Tirupati: Handwriting practice makes learning easy

Tirupati: Even though handwriting is an essential skill for persons of any age group, the founder of 'Make My Baby Genius' (MMBG) school S Bhaskar Raju strongly advocates that it is not a god-given skill and one can change it easily with practice. But, a good handwriting particularly for young students assume more significance as it has multiple benefits. Besides creating a good impression on the student to the examiner, the confidence levels of those who write a nice handwriting.

He believes that handwriting is not a hidden talent and one can become a master of it by following some techniques and exercises. Any person from 5-50 years of age can develop their handwriting skills irrespective of their problems and disabilities. Speaking to The Hans India, he said that the significance of handwriting is even in this computer age is cannot be undermined. By practicing writing with both hands many advantages can be derived. The first and foremost would be that the brain can be stimulated and moulded as desired.

He got inspiration from Barbara Arrowsmith Young of Canada, he found that by stimulating the pre-motor area located at the left side of the brain problems in writing, reading, speaking and spelling activities can be resolved. To stimulate this, he has developed 10 patterns on which at least 500 times practice can make all the difference.

Bhaskar Raju also said that practicing with two hands assumes importance. "When we practice with non-dominant hand creative brain which is on the right side will get stimulated. For natural left handers, practice with right hand will activate right side of the brain and for right handers, left side of the brain will get stimulated. This will reduce the learning time significantly. In our school about 100 students of classes 3-9 are doing wonders in their studies", he maintained.

They can set the Rubik cube in 45 seconds, can tell 100 square roots in one minute, recite 700 slokas of Bhagavad Gita and 100 poems from Vemana Satakam and write 100 tables in 45 minutes in a random order which needs 1000 calculations in that time. All these could be possible through writing with both the hands and able to stimulate their brain, he asserted.

He did a lot of research on the subject and designed many novel tools that help practice handwriting in several languages. Different types of slates have been made in all Indian languages to help the learners to practice on them. Writing desks were also designed for practice.

"The concept behind this was that anything practiced for 21 days continuously becomes a habit – either good or bad. Accordingly, these slates are designed and the exercise on them will also improve muscle memory", he averred. These desks and slates will be available online through platforms like Amazon soon so that it can benefit many people.

Giving tips for exam goers, he said that holding of pen is crucial in writing comfortably. One should hold it in 60-90 degrees angle for comfort. Letters should be medium in size and not too big or too small. The spacing is also crucial and in between words space must be in the size of letter 'o'. "By practicing good handwriting and activating right brain which is creative one having more grasping capacity, wonders can be made", Raju disclosed.