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Just a few short years ago, cursive was something all kids were taught in schools. Not anymore! In many parts of the country, cursive is becoming a dead relic of the past. But Laci shows us why educators might be smart to keep teaching kids those loopy letters.

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https://thewritelife.com/cursive-writing-debate/

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The Great Cursive Writing Debate: Lost Art or Vital Skill?

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Where do you stand on the great cursive writing debate?

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http://theconversation.com/teaching-cursive-handwriting-is-an-outdated-waste-of-time-35368

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Considering the prevalence of typing, why waste time teaching children handwriting? Shutterstock

Many lament that the "good old days" when they were taught "the basics" at school have gone. When launching the National Curriculum in 2010, then-prime minister Kevin Rudd stated his objective was:

... without apology, to get back to the absolute basics on spelling, on sounding out letters, on counting, on adding up, on taking away. The basics that I was taught when I was at primary school a long time ago, and that's what our national curriculum is all about.

Many would include the teaching of handwriting on this list of "basics".

In the meantime, we have moved into the 21st century with new technologies permeating every aspect of our lives. No-one would think to ask the textile industry to go back to using the "Spinning Jenny", an antiquated machine that enabled the production of textiles, or decree that a laundry go back to washing clothes by hand. But they think it's okay to ask teachers to concentrate on industrial revolution "basics".

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There are obviously foundational skills and concepts that we all need to acquire. This includes knowing how our language works and the conventions of grammar and spelling, since these enable us to communicate more effectively.

But what of concerns about the poor handwriting skills of 21st-century students? English teacher Christopher Bantick, a self-confessed Luddite, wants computers and typing to be subjected to tests that will show that they improve learning - yet not the same for the pencil. He states:

I have just completed marking end-of-term secondary school exam papers. All were hand-written. The writing was somewhere between reasonable to poor. The reason? A lack of practice. Exams and handwritten answers are here to stay across Australia for the immediate future.

Why do students have to write answers with pens in exams? They are much faster at typing, so why are they not allowed to use their laptops in their final exams?

Most recently, the media reported a research project as having found that students who took notes by hand had better learning outcomes than those who took notes on a laptop. But when you actually go to the source of the study, the results indicate that learning outcomes were related to answering two different types of questions.

There were no differences in responses to factual questions (for example, "how long ago did the Inca civilisation exist?") between the two groups, but the handwritten note group did perform better on conceptual tasks ("In what ways do the Incas differ from the Mayans?"). The differences in performance were attributed to the type of notes taken.

Those typing took longer verbatim notes because they were fast and had time. Handwritten notes required more conceptual thinking because of the slowness of the process - the students had to be more selective in what they could write. You might think that the more detailed typewritten notes would enable the students to draw on more information to answer conceptual questions more effectively - but this did not happen. The study did not extend to discover why this might have occurred.

But short-term instruction on note-taking did not improve the performance of answering the conceptual questions for the typing group. Thus, it was the type of notes taken, not the medium, that was relevant. It leads us to think that effective instruction on note-taking and assessments that require short answers might have the potential to benefit typing computer users.

Criticisms of student handwriting centre on a perceived lack of ability to write legible cursive in test situations, as well as in everyday life. Yet when was the last time you wrote in cursive? While there is recognition that using a pencil or pen is a useful skill to have, spending school time on learning cursive, via careful copying of the letters and patterns, does not seem a particularly good use of school time.

Professor Amy Bastian from John Hopkins University, a motor neuroscientist, notes:

The more variety of things you do in the fine motor domain, the more variety of hand movements you make, will improve your dexterity.

But Bastian does not distinguish between writing in cursive or printing. Steve Graham, an education researcher from Arizona State University, takes it one step further and declares:

It really doesn't matter if it's manuscript or cursive.

So this is what it comes down to - a lack of practice, as Bantick stated. But not practice in using a pen or pencil. Some reports say students are not writing much in schools at all. They are filling in blanks on worksheets, one-sentence responses to set questions and only sometimes some short pieces summarising information.

21st-century learners need to have opportunities to write - to create narratives, with pens, pencils and keyboard. Not only will this give them the best chance of learning in different formats, it will enable them to become fluent in both. What they don't need is endless cursive practice on mindless sheets and being required to write in this mode for exams.

Further reading:
How much does handwriting matter? Handwriting's relevance in a digital world

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Teaching cursive handwriting is an outdated waste of time

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Many lament that the "good old days" when they were taught "the basics" at school have gone. When launching the National Curriculum in 2010, then-prime minister Kevin Rudd stated his objective was: ... without apology, to get back to the absolute basics on spelling, on sounding out letters, on counting, on adding up, on taking away.

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https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/education/2017/06/16/debate-swirls-whether-cursive-dying-art-crucial-skill-youths/394590001/

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CLOSE

As parent Jennifer Dixon remembers it, learning how to write in cursive was not smooth for either her son's class or their teacher last year.

"When my son was in third grade, the teacher gave up when half the class revolted and had meltdowns," she said.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Victoria Santellano is hoping her mother, Gloria, will write letters to her with all the loops and flair inherent in the handwriting when she goes off to college in Lubbock.

"She asked, 'Why if I can just text you?' " Santellano said of her mom. "But writing is more personal. And it's just better."

Writing in cursive - what parents might remember as repeating the same strokes for an eternity on Big Chief tablets - is no longer an ability for every student coming out of high school.

Currently, it is a skill that is taught in the third grade - and that's about to change - but then not necessarily continued in older grades.

Is it a valuable tool that young students are losing? Or is it more of a passé art that went away with aluminum lunch boxes and recess?

Elizabeth Marquez, the English Language Arts instructional officer for pre-kindergarten to second grade in the Socorro Independent School District, said cursive is an important skill that has traditionally been taught in third grade.

But the Texas state standard is changing starting in the 2018-19 school year.

"We are getting an update on the English Language Arts and Reading standards and they are bringing those (cursive) standards to the second grade and it will continue up through the fourth grade," Marquez said.

The instructor said cursive - much like teaching math and reading - needs to be reinforced by teachers in upper grades.

"The reason it's important is because students need it to have fluency in their writing and that affects their thinking process. If the child is struggling in handwriting fluency, they will struggle with putting their thoughts on paper with fluency," she said.

CLOSE

The educator said there is an inconsistency in skill levels in students of all ages, because some teachers might emphasize it while others might not.

"Absolutely, I think there should be an alignment. If we are teaching in lower grades, we should expect it to continue with that alignment to reinforce it," she said.

Marissa Thurman, a theater teacher at Del Valle High School, said she feels bad for high school students who struggle to write in cursive.

"Our senior English teacher at Del Valle requires his seniors to write in cursive or they do not receive credit for his class. And these kids need his class to graduate," she said. "It's so sad to see 17-year-olds panic because they never learned how to write in cursive."

Stephanie Montero, an occupational therapist for 22 years, got inspired to offer a handwriting camp for young children this summer after seeing so many students with poor skills, such as improper hand and body position for writing.

"It's important to get those developmental skills