It may be Halloween, but it’s time to no longer be scared of cursive. I know I have visited this topic several times before, and I know that some states have removed cursive handwriting requirements from their curricula altogether. But I come here to praise cursive handwriting, not to bury it.
According to a recent policy brief from The National Association of State Boards of Education, cursive handwriting benefits…
- Both cognitive and motor skills development
- Literacy development
- Brain development
- Memory
- Written expression
Furthermore, cursive handwriting instruction is beneficial to many students with disabilities, precisely because of all the related benefits already listed above.
Keyboarding skills may be important in the digital age, but according to research, handwritten compositions tend to be longer and more profound. And handwritten notes show better content comprehension than notes taken by students with computers.
I never used to picture myself as old school, but I’m beginning to think our rush to make everything shiny and new in the classroom is wrongly leaving some good ideas behind, cursive being one of them. What do you think?
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I have mixed feelings about cursive. On the one hand, many adults never use it. Everything we do is typewritten on a computer or phone, etc. However, there are many people who writ in cursive and our kids need to be able to read it. I don’t know the answer, but I look forward to the discussions that are sure to come on this blog.
I think it should still be taught…for the reasons listed in the article AND because I feel it is almost a lost art. I recently signed my name on some forms and the person with me commented on how nice my handwriting was…and how legible! I still love to sit and doodle and practice my name in cursive…I find it very therapeutic. And, most ironic, I even practice it with my stylus on my iPad!
I am saddened that cursive writing is disappearing from classrooms. Research shows the benefits of it. Why is it being disregarded?
Question: When papers ask for a signature, what will people who do not know how to write in cursive do? Just print their names? Several forms still ask for both a printed name AND a signature.
Cursive writing should not become a thing of the past!