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CAN HANDWRITING AND THERAPEUTIC MUSIC BE A SIMPLE SOLUTION TO THE DUMBING DOWN OF AMERICA?
Dateline: January 17, 2005 ... Denver , CO
Contact Name: Jeanette Farmer, C.G.
Contact Phone: 303-740-6161
Contact Fax: 720-482-6886
E-mail: retrainbrain@prodigy.net
Web Address: http://www.retrainthebrain.com
DENVER, CO - January 17, 2005 - January 23, 2005, is National
Handwriting Day, in honor of John Hancock's bold, clearly legible
signature on the Declaration of Independence. Yet, most educators
today lament handwriting's ever increasing lack of legibility.
Jeanette Farmer, one of only a few handwriting remediation specialists
in the country, notes that never before have so many students had such
problems in gaining a legible handwriting. But since penmenship is
grossly neglected today, illegibility is hardly surprising. She claims
research indicates that the massive negative impact that television
and video games exert on the young brain contributes greatly to that
end. If educators ever hope to improve reading scores, they must
stress penmanship to counteract that negative influence, since poor
reading results and illegibility are often intertwined. Penmanship,
largely abandoned some fifty years ago, provides vital movement, and
its neglect gravely deprives the young brain of desperately needed,
essential regulated stimulation.
Armed with highly specialized brain dominance expertise, Jeanette
Farmer, one of only a few handwriting remediation specialists in this
country, maintains, "Because it involves the hand, nothing else done
in the classroom can begin to compare with the impact that the
rhythmic, repetitive manipulation of the thumb and fingers has on the
young brain over time." Trained in the European perspective of
handwriting and its physiological/psychological link in the brain, her
innovative program, grounded in thirty years of brain research,
combines movement and therapeutic music. She explains how the brain
impacts handwriting, and more importantly, how handwriting impacts the
brain.
She declares, "Research tells us that it's extremely short sighted to
eliminate movement from a child's life. Handwriting stands alone in
its inherent capacity to organize the young brain and develop impulse
control. In giving the brain an aerobic workout, it stabilizes the
emotional brain, while directly strengthening the attention loop tool.
Given penmanship's gross neglect for decades, it's hardly surprising
that we've had such a decline in reading scores. In today's world,
stabilizing handwriting is essential to prevent an educational
downhill slide for many."
Farmer maintains, "Movement and music offer powerful stimulation in a
non-threatening format. Its an irreplaceable 'Leave No Child Behind'
solution, as it greatly enhances pupil-outcome!" Leonard Shalin,
M.D., spells out its power in stating, "All forms of writing increase
the left brain's dominance over the right. An alphabet, being the most
abstract form of writing, enhances left-brain values the most." This
is due to handwriting's left brain-right hand connection that produces
a shift in dominance from the right brain to the left brain, the
"brain that goes to school," home of the language capacities.
Farmer notes, "Unfortunately, since American educators do not
understand handwriting's deeper implications, a black hole of
ignorance surrounds its critical role in 'training the brain,' so it's
grossly neglected. Our decline in literacy, known by the derogatory
term, the 'Dumbing Down of America', is due in part to penmanship's
training near demise. Multi-sensory handwriting, a form of music
therapy, offers a simple but powerful solution. Movement is key to
learning - it anchors learning. Movement and music 'calms the dance
of the emotional mind.' It not only gives students a head start on
being smart, but it offers society a vital gift too."
She reports that teachers rave in seeing a wave of calm sweep across
the classroom as the children focus so intently. A first grade teacher
of emotionally disturbed students who are extremely hard to "reach" in
a Denver inner city school, used this concept over the school year.
She used it for 10 minutes when school began, and again after lunch to
calm the brain so they could focus and attend. Those children scored
in the 74 percentile in reading on the Iowa Basic Skills test. The
principal called it, "Dramatic results."
Kathy Goetz, a 3rd grade teacher in Fort Myers, Fl., says, "The kids
love this program and the results are great. It's amazing to see the
calming effects on the class - it's especially evident in my attention
deficit disorder (ADD) student."
Dr. Sharon Ford, assistant Professor of Education (retired),
University of Colorado at Denver, states, "We must reassess our
educational priorities and revamp the system to emphasize stronger
emphasis on penmanship training. The benefits gained with this multi-
sensory concept are too critical to ignore."
Farmer has helped several thousand parents and teachers over the last
ten years "retrain the brain" to resolve children's handwriting
issues. Benefits gained include improved impulse control so the child
can focus and attend, which are two deeply intertwined educational
factors. Children with learning disabilities, ADHD, autism, brain
injury, even cerebral palsy have benefited from the regulated
stimulation in this concept. Her web page is
http://www.retrainthebrain.com or email her at
retrainbrain@prodigy.net
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