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It’s by Gary Varvoi. And it’s to entertain the reader.

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This was posted on April 21, 2016. Its by Gary Varvoi. It agrees with cursive writing. Its to entertain.

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This was posted in November 2012. Its by Dave Granlund http://www.davegranlund.com. Wld means would and nu means new. Its to entertain.

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This was posted on February 18, 2013. Its by Dave Coverly on speedbump.com. It agrees with cursive writing. The boy texts WTH which means what. The girl texts IDK which means I don't know. Its to entertain and inform.

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This was posted on July 14, 2011. Its by Bryant Arnold on CartoonaDay.com. It agrees with cursive. And is to entertain.

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This article was posted on October 3, 2016. It has not been revised. Its published by City Parent (cityparent.com). Its against cursive writing being taught in schools.Its to sell and persuade the reader.

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Various experts and educators have weighed in on the lasting benefits of cursive handwriting. Here are just a few of the benefits proponents of cursive writing point to.

"Cursive writing helps train the brain to integrate visual and tactile information, and fine motor dexterity," Dr. William Klemm said in an article in · Cursive writing stimulates the brain. Psychology Today. The skills developed from learning cursive writing cannot be replaced by using a keyboard. In addition, MRIs have revealed an interesting relationship between handwriting and the brain. The brains of people with good handwriting are more active in areas associated with cognition, language and executive function than the brains of those with poor handwriting.

· Cursive writing may promote focus. Writing things down by hand forces a person to slow down and formulate his or her thought. Handwritten notes may hold the advantage over computer-typed notes in terms of recollection of facts.

· Cursive writing may help students with dyslexia. Dyslexia is a language processing disorder that can hinder reading, writing, spelling and sometimes even speaking. According to the International Dyslexia Association, when writing cursive, the words jotted down become a unit, rather than a series of separate strokes, and that may contribute to better spelling. And since all lowercase cursive letters begin on the line, fewer of them are likely to be reversed.

The cons of cursive writing

There are various reasons why people think lessons in cursive writing are unnecessary.

· Cursive writing is only used in signatures. Cursive writing is seldom used except for signatures. Even then, e-signing and online transactions have removed the need to write in cursive.

· Typing on a keyboard should take precedence. Many parents and educators believe that cursive writing lessons do little to prepare young students for an increasingly digital world. Such opponents of cursive writing suggest keyboarding lessons should take precedence over teaching handwriting skills. Teachers have admitted that cursive writing lessons take a lot of time, and many simply cannot devote classroom time to them.

· Digital texts make it obsolete. Some argue that those who do not know how to read in cursive can never understand historical texts or early manuscripts. However, so much has been transcribed into digital texts that this argument is seen by many as outdated.

Cursive writing may be going the way of the dinosaur. But the debate about the value of cursive writing figures to continue.

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Pros and cons of cursive writing | City Parent

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Various experts and educators have weighed in on the lasting benefits of cursive handwriting. Here are just a few of the benefits proponents of cursive writing point to. "Cursive writing helps train the brain to integrate visual and tactile information, and fine motor dexterity," Dr. William Klemm said in an article in · Cursive writing stimulates the brain.

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This article was published on January 21,2017. It has not been revised. It disagrees with cursive writing being taught in schools. There were no errors. Its to persuade and inform the reader.

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This post is part of a new blog series where two authors present the pro and con side of a relevant topic - this week, that topic is whether or not cursive should be taught in school. If you like (or dislike) the format, or just want to get involved in the conversation, please leave a comment below or on our Facebook page!
Pro
by Rachael Tom
Is there a case for cursive? Common Core Standards no longer require students to learn cursive handwriting in an effort to save money and time. As of May 2016, only 15 states continue to include it in their Core Curriculum, leaving parents to create cursive clubs afterschool for students who want to learn. Although writing in print and typing may appear sufficient at face-value, cursive has been proven through numerous scientific studies to improve academic performance and manage dyslexia. Unlike computers, handwriting is accessible to all, while technology isn't. This form of writing is also what our country was founded on and without knowledge of it, deciphering historical documents becomes impossible. When it comes to personal safety, which is more difficult to forge: a cursive signature or a printed one?

