Cursive Handwriting: Who needs it?
Cursive handwriting was embraced by many before the growing use of technology. Is there still a need for it to be taught in the classroom?
Although Massachusetts and California consider cursive writing important enough to re-include into instructional curriculum, 41 states including Georgia don't require students to learn the style of writing. Yet, as a classroom teacher in Georgia, I can't help but ponder over the question each year of whether or not I should embed the concept of cursive handwriting into my lessons although it is not required.
As a I grew up, I can recall being taught cursive handwriting and using it each day in my school manuscripts and everyday life, but of course, times have changed. The use of technology has heightened and grown more imperative in education. Therefore the use of print has become quite sufficient in most if not all matters, leading to longhand not being included as a part of Georgia State Curriculum Common Core Standards for K-12.
I value cursive handwriting, maybe in part because I was taught it in school and scholars used it, and I do want my own children to know how to write in cursive, yet, I wonder if I would be placing a hindrance on the limited English proficient students in my classroom, who are already challenged with learning to read English print, if I added cursive writing into my lessons.
All the while, I don’t want to feel guilty for not embracing a skill that has been highly respected and valued throughout time. Neither do I want to give a disservice to my students by not teaching a skill that could be considered relevant and honorable, or the contrary, wasting effort on a skill that won't be. I’m interested in knowing what the community thinks.
Has technology really taken away the need for cursive writing?
Is cursive handwriting just an art form?
Is teaching longhand unnecessary for limited English proficient students?
Should time be spent on teaching keyboarding skills rather than cursive writing?
Please leave your thoughts and comments in our comment box below.
Should cursive still be taught in schools?
Tell us in the comments.
BigCountry
10:46 pm on Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Cursive writing is a dying facet. If you read any documents or anything else they are all in print. The only time cursive writing is used is to sign a signature, and a lot of people are getting away with just some type of scribble LOL
Tonya Grace
8:14 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
LOL-- yes, I've seen some funny signatures, but I can't blame them maybe they never learned cursive.
Kate Gladstone
1:47 am on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Handwriting matters ... But does cursive matter?
Research shows: the fastest and most legible handwriters avoid cursive. They join only some letters, not all of them: making the easiest joins, skipping the rest, and using print-like shapes for those letters whose cursive and printed shapes disagree. (Citation on request— and there are actually handwriting programs that teach this way.)
Reading cursive still matters -- this takes just 30 to 60 minutes to learn, and can be taught to a five- or six-year-old if the child knows how to read. The value of reading cursive is therefore no justification for writing it.
Remember, too: whatever your elementary school teacher may have been told by her elementary school teacher, cursive signatures have no special legal validity over signatures written in any other way. (Don't take my word for this: talk to any attorney.)
Yours for better letters,
Kate Gladstone — CEO, Handwriting Repair/Handwriting That Works
Director, the World Handwriting Contest
Co-Designer, BETTER LETTERS handwriting trainer app for iPhone/iPad
http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com
Tonya Grace
8:18 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Thanks for the comment and info, Kate. I appreciate it, and I agree about the validity of a signature--I've seen people just use an X normally those who can't read or write.
OT for Children
9:28 am on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Good opinion based article. What is it lacking? The mounting research and evidence citing how imperative handwriting and graphomotor skills are for the brain and learning. Opinion means nothing without evidence.
So who needs it? EVERYONE. If they want to learn and develop their brain.
(and to the writer above, cursive shouldn't be taught to a 5 or 6 year old, brain visual motor skills do not mature until ages 8-9!)
Tonya Grace
8:41 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Thank you for the comment, OT for Children, I have found research for and against cursive handwriting being a necessity. Remember, I never said "handwriting", it was "cursive" handwriting that was the subject. Children write in my classroom every day and it is apart of the standards. Advocates against “cursive handwriting” argue that it takes too long to read and that it is often not very legible; however, cursive handwriting to me is valuable enough to include in the curriculum; needless to say tho, enough people didn't think so; therefore, it's not included in the curriculum of 41 states.
Kelly Herndon
12:44 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Great article in Wall Street Journal, Oct. 5, 2010 on brain research confirming value of printing vs keyboarding to intellectual growth, printing, cursive and otherwise...
"Recent research illustrates how writing by hand engages the brain in learning. During one study at Indiana University published this year, researchers invited children to man a "spaceship," actually an MRI machine using a specialized scan called "functional" MRI that spots neural activity in the brain....
It seems there is something really important about manually manipulating and drawing out two-dimensional things we see all the time," says Karin Harman James, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience at Indiana University who led the study..."
"And one recent study of hers demonstrated that in grades two, four and six, children wrote more words, faster, and expressed more ideas when writing essays by hand versus with a keyboard..."
Tonya Grace
8:42 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Hey Kelly, thanks for responding, but remember, the subject was "cursive" writing, not handwriting. I agree handwriting is very important. My concern is time spent teaching students to write in cursive.
Kenny Oh
5:12 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
If I met someone who couldn't read or write in cursive I would assume that he or she was the product of some greatly inferior education system... I mean how long does it take to learn? Just TEACH it! and early too... you have to take advantage of the fact that young children will pretty much do whatever you tell them. so teach them some latin too.
Tonya Grace
8:46 pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Thanks Kenny, be careful though, that would mean that 41 states have an inferior educational system. Students of today are technology students. We weren't. It could take a long time to teach a child who is use to writing in print how to properly form cursive letters and words that are legible, especially when in everyday life they are using print and reading print. The Latin idea is on the mark! A lot of my students are learning Latin now, and they come to me very excited about it.
Kenny Oh
10:36 am on Friday, October 14, 2011
haha, yeah i was being a bit obtuse.