by April B. Whitlock, Owner & CEO of Fundanoodle (www.fundanoodle.com)
I’ve spent the last two days at the North Carolina Association of Elementary Educators conference. It’s been a great (and confidence building) opportunity due to the overwhelming positive feedback to the Fundanoodle product. But one thing kinda of scares me. The fact that every single teacher who stopped by to check us out agreed that collectively we are raising a generation of children who cannot fully use their hands.
It’s not just the random educator who tells me about an isolated incident in the classroom of one student who cannot use scissors or properly hold a pencil. It’s EVERY Kindergarten teacher talking about the MAJORITY of the classroom. It doesn’t matter if they teach at a high-income school, a Title 1 school, a high-performing school or a struggling school. The onset of touchscreen technology and increasingly tech-savvy (and tech-focused) parents mean we are raising kids with one really, really strong index finger on their dominant hand as they swipe their way to learning.
Traditionally, pre-school was a time of active play that stimulated the development of hand strength and muscle skills. Now private school J-K teachers tell me that the parents want to know why Johnny is spending time cutting and ripping and pasting when he should be learning on the computer or iPad. Schools are holding parent education seminars to explain why hand strength is critical to future educational success because teachers are witnessing deteriorating core strength and motor skill development. Weekday school teachers tell me how scissors have been banned in the classroom because Little Suzy got a hair cut by her classmate last year. It’s devastating to hear this for many reasons (and not the least of these is that Fundanoodle makes scissors that do not cut hair - but I digress). Fine motor skills, hand strength, using all five fingers are basic skills that humans need. It’s not a “handwriting vs. keyboarding” argument. It’s a “does-your-child-struggle-to-tie-shoes-or-button-shirts-or-snap-pants-on-their-own” argument.
Granted it’s not a medical epidemic, but do we really understand the long term ramifications for undeveloped hand strength? How much longer does it take your musical protégée to master her instrument? Is your budding artist hindered because it hurts her hand to hold a paint brush too long? Are there impacts on the performance of your future All-Star athlete if his hands are not fully developed? Is your future brain surgeon developing the fine-motor skills and finger strength needed to one day save a life? And, honestly, if you need strong hands to play the piano wouldn’t that infer that you need strong hands to effectively use a keyboard?
Don’t get me wrong – I love my iGadgets and I understand that because of technology my children will have educational opportunities I never dreamed possible. And, trust me, I get the allure of the screen. Even though I own a company that touts active learning, I’m as guilty as the next Mom of turning on the minivan DVD for a quiet ride, handing the fussy 3 year old the phone or turning on a movie so I can have a moment to make dinner. But, I’ve quickly learned that if a child is directed to something with a kinetic stimulation ( I Can Pound! or I Can Build!) most pre-schoolers will forget anything screen related and engage. Further proof that children are programmed to use all 10 fingers on both hands!
I’ve spent the last two days at the North Carolina Association of Elementary Educators conference. It’s been a great (and confidence building) opportunity due to the overwhelming positive feedback to the Fundanoodle product. But one thing kinda of scares me. The fact that every single teacher who stopped by to check us out agreed that collectively we are raising a generation of children who cannot fully use their hands.
It’s not just the random educator who tells me about an isolated incident in the classroom of one student who cannot use scissors or properly hold a pencil. It’s EVERY Kindergarten teacher talking about the MAJORITY of the classroom. It doesn’t matter if they teach at a high-income school, a Title 1 school, a high-performing school or a struggling school. The onset of touchscreen technology and increasingly tech-savvy (and tech-focused) parents mean we are raising kids with one really, really strong index finger on their dominant hand as they swipe their way to learning.
Traditionally, pre-school was a time of active play that stimulated the development of hand strength and muscle skills. Now private school J-K teachers tell me that the parents want to know why Johnny is spending time cutting and ripping and pasting when he should be learning on the computer or iPad. Schools are holding parent education seminars to explain why hand strength is critical to future educational success because teachers are witnessing deteriorating core strength and motor skill development. Weekday school teachers tell me how scissors have been banned in the classroom because Little Suzy got a hair cut by her classmate last year. It’s devastating to hear this for many reasons (and not the least of these is that Fundanoodle makes scissors that do not cut hair - but I digress). Fine motor skills, hand strength, using all five fingers are basic skills that humans need. It’s not a “handwriting vs. keyboarding” argument. It’s a “does-your-child-struggle-to-tie-shoes-or-button-shirts-or-snap-pants-on-their-own” argument.
Granted it’s not a medical epidemic, but do we really understand the long term ramifications for undeveloped hand strength? How much longer does it take your musical protégée to master her instrument? Is your budding artist hindered because it hurts her hand to hold a paint brush too long? Are there impacts on the performance of your future All-Star athlete if his hands are not fully developed? Is your future brain surgeon developing the fine-motor skills and finger strength needed to one day save a life? And, honestly, if you need strong hands to play the piano wouldn’t that infer that you need strong hands to effectively use a keyboard?
Don’t get me wrong – I love my iGadgets and I understand that because of technology my children will have educational opportunities I never dreamed possible. And, trust me, I get the allure of the screen. Even though I own a company that touts active learning, I’m as guilty as the next Mom of turning on the minivan DVD for a quiet ride, handing the fussy 3 year old the phone or turning on a movie so I can have a moment to make dinner. But, I’ve quickly learned that if a child is directed to something with a kinetic stimulation ( I Can Pound! or I Can Build!) most pre-schoolers will forget anything screen related and engage. Further proof that children are programmed to use all 10 fingers on both hands!
RSS Feed