Compared to print, the flow of cursive movements comes much more naturally to children, and compared to typing, engages far more cognitive skills. This cognitive development helps students reason, problem solve, conceptualize and make decisions as they get older. Fine motor skills such as coordination, muscle development and synchronization of hands and eyes, are also improved when writing cursive. Additionally, the letter strokes of writing cursive aids in the eyes' left-to-right movement for reading. Cursive is also efficient for note-taking because rather than a series of strokes, a word in cursive is one unit. "It's not a stop and start," Jan Olsen, founder of Handwriting Without Tears states, "Think of yourself in traffic: if you're stopping and starting... you don't do as well as if you can just move gradually down the road." This form of efficient note-taking helps students retain lecture information better than typing. The phrase, "Write it down or you'll forget it," is scientifically true. Neuropsychology shows that the act of listening and handwriting links the verbal and spatial processing regions of the brain, strengthening memory. This ability to transform lectures, thoughts and ideas into written words improves the overall quality of writing and syntax compared to those who type. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers Job Outlook, employers who require skilled writing have noticed that employees whose education relied on typing for written work have a decreased level of writing quality than other staff. With fine motor skill and cognitive development, efficient note-taking, strengthened memory and elevated writing quality, there is a positive correlation between handwriting and increased academic performance across all subjects.

When it comes to dyslexia therapy, cursive is instrumental in helping students read. Those with dyslexia find reading and writing challenging because their brain associates sounds and letter combinations inefficiently. Cursive engages multiple areas of the brain and muscles to help those with learning disabilities remember specific letters. Cathy Ruse, a parent to eight-year old Lucy states, "She would never be able to remember 'd,' but when she started sky writing 'd' and using all these muscles, it helped her brain remember." In addition, the mechanics of cursive teach dyslexic students how to group letters in proper order as one unit, unlike a group of spaced out letters (such as print), which causes dyslexic children to swap letters more frequently.

As of 2013, 79% of American homes had computers. Continuing handwriting instruction levels the playing field for students across all demographics. Those without regular access to technology may find it difficult to type all written work, however, those with access to computers can always handwrite. Despite the rise in technology in recent years, handwriting will always have an important place in this country. America was founded on documents written in cursive, and knowing cursive gives all Americans the ability to read the Constitution, Declaration of Independence and other invaluable literature. Cursive is not just a method of writing words: it is a beautiful method of communication with historical, scientific and educational importance to all.

Con
by Kacey Templin
As children, Millennials were taught how to write in cursive in grade school. Then, as these students progressed from elementary to middle school, cursive became less important, and typed documents were the standard. This coincided nicely with the introduction of the personal computer, and the importance of typing skills. By the time these children entered college, many had forgotten how to write in anything but script. It wasn't that these students were obstinate, cursive writing was simply not emphasized or valued. Cursive education has been made nearly obsolete with the emergence of the keyboard. When it comes to 21 st century skills, typing is "in," and cursive is "out."

Reading and writing are fundamental elements of learning. How children learn to read and write is changing, from books and chalkboards, to tablets and computer screens. The online world has become increasingly powerful, to the point that it invades nearly every part of our daily lives. Research conducted in 2015 by the Nielsen found that the average American adult spends over 11 hours a day in front of a screen. Humans and technology are so intertwined; it makes sense that typing skills would be elevated to the level that cursive skills once held.

In today's society, typing is the key to a multitude of jobs, as most now require some level of computer proficiency to succeed. Companies from banks to travel agents to retailers are increasingly shifting to the digital world, and need a computer-literate workforce to help them maintain their online presence. And a basic education in typing just won't do. Employers are much more likely to hire an experienced touch typist than a hunt-and-peck typist.

