Cursive handwriting

I recently read an article that said schools may not be teaching cursive anymore due to keyboarding, texting, etc. being the main manner of communicating. It stated that printing would still be taught and cursive would be introduced but not emphasized. I am distraught over this. Could it be possible that my grandchild would grow up and not be able to read the journaling in his scrapbook?
I have been a bank teller (checking signatures in the old days) and a calligrapher most of my life. I love to look through old recipes and pick them out by the handwriting of old friends. Handwriting is such a personal thing!
Anyone have any comments or thoughts on this subject? I'd love to hear them. Pros and cons.

Cursive hasn't been taught in schools here for near on 30 years.

It's a basic printing style with exageratedly rounded O,E's and short sticks on the letters.

I can't stand it. I find that people in thier 20's write like 5 year olds.

They teach cursive in school here in the 3rd grade. It was funny when my dd was learning last year, I was like "Oh yeah! So that's how you make a cursive Q!"

I've had the these are the cursive letter shapes discusion with DD already. Just because it's not taught here it does not mean it's not regularly used.

It ticks me off my neice can't read her grandmothers handwriting. My mother prints clearly with cursive capitols. It's very easy to understand and my neice can't understand it because she never learnt cursive.

I can't write in cursive on my board in high school because kids can't read it. Not that I don't write neat, they just never learn it. It's so unimportant in our teach-to-the-test education system that cursive is moving toward obsolete. SAD

We teach cursive briefly so that kids can read it and write it. It isn't the priority that it used to be because the standards in all subjects take so much time to teach. I think they should be able to read it, but I can see the writing on the wall and cursive is slowly disappearing.

Don't even get me started! LOL! I was just having this discussion with my husband the other day and my coworker yesterday! It's sad to think that my grandchildren won't be able to read my handwritten journaling. And, probably, cursive will be studied in college like hieroglyphics or something. Crazy...

I think it's sad that cursive may be going away. But, having a son with dysgraphia, I gladly welcome the technology that allows him to communicate in writing (he is unable to write cursive due to a hand abnormality). He is far from alone, too. Adults who appear to write in "chicken scratch" probably have dysgraphia themselves. It's more common than you would think.

It is sad, too, that perhaps the cursive in our scrapbooks cannot be read in the far-distant future. But, I have old scrapbooks handed down where the cursive is nearly impossible to read. In fact....if you've ever been to the archives in Washington D.C., the cursive in the documents of the 1700's is very difficult to read.

What's sad, is that, even though they briefly teach it here, it's so brief that DSS claims they didn't teach all the letters. What's worse, is that his printing is horrible too, and when we brought that up at his parent teacher conference, we were told to not worry too much about it, because of the trend towards electronic communication. What irritates me more, is that even though schools have this attitude, my DSS hasn't learned typing either. I remember starting that in like 3rd or 4th grade also.

My DSS is finishing 6th right now.

I homeschool my kids, my 7yr old ds said he would like to learn to write cursive. My mom and other family members forget that they have not learned it yet and sign cards in cursive. He wants to learn, so I said I would teach them, but they still need to master their printing also.

My oldest daughter went to public school and wasn't taught it. Now she is an adult and can't read the cards she receives for her birthday, etc. I homeschooled my other children and I made a point of teaching them cursive.

Wow! How sad. I mean I typically either type or print these days, but cursive can be such a pretty form of print! I can't imagine not having it around!

it's absolutely TRAGIC, IMHO. And I believe they will live to regret it.

In the UK they have never taught cursive writing, just joined-up handwriting, but my m-i-l is American and I can hardly read birthday cards etc that she sends

• CommaHolly Said:

I think you're right. If I had a child and she wasn't being taught cursive in school, I'd make it a point to teach it at home. That's how I eventually learned long division - the school was teaching some funky method, and my parents sat me down and taught me long division, which worked like a dream. Mother pointed out that the answer was what you were after and it didn't matter that much how you got it. I got partially graded down a few times for not doing the calculation correctly, but since I did arrive at the right answer the teacher had to give me credit. She probably hated teaching new math also.

And regarding the adults who don't know cursive, it's never too late to learn!!

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all the feedback. Holly - do you stay up all night, lol??

it's not just the lack of cursive (which they need to learn, how do you take notes printing?? -- cursive is quicker). But it's also the overall sloppiness of their handwriting. Are computers here to stay -- duh YES. But still you need the handwritten word.

I've read articles about the scoring of the 3rd part of the SATS. Cursive scores about 15% higher. Why???? But the people behind the study feel that they express themselves better. Just some food for thought.

Of course soon, they will probably be doing the essay on a computer terminal with spell check, etc!

Actually they do. Just signed DS up to take them in June of this year. He was told to bring, calculator, CD player with batteries and 2 pencils. But he'll be doing almost all of it on the comp.

They dont hardly even use textbooks anymore, their tests are on the comp and EMAILED to the teachers! No papers required! I tell him to print them out in case the comp at school fails, then he has proof he did the assignment. I dont like the changes in the educational system today.

