I came across this article recently:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/science/whats-lost-as-handwriting-fades.html?referrer=

I was fascinated to read how important handwriting appears to be for children as part of process of learning to read. I’ve always felt that writing music notation is a really helpful way of learning to read music, especially pitch notation.

In my ukulele whole class lessons, each child brings a notebook and pencil with them. The temptation is to provide pre-printed sheets that they can stick into their books – chord charts, songs, rhythm patterns, and indeed I do give these out from time to time. But I also have them copy chord charts from the board, without a ruler, so that they learn to create a table with four horizontal and four vertical lines, mark in the string letters and position the “blobs” for the fingers “Miss, that’s a three-by-three grid you’ve just drawn” -YES! Connections! Accurate observation and interpretation!

The same in recorder, keyboard and clarinet lessons; “How many lines do we have to draw?”; “Where is letter E?” or middle C, or B, or whatever is the important letter for the lesson.

“Hands on” is just so important; not for nothing do we say “he’s got a good grasp of that topic” or “I don’t seem to have a grip on that”

The notebook becomes their personal tutor book too.