Writing Assignments: Handwritten vs Typed

[Hunter]

Who teaches their children the skills required to handwrite an essay, rather than allowing them to use a word processor?

 

For those who teach those skills, what curricula do you use?

 

Which skills need to be learned at a higher level, for handwritten essays? Handwriting, spelling, organization?

 

Do you think it's easier to write with a word processor? Do you think it is similar to using a calculator?

[boscopup]

I'm not sure what the difference is, if you turn off spell check and grammar check (which is useless anyway) in the word processor?

 

My plan, which could of course change, is to require handwriting narrations and such at least through 4th grade or so. For longer papers, I'd be happy to let them type. It's so much faster and easier to get thoughts onto the paper, IMO. I'll probably encourage them to jot some notes on paper with pencil, but then they can type up the rough draft directly on the computer.

 

I don't see the comparison between word processor and calculator. In a word processor, you're still having to come up with the words and sentence structure yourself. Even if you use spell check and grammar check, you still have to come up with what to say and how to say it (and know enough grammar to know that the grammar check is wrong). With a calculator, you're typing in the numbers and not having to actually know how to make the calculation. I suppose I'd make a comparison between learning to spell with a word processor and learning to do math facts with a calculator. My kids will hopefully spell well before they start typing up papers. But again, you can just turn off spell check (and if the kid turns it back on, you're dealing with an honesty problem, not an education problem).

[Hunter]

When you cannot shift paragraphs around, it requires a great deal more organization. Also the writer needs to concentrate on handwriting grammar and spelling and I don't even know what else.

 

Even before computers were common LD kids were put on computers to write. It takes less skill.

 

I can write on a computer so much easier than I can on paper. I want to fix this. I want to identify the required skills that I have not mastered and remediate them.

[coffeegal]

:D

Who teaches their children the skills required to handwrite an essay, rather than allowing them to use a word processor? Mean parents here, none of my children use a computer for school assignments. It's all handwritten. That being said, I might start allowing my oldest to use the computer for essays we want in his portfolio.

 

For those who teach those skills, what curricula do you use? The same as anyone else. :001_huh:

 

Which skills need to be learned at a higher level, for handwritten essays? Handwriting, spelling, organization? I don't know about a higher level, but certainly you need a certain amount of handwriting strength to write several pages at a sitting.

 

Do you think it's easier to write with a word processor? Do you think it is similar to using a calculator?

It's certainly easier to edit and then print a final draft. Mom and Dad got their first computer just in time for me to write a 10 page story for English class. I was in 7th heaven. The initial writing was just as difficult, but I was so glad not to have to rewrite the story to produce a neat, final copy. :D

[boscopup]

I guess for me, working on those skills is part of what the grammar stage is all about. We shouldn't be moving on to long papers if we can't write a paragraph by hand (unless there is an LD involved or hand strength issue).

 

I went to school during the era when word processors were becoming used more often in high school. I actually used a typewriter in middle school, but sometimes my dad let me use his computer. :D By high school, all papers were written on the computer. I did do some formulating by hand. Basically, I hand wrote whatever I felt like I needed to, and I typed things up when I was ready.

 

Yes, typing is easier, but again, it doesn't help you formulate your thoughts. It doesn't compare and contrast some elements in a great piece of literature. You still have to do all the work.

[NotSoObvious]

How do they do the writing portion of the SAT now? Handwritten or typed?

 

I would think it would be important to do it hand written first because that's what really forces them to learn the process. The final draft can always be typed.

[coffeegal]

How do they do the writing portion of the SAT now? Handwritten or typed?

 

I would think it would be important to do it hand written first because that's what really forces them to learn the process. The final draft can always be typed.

 

A friend's daughter just took the ACT and it's still handwritten. I'm fairly certain the SAT is the same.

[Hunter]

Yes, typing is easier, but again, it doesn't help you formulate your thoughts. It doesn't compare and contrast some elements in a great piece of literature. You still have to do all the work.

 

The computer might not help me formulate my thoughts, but it lets me start before I have formulated them, and be able to cut and paste and shift things so that I can just dribble nonsense for awhile with no plan, and then fix it.