• scribe Said:

YES I work overnight several nights a week,,,,,and even on my days off, my days and nights are so messed up, I don't know whether I am coming or going

• ncyankee Said:

my son already does this. ALL his homework, tests, and quizzes in college are done on a computer and emailed to the prof.

Times are always changing. Somethings go out quietly, and others have people kicking and screaming. My mother was a teacher and the things she taught her kiddos so many years ago seem less important to survive in today's world. We now spend quite a bit of time on technology, safety, bullyproofing etc. that some things must go out the door. Not everyone agrees on what should be ousted. That is for sure.

Teaching cursive hand writing hasn't technically been in our cirriculum for years but teachers continue to teach it in context (not as a seperate "subject").

I don't think we will ever totally lose it because it is more efficient/faster to link letters together and not everything is done on computers; I still post-it-note my desk to death and I can't type those out!

Be sure to teach your kids at home so it doesn't get lost!

• ScrappyMama6 Said:

he doesn't need to print out every assignment, just tell him to e-mail them to himself. Then they're online, no matter what computer he uses. It's much more efficient - no carrying around tons of papers OR worrying about backing up your laptop/jump drives/etc.

I believe it's a sign of the times. Both my children do not cursive write. They have LD, and it was hard for them to get the hand of it. They were told that printing was much easier for them to learn, than cursive. My DH has really bad cursive writing, but his print is great. As for me, I do a little of both

All of DS's college classes rely on the computer for communication, testing, homework, etc. It's more cost effective for the school.

I have noticed that the more I use my computer at work (and I use it 8 hours a day), the worse my cursive gets! If I have to handwrite a note to someone at work, I find that I have to slow down and print it. Otherwise, it looks like a doctor's perscription

Oh, I totally agree,,,,,,my handwriting used to be so pretty that I was told I no longer needed to take penmanship in school,,,,,I could read a book instead,,,,,

now it's chicken scratch

• scribe Said:

I read a similar article recently. It does seem strange not to have young people learn cursive...even if they won't use it much. I know cursive writing is different depending on who wrote it but I'm trying to picture in my mind the printing of friends and family and can't conjure up many.... I'd suppose they would be different though.

• Ms Jackie Said:

My son was allowed to never have to learn curseive due to his ld's. his printing is atrocious though and he, as an adult, learned that he had to 'do better' because of the nature of his job...so he does it ok (at work)..

• ScrappyMama6 Said:

I am with you. I don't like the changes in the education system either. My girls are older and know cursive. But, like everyone else all homework is done on the computer. I know I will probably be the one teaching my 4 yr old cursive. Another thing to battle with the school systems, like I do calculators for elem. aged kids. I have been fighting that one for a long time. My argument to that is what do these kids do when the computer goes down. They can't even count back change!! That goes the same for some of the older generation.

My daughter has dysgraphia, too. She's 14 now, and it helped her SO much to learn to write cursive. Helped her improve her reading skills, too. and it's not as frustrating or painful for her to write since she can write most words without having to pick up the pen till the end of the word. They did teach it at her school, but I'd already gone over most of the letters with her while we were homeschooling, at the advice of a dyslexia expert. bad idea to get rid of teaching it altogether.

When I questioned why my ds was not being taught how to tell time on a face clock, in kindergarten, I was told that digital clocks were all he needed to know how to read. I was unhappy with the answer and discussed it with the teacher. Bottom line: they don't need to teach the kids how to read a sundial anymore or how to use an abacus because that type of technology is obsolete. Same excuse was given for cursive writing.
I think it is wrong.

Nobody has used an abacus in a thousand years, for god sakes,,,,,,people STILL WRITE CURSIVE.

I brought this up to my dh....he said, "Good, cursive is stupid anyway".

Thinking back, my dad never wrote in cursive, neither did my brother. My mom, sister and I did (and still do).

I have NEVER seen my dh write anything in cursive with the exception of scratching out his signature.

I'm curious how many men do it?

Here's a bit of a different angle-Someone before mentioned that it's difficult to read cursive writing from the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. I do agree that it is sometimes a challenge to read handwritten script from those times. But think of this: If our young people don't learn at least the basics of cursive writing, how will they ever be able to read their Mother's cards and notes, or perhaps even their parent's or grandparent's birth certificates and other genealogical documents? How will they decipher the hand written journals of...ooh, say...Martin Luther King Jr. or even handwritten notes from their boss? All these documents will NEVER be available via computer. The amount of information is simply too vast and the cost of converting them to electronic form will be prohibitive as well. Aside from the fact that not everyone has personal computer access despite the common opinion that everyone does. The library isn't open 24/7 and if it were, many libraries don't have funding to maintain computers for public use. Some American towns still don't have libraries believe it or not! I think converting our education system to a totally electronic platform also further disenfranchises the majority of the student body, which is made up of young people already disadvantaged in some way or another. Sorry for the dissertation girls, but doing away with cursive writing plain bites, in my opinion!

