Tammi is a Girls Inc. volunteer and proud mother of two daughters.

My 8th grade daughter recently brought home an article she picked up in school about kids using typing/keyboarding to learn versus writing with a pen and paper. I read over the article and to my surprise, I agreed with it. It was interesting to read about how children retain more information if they handwrite a lesson out versus using the computer to get it done quicker.

My oldest daughter, who is now a senior in high school, struggled early in school with reading and writing. In first grade, her teachers labeled her as having a learning disability because she was not able to keep up with the pace of the other students in her class. They did not take into consideration that she had been in an Italian school for three years prior, speaking and writing Italian. English was actually her second language at the time she began school. (My husband served in the U.S. Air Force, moving us to Italy for three years.)

She carried this title of being "learning disabled" until the fifth grade. We, as parents, finally decided we had enough. I knew she did not have trouble learning and she definitely didn't have problems writing or reading when we did homework together in the evenings. I decided to purchase a journal for my daughter in order to give her the opportunity to practice writing. I told her she needed to handwrite her thoughts, feelings, and ideas in that journal every evening.

She resisted at first and even shed a few tears because she didn't want to do it. We shared with the school what we were making my daughter do at home and they commended our efforts. What they didn't know was how life changing this would be for my daughter. In spite of all the programs they put her in, all the extra support, help, and special attention she was given in school, she still struggled with her lessons. We continued assisting her with homework and having her write in her journal daily.

She began writing sentences, which turned into paragraphs, which turned into pages, which turned into chapters, which turned into her first novel, and is now her fifth novel. Her grades went from C's and D's to a now A and B honor roll report card. Her chosen career path is that of a screenplay writer and producer. What changed you asked? Her ability to create, think, and process ideas on paper. There wasn't a sense of hurry, or frustration with hitting the correct keys.

As she completes college applications, we are searching out schools that offer handwritten applications that can be mailed in with an essay versus those that can be completed via computer. I find it much more creative and thought provoking when we can hold the pen in our hand and fill out the paper in our own timing, without the pressure of having to use the space bar and backspace buttons frequently.

My challenge to you is to put the keyboard aside, grab yourself a nice writing instrument and a pretty piece of paper, and let the inspiration flow from them. You'd be surprised at what your mind can retain and create.