Comment on Why the slow decay of children’s handwriting skills spells trouble
Alamutjones@aussie.zone 2 months agoIt’s not just the writing they’re learning. Writing gives a consistent way to practice fine motor skills in general.
There are some fucking klutzy kids around who’ve never done much drawing or colouring, never done much craft with scissors, never played an instrument…they’ve never had all that many organically occurring opportunities to practice fine motor skills. If the only practice they get with those broad skills is writing, and then we cull the writing, when do they learn?
Marsupial@quokk.au 2 months ago
So we teach them other methods.
Fine motor skills can be taught through almost anything, it doesn’t have to be writing.
Alamutjones@aussie.zone 2 months ago
That’s just it though. They’re NOT being taught through other methods. Kids are measurably getting worse at fine motor skills, and picking them up at later ages, because they’re being given fewer and fewer chances to practice. Kids are doing less drawing, less messy craft, less of just about everything hands on.
Writing is one of the few options we have that we can guarantee every child - no matter what materials they have access to at home, no matter how involved their parents may or may not be - has ample opportunity to do.
Marsupial@quokk.au 2 months ago
At least in early years education I know they’re being taught them.
As for primary aged children, we should be directing our energy into ensuring they have a wide range of opportunities to do so instead of bemoaning the lost importance of written writing.
But from what I understand, primary is trialling ECE play based learning ideas so I don’t see why they would be doing less of it?
Alamutjones@aussie.zone 2 months ago
They’re doing much, much less of it at home…which means that there are a lot of kids coming into primary school with already extant skill gaps. That’s WHY they’re trialling ECE stuff for slightly older kids - because the kids haven’t learned it yet, when they should have.