Recently, I noticed several articles on reintroducing cursive writing to school aged children. Thinking this is an interesting topic, I thought I would add a few words to this ongoing debate.
Why Cursive Writing?
History indicates that, cursive writing was introduced into the schools back in 1850’s. Major historical documents are written in cursive writing and today’s students apparently cannot read them or have difficulty reading them.
Baby Boomers learned both block and this type of writing in schools, and it was used throughout their education. There were no laptops or computers back then except for huge mainframes. Even in college, students were given a blank blue booklet to write their essay answers in which were collected at the end of the testing session. Now college tests are online so keyboard knowledge is essential for all students.
One Millennial interviewed for this story, had a brief cursive writing course in second or third grade. Over the winter holiday vacation they were given homework sheets to take home and practice writing in. I guess, the parents were to fill in and help their children learn this. That was the only time in school this person had cursive writing instruction. I remember thinking that really wasn’t enough time to practice and comprehend this topic.
When asked if this person could read an old historical document, they replied probably part of it. This person also has a distinct handwriting sample which looks like a scribble to me. No, not quite an “X” marks the spot but difficult to read.
Benefits of Learning this Form of Writing
My research indicates, that cursive writing helps with developing fine motor skills and hand to eye coordination. It also helps with the thinking, language, and working memory of the brain. It allows one to focus on the content of the writing since it takes longer to do.
Ending Notes on Today’s Blog
In conclusion, several states are putting cursive writing back into the school curriculum. However, not everyone agrees with this. Some people think it is too outdated and not a good use of students’ time.
Now a days, everyone is using code A1 to write papers, etc., so the learning the computer keyboard is still important. Before computers, students learned the keyboard through typing classes. Learning a keyboard on a old manual typewriter has left me with very loud computer keyboard taps. Typing students pressed down hard on the keyboard or else it would not move the key up enough to print. But, that’s another story.
So, where to begin on and end another, that is the decision to be made in schools. And, of course, the cursive controversary continues on.
Resource Sites: wwedweek.org, www.nea.org, Herndon Patch online news and www. lifeunfolds.com