 

I don't think I even know all the reasons why it is so much easier. I was hoping someone could tell me WHY it IS so much easier, and what skills I have not learned yet, that are making it so much more difficult for me to handwrite. And which curricula focus on THOSE skills, even if neglecting some more advanced skills.

[coffeegal]

The computer might not help me formulate my thoughts, but it lets me start before I have formulated them, and be able to cut and paste and shift things so that I can just dribble nonsense for awhile with no plan, and then fix it.

 

I don't think I even know all the reasons why it is so much easier. I was hoping someone could tell me WHY it IS so much easier, and what skills I have not learned yet, that are making it so much more difficult for me to handwrite. And which curricula focus on THOSE skills, even if neglecting some more advanced skills.

 

Graphic organizers and outlines. Even if I sit down to write a paper on a computer, I NEVER start without a well-fleshed out outline. Once the outline is written, it's easy to write, do a quick edit, and call it a day. It doesn't matter if I'm writing on a computer or on paper. The outline is king. :D

 

I start my kids practicing writing paragraphs using graphic organizers. Once they're comfortable writing a paragraph using a graphic organizer, we use 2 or 3 organizers to plan a 2-3 paragraph paper. At that point, we start working on using an outline. SWB suggests having the kids create outlines from Kingfisher and then practice writing a paper from the outline. You could start there. :001_smile:

[love2read]

SAT essay is still hand written. It needs to be long and neat and there is an article somewhere online that papers in cursive are actually graded slightly higher. We have always had the children write out their papers first and then occasionally type in a few final copies. In high school they can choose to write or type, and most of them have written their essays long hand first and then revised them when they put them in the computer. This Memoria Press article on the topic is quite good http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/real-hands-on-learning.html

[FrogMom5]

Hunter - if it's the handwriting that is causing problems, several of us from the Special Needs board are going to try The Palmer Method. I will get you a link so you can download and print one of the books. It's very old and looks difficult. Yet, it's actually easier movements. My 10 yr. old also was able to read it more easily than he reads other types of cursive.

http://www.iampeth.com/books/palmer_budget/palmers_budget_index.php

 

Let me know if that link doesn't work. Handwriting takes more skill because you have to remember how to form the letter, make your hand make the shape and then make the connecting forms.

 

As far as the rest of writing, it's much more difficult to compose by hand. You must organize your thoughts first and then think through each sentence carefully. It takes more planning and organizing than composing on the computer.

 

Graphic organizers don't help me, nor do they help my oldest ds. For us, a rough outline helps the most. Then, we spend a lot of time thinking as we write. Often kids are told to stop dreaming and write their paper. But, to write, you have to stop periodically and spend time thinking. If you allow yourself to do that, it helps organize your thoughts before you put pen to paper.

 

I don't know that any of that helps you. I hope you find something that will work for you.

Denise

[RootAnn]

As far as the writing content, one has to first have a firm foundation in the basics which SWB clearly works on in WWE:

- copywork to help with handwriting, spelling, & grammar

- narration to find the MAIN IDEA(s) in the form of a sentence, then paragraph(s)

- dictation to help you develop the ability to write what you hold in your mind

 

On from there, one develops the ability to pull main ideas & their associated secondary and tertiary ideas from short pieces of well-written non-fiction using outlining. SWB recommends doing this with full sentences. Other writing resources recommend "key word" outlines. Then, once you can pull these main ideas out, take your outline and rewrite the essay or selection yourself. Work on improving your word choices and starting sentences. (These things are spelled out in just about any decent (progym) writing program.)

 

All these skills help with the foundations to make writing BY HAND more organized and less cumbersome. It is frustrating to think we might have to go back to grammar-level skills to be able to produce well-written works ourselves, but the practice will help make the process more intuitive and easier in the long run. That's why we put all this time into the basics in the grammar & logic stages.

 

For us, that's WWE-skills, Writing Tales, and then Classical Writing (Homer & up). I don't have a finished "product" yet, but wanted to take a stab at your query. :001_smile: Good luck!