Some schools, believing that students are already learning to type at home, are foregoing typing classes. Just because children learn to type on cell phones and tablets at an early age, doesn't mean that they know proper typing skills. This assumption has led to a situation where students are coming into their classrooms without the keyboarding abilities they need, leaving the classroom equally unprepared for further educational or professional development. In this quickly shifting world, it just makes sense for schools to devote time to learning proper typing skills than to spend time learning a skill that, while beautiful, is essentially obsolete.

Typing also conveys information at a much faster rate than traditional writing. "What we want from writing ... is cognitive automaticity, the ability to think as fast as possible, freed as much as can be from the strictures of whichever technology we must use to record our thoughts," Anne Trubek, associate professor of rhetoric and composition at Oberlin College in Ohio, wrote some years ago. "This is what typing does for millions. It allows us to go faster, not because we want everything faster in our hyped-up age, but for the opposite reason: we want more time to think." Even when typing with just two fingers, the average typing speed is significantly faster than handwriting in all cases. Information can also be organized easier and disseminated quicker. It's much easier to email notes than it is to send them in the mail or hand them to the recipient in person the next time the sender sees them.

Typing is also less error focused than handwriting. If a mistake is made, students can easily undo or delete the problem and start over, and suggestions are given in applications like Microsoft Word. This can help the student master English skills, and the learning process can feel more rewarding.

Typing is an increasingly important skill that deserves more attention in today's technologically advanced society. Writing with a pen and paper is still important, but it is unnecessary to devote precious time to an archaic device employed by our forefathers. It is logical for schools to replace cursive classes with typing classes, as this prepares students for the jobs of the future.

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Pros and Cons Series Part 3: Should Cursive Be Taught in School?

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This post is part of a new blog series where two authors present the pro and con side of a relevant topic - this week, that topic is whether or not cursive should be taught in school. If you like (or dislike) the format, or just want to get involved in the conversation, please leave a comment below or on our Facebook page!

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This article was published on August 22,2019 and has been revised. Its for teaching cursive writing. Its form The Conversation, written by Hetty Roessingh. Also to inform the reader.

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Teaching connected-style handwriting, otherwise known as cursive handwriting, has fallen out of fashion on many school curricula. Older generations have sometimes been shocked that some younger people today can't sign their names on official documents or even read a handwritten note.

Canadian provinces have seen a decline in teaching and learning cursive. In Ontario schools, for example, teachers might introduce cursive, but it's not mandatory.

Such a development is reflective of larger trends of focusing less on teaching and assessing handwriting for itself - and more on what it's communicating.

Alberta's kindergarten to Grade 9 curriculum, for example, stipulates that students learn to "listen, speak, read and write" and also envisions outcomes that require printing, such as connecting prior ideas. But the curriculum doesn't mandate assessing printing skills themselves. In Alberta's 2018 new draft curriculum yet to be implemented, cursive is mentioned, but it's not identified as a competency.

Beyond a nostalgia for the pre-digital age, there are good reasons why cursive handwriting needs to make a comeback. As a researcher who has studied the relationship of handwriting to literacy, along with other scholars, I've found that developing fluency in printing and handwriting so that it comes automatically matters for literacy outcomes. Handwriting is also an elegant testimony to the human capacity for written literacy and an inspiring symbol of the unique power of the human voice.

Too difficult?

In today's age of digital literacy, many think handwriting is irrelevant altogether and a waste of precious instructional time. But touching a "d" on the keyboard, for example, does not create the internal model of a "d" that printing does. Keyboarding can wait.

Some may associate cursive with any number of outdated formats of handwriting that may have indeed seemed like a curse to master - loopy, twisty and hard on little hands in terms of muscle movement and also for visual memory.

