this traditional skill and reintegrate it into our children’s learning experiences.