Smartphone, tablet, computer: to share an idea, we type more often than we write. Does handwriting still have a place in the digital age? Yes, especially during the years when your child is learning to read and write. Here is what research says, and how to help your child day to day.
Handwriting or digital writing: what changes for the brain
Writing a letter by hand means drawing it, stroke by stroke. Typing the same letter comes down to pressing a key, always in the same way. That different movement leaves a different trace in memory.
When a child learns to write, they link three things:
- the shape of the letter, which they see;
- the sound it stands for, which they hear or say;
- the movement of the hand that draws it.
This link between movement and letter has interested researchers for some twenty years.
What the studies show
Several studies compare handwriting and typing. Three of them come up often:
- In young children: in 2005, a French team (Longcamp and colleagues, journal Acta Psychologica) taught letters to children aged 3 to 5, either by hand or on a keyboard. Among the older children, those who had written by hand recognised the letters better afterwards.
- In the brain: in 2024, Norwegian researchers (van der Weel and van der Meer, Frontiers in Psychology) recorded the brain activity of 36 students. Handwriting produced more widespread connections between regions linked to memory and learning than typing did.
- For note-taking: a 2014 American study (Mueller and Oppenheimer) concluded that students who take notes by hand understand lectures better. When it was replicated in 2019 (Morehead, Dunlosky and Rawson), only a small and unclear advantage remained.
These results should be read with care. The studies often involve small groups, and richer brain connectivity does not on its own prove better results at school. What comes out fairly consistently is the value of handwriting for learning letters, at the start of schooling.
Do you have to choose between pen and keyboard?
No: both have their place, at different times. The keyboard is useful for writing a long text, correcting easily, or compensating for certain difficulties. Handwriting remains valuable for learning, memorising and organising one’s thoughts.
In primary school, the priority is learning the movement: holding the pencil properly, forming letters, writing legibly. The keyboard can come as a complement, without replacing this stage.
In secondary school, the focus shifts to note-taking and studying. Writing by hand forces you to rephrase and pick out what matters, because you cannot write everything down. That sorting is often what helps you remember. If your teenager takes notes on a computer, encourage them to summarise in their own words rather than copy everything.
Screens also raise a question of attention: notifications and apps easily scatter concentration. We discuss this in our article on the impact of social media on students’ lives.
How to keep writing alive at home
A few simple habits are enough to keep the pen in hand:
- have your child write the shopping list, a birthday card or a short note to the family;
- keep a holiday notebook or a diary, a few lines a day;
- revise by copying key ideas onto cards, rather than rereading on screen;
- have them read aloud what they have just written, to link each letter to its sound;
- suggest games that involve drawing lines: mazes, pictures to copy, crosswords.
For homework in primary school, a calm and regular setting helps a lot. If you are short of time in the evening,homework help can take over.
What are the warning signs of dysgraphia?
Learning to write takes time, and every child progresses at their own pace. Clumsy handwriting at the start of primary school is nothing to worry about. Some persistent difficulties do deserve your attention, though, as they may point to dysgraphia, a disorder affecting the act of writing.
Signs to watch for:
- very slow writing, or on the contrary very fast and impulsive writing;
- illegible writing: letters run together, badly formed or very uneven in size;
- a messy layout: the child goes outside the lines or cannot organise the page;
- difficulty copying certain shapes;
- a tense pencil grip, pressing too hard, pain in the hand or wrist;
- poor posture while writing;
- anxiety, or even refusal, as soon as writing is required.
A single sign is not enough to draw conclusions. It is their accumulation and how long they last that should alert you. Dysgraphia is a developmental disorder: it does not come simply from writing less by hand.
My child shows signs of dysgraphia: what should I do?
- Talk to their class teacher: they observe your child in class and can already adapt some tasks, for instance by favouring oral work or reducing copying.
- Contact the school’s PMS centre (the psycho-medical-social centre of French-speaking schools): its teams advise families free of charge and refer them to the right specialists.
- Ask for an assessment: a speech therapist, a psychomotor therapist or an occupational therapist can assess the act of writing and suggest suitable therapy. A handwriting therapist can also support handwriting rehabilitation.
- Consider reasonable accommodations: in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (French-speaking education), a 2017 decree allows a pupil whose specific needs are confirmed by a specialist to obtain accommodations at school (extra time, use of a computer, adapted documents…).
- Work on relaxation: a few relaxation exercises for the hands and shoulders before writing can reduce tension.
The keyboard can actually become a real ally for a child with dysgraphia: it lets them show what they know without being held back by the act of writing. Handwriting and digital writing complement each other.
Tailored support
Slow writing, messy class notes, shaky spelling: these difficulties often weigh on a child’s whole school career. At My Sherpa, an educational advisor chooses a coach suited to your child’s needs, for private French lessons or study skills, at home anywhere in Belgium or online.