But handwriting is only difficult if it is not automatic and, in turn, offloaded into long-term memory. Evolving research in the neurosciences underscores the importance of developing automatic skills in relation to what educational psychologists call the cognitive load.

Lessons learned from sports or the performing arts highlight the importance of establishing neuronal connections that promote fluid movement. With reading and writing, too, the keys to unlocking creativity or interpretation of story elements are also related to being able to write automatically.

Lack of fluency

By Grade 4, the cognitive demands of curriculum quickly accelerate: students must produce more, faster and better. Students who have fluent handwriting consequently have more working memory capacity available to plan, organize, revise and retrieve sophisticated vocabulary.

In a study I conducted with my colleagues of about 250 Grade 4 students in an Alberta school, we found that only about half of the students in our study achieved the necessary threshold in handwriting.

These children's handwriting was insufficient to communicate the complexity of vocabulary and ideas expected in Grade 4. Most students had vocabulary they were not able to mobilize onto the page. Students' failure to reach the required threshold of expression at this level is associated with a phenomenon recognized by researchers as the Grade 4 slump, a drop in outcomes from which students may not necessarily recover.

Improving literacy outcomes

Schools must and can do better, starting early. The key is not only teaching cursive, but a greater focus on all printing to cursive handwriting, spelling instruction and fine motor skills. These developments are essential for literacy foundations in the kindergarten to Grade 3 years.

Read more: Summer play that enriches kids' reading skills - 8 fine motor activities for little fingers

Building on these earlier skills, the key to improving academic outcomes in Grade 4 is teaching young students to connect their letters, resulting in a style of handwriting that is legible and fluent.

Steven Graham, an expert in special education, writing and literacy at Arizona State University, advocates for beginning with printing or "traditional manuscript" and transitioning to what he calls mixed mostly manuscript, whereby the child is learning a continuous stroke.

Similarly, an example from early literacy scholar Sibylle Hurschler Lichtsteiner of Germany shows a transition from manuscript letters to joined letters. It evolves naturally, with support, from children's initial style of print in grades 2 to 3. Once young students have internalized stable, mental models of letter shapes, they can generalize and recognize various types of cursive script with a bit of practice.

Power of the pen

Testimonies draw attention to the power of cursive handwriting. The film Saving Private Ryan made famous the historical Bixby Letter written to the mother of sons killed in the American Civil War. While historians debate whether Abraham Lincoln or a member of his staff actually wrote the letter, ongoing interest in the letter through history suggests how human handwriting conveys personhood, care and captures imagination.

In our own era, Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate ever, reminds us:

"One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world."

Although Yousafzai first came to global attention via blogging, through her book Malala's Magic Pencil she suggests a connection between the elegance and craft of a child's handwriting and their personal agency.

Yousafzai's handwriting has become a symbol of her advocacy. It demonstrates the power of written literacy, its intimate relationship to human identity and existence and its potential to remind the world of ultimate belief in human agency for good. Generations before, the young diarist Anne Frank did the same.

Our society impoverishes children if we don't learn from those who have gone before us. People who learn how to spell and to develop legible, fluent handwriting will have tools at their avail to confidently express themselves and circumvent inconveniences like losing power on one's digital device.

It's high time to put cursive skills back on the curriculum across Canada.

[ Like what you've read? Want more? Sign up for The Conversation's daily newsletter. ]

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Why cursive handwriting needs to make a school comeback

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Developing fluency in handwriting matters for literacy outcomes, and handwriting is an elegant testimony to the unique power of the human voice.

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The article was published in October 17,2016. It hasn't been revised. Its for teaching cursive writing in schools. Its from PBS News Hour written by Liana Heitin. Its also meant to inform and persuade the reader(ers).

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Why don't the common-core standards include cursive writing?

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Should schools teach cursive handwriting? The question is a polarizing one in the K-12 education world.

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This article was published in January 9,2019. It has not been revised. Its for teaching cursive writing. Its form TAHLEQUAH Daily Press, and written by Sheri Gourd. No spelling errors. Its to inform the reader.