• AndieBee Said:

Well-stated & totally agree!

Also, it's so unfortunate how much political and administrative pressure teachers are under these days - even if a teacher wanted to teach cursive, for instance, there's a good chance he or she would be reprimanded for doing so if caught. It's so sad...I think schools should be controlled locally rather than nationally - as it is now, the kids just get caught up in a nasty web of bureaucracy. humph.

Good topic.
Not sure I have anything else to add. I think it's a travesty also! Everyone should be taught cursive, even if they don't use it every day.

I am a public school teacher in MD and we still teach cursive

My oldest is now in college. When she was in 6th grade, her teacher asked parents our opinion on teaching cursive, because it was not in the required curriculum.

I taught my kids. Both my kids could write their own names in cursive in kindergarten.
They don't write it much, but can 'basically' read it.

I think it's very sad that future generations might not be able to read parents scrapbooks. But at the same time I honestly think its silly that we were ever forced to learn cursive at all. It's NOT faster. It just looks pretty. Some guy decided kids needed to learn in copper script. I think it's a bit rediculous.
Also I mean, I can read and write cursive, but most individuals cursive finds it's own style that's hard for other's to read anyways!
Anyways. I'm gonna be homeschooling, so. lol. If my kid wants to learn it I'll teach it. If not, no big!

I just want kids to learn to write so I can READ it! I teach junior high and I have some kids whose writing/printing/scratch is TOTALLY unreadable. I feel bad but if I can't read it they're not getting credit. Often I ask kids to read it to me and THEY can't even read their own writing!

As for calculators- NO WAY NO HOW until my students can PROVE that they can add/subtract/multiply/div ide/do positive and negative numbers and decimals. THEN they can do it. I don't allow them in my classroom and all students must show ALL work. I get LOTS of flack from parents for this but if I don't make it the same for all kids then I am "playing favorites" and I don't even WANT to go there!

• seaexplore Said:

As a former Jr. High and High School teacher and current college instructor, I you.

Get this - in college Calc I and Calc II (yes, the HARD stuff) we don't allow ANY calculators on quizzes/tests. Why? Because too many HS teachers let them use it for EVERYTHING and now they can't do fractions/trig/simple graphs w/o them. It's a rude awakening for most of them.

On the subject of cursive, I don't use it. I print because it's neater. Now, I'd be really sad if I couldn't read it, because the older generations still use that and I'd hate not to be able to read what they wrote. Unfortunately, I totally understand why teachers aren't teaching it if it's not a required part of the curriculum - those state tests (and prepping for them) take a LOT of time!

I never knew that kids aren't taught cursive handwriting anymore. I'm simply appalled. Any time I have to write a note to anyone, its done in cursive. I never once considered that someone wouldn't be able to read it (above grade 6 anyway). I was told that I had beautiful handwriting, but its gone downhill since computers and carpel tunnel, but its still nice. Its such a shame how shoddy the education system is getting. My niece is 10 years old and can't even read a ruler for pete's sake. Its very frustrating because she wants to do crafts with me and we have to keep getting her mom to come and show her how.

On the topic of writing notes in cursive. I used to write all my notes for swaps in cursive.

I kept on getting little messages back indicating the recipient had never seen that style of writing before.

It took all of the fun out of it.

I cannot believe the response this topic got!! Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. Some of you have broadened my perspective. I forget how different things are in different countries. This site is such an amazing place! Unlike Facebook, all the comments were well thought out and polite. People on sb.com are very special!!!

• SuperAllyFan Said:

Another Brit here. That's what I used to think from reading American forums, but I believe that cursive and "joined-up" mean the same thing. I'll have to ask what my 7-y-o niece is being taught. I can remember being her age and suddenly deciding that I wanted to do my homework (a story about Pooh bear) in "joined-up" and getting into trouble because we hadn't been taught how to do it yet!

I never thought much of my joined-up hand-writing, but I've had lots of comments from people thinking it's pretty. DH makes me write all the cards - but I think that's just his excuse for being lazy!

I would be very sad to see cursive handwriting die out. Actually I don't think it will, because some people will want to write quickly, but they won't have learned how to do it the most efficient way. Not being able to write it is one thing, but not being able to read it is tragic.

I think as a whole - we need to get back to BASICS when teaching our children. I understand that technology is important - but we also need to teach the basics from Math to Literature to Sciences!!! This is absolutely ridiculous!!!

It saddens me that kids aren't taught cursive anymore. I was taught cursive and I worked really hard on it in elementary school. I also worked really hard on having nice printed writing because my mom always told me it was important for the future - it is!! How are these kids going to sign their own names if they don't know cursive? I am also shocked at how many kids in my dance classes can't read a clock with hands. I remember spending almost an entire school year learning how to tell time. These are all things that I will want my future children to learn!

That time thing is ridiculous. Analogue clocks are just as common as digital.