Word Processor Seen as Tool in Teaching Children How to Write

Word processing with a computer is not the same as handwriting on the wall, or any other kind of handwriting, for that matter.

It’s a powerful writing tool that “can change the way kids learn to write,” says Mari Endreweit, who has been a consultant on child development as well as on computers in the classroom.

According to an old proverb, the art of writing is rewriting, and Endreweit believes word processing reduces children’s resistance to rewriting by removing a major obstacle--handwriting.

“Handwriting has always been a painful affair for many children, and for teachers, too,” says Endreweit, a teacher at New York’s Bank Street College of Education. “In many cases, they could scarcely respond to the child’s ideas, because they could barely make out the words.

“The kids got discouraged and tended to think of writing assignments only in terms of “how many words should it be?’ Now they don’t have to worry about joining letters or forming a perfect ‘d.’

“They can see their work up there on the screen looking like and adult product, and they’re encouraged to write more.”