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When Common Core standards were adopted by most states, teaching cursive writing was no longer a requirement.

But now, under the newer Oklahoma Academic Standards, third- and fourth-grade students "will correctly form letters in print and cursive and use appropriate spacing for letters, words, and sentences."

A writer produces cursive by keeping the utensil on the paper and connecting all or most of the letters in a word.

This style of flowing penmanship was favored in the time periods when writing was done with quills and dip pens. As technologies changed and improved - quick-drying ballpoint pens, typewriter, computers, etc. - the use of cursive began to decline. Some state education standards are now focused on teaching keyboard proficiency over cursive writing.

Locally, most parents commenting on a Facebook post inquiring about cursive writing favored their children's learning it.

"Kids were learning it at Lowery [School], and I'm glad they continued it, because Gracie writes better in cursive than print, so I'm glad it's an option for her," said Angela Lee, grandparent of elementary-aged children.

Paige Hill said if the school doesn't teach cursive to her daughter, Emaline, then she will do it herself.

"While I do believe it is a pertinent skill, and I'm not happy about it being taken from the curriculum, I realize I can't rely on schools to teach her everything. It's my job as a parent to ensure I've done the best I can to prepare her for adulthood, and that includes her signature," said Hill.

Sherry Been, professor in the Northeastern State University College of Education, said the topic of cursive writing does come up in one class she teaches, specifically when the writing process is discussed.

"It is a debated topic. There is research that argues that we need to read and write cursive to be able to read historical documents, or to fix them if they are ever damaged. There is also research that questions the relatedness of cursive writing and the digital platforms students are using," said Been.

She said that while some people feel failure to learn or use cursive would be a loss to the culture and history, it should be a consideration if the target audience is not able to read it. Been said she does not write in cursive on a chalkboard or whiteboard in class.

Only once in her five years at NSU has a student admitted to not being able to read cursive writing. The class was looking a piece of poetry that was written that way.

"We have the teacher candidates look at school districts and what the children have been exposed to. If they have not been exposed to cursive writing, then it's not an effective way of communicating," said Been.

Ashley Wade teaches English to grades 11 and 12 at Tahlequah High School, and she thinks cursive is important for a few reasons.

"First off, being able to sign their name is a plus. Most historical documents are in cursive, and if they can't read it, the students will lose the significance of those documents. Finally, if they plan on taking timed tests, like the ACT writing or any AP test, then cursive writing is faster and it could save them valuable time on those important tests," said Wade. "On a side note, I think cursive is an art form, just like painting or drawing."

Cursive may be similar to creating art in the ways it works the brain.

"Cursive writing can also be a very good thing for brain activity and development. It engages additional neurological pathways that printing does not. Further engaging pathways by writing, whether printing or cursive, can be very beneficial to learning," said Dr. Shannon Grimes, a local chiropractor.

In a 2013 "Psychology Today" article, William R. Klemm, a professor of neuroscience, also touts the biological and psychology benefits of learning cursive writing.

"The thinking level is magnified in cursive because the specific hand-eye coordination requirements are different for every letter in the alphabet. Handwriting dynamically engages widespread areas of both cerebral hemispheres," writes Klemm.

He also states that "because cursive letters are more distinct than printed letters, children may learn to read more easily, especially dyslexics."

Psychologically, Klemm claims learning cursive builds self-confidence, self-discipline, and attention and memory skills.

"I might add that once a child learns cursive, they no longer have to feel embarrassed over their ignorance at not being able to read notes from Grandma," wrote Klemm.

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Teachers, parents see value in cursive writing

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When Common Core standards were adopted by most states, teaching cursive writing was no longer a requirement. But now, under the newer Oklahoma Academic Standards, third- and fourth-grade students "will correctly form letters in print and cursive and use appropriate spacing for letters, words, and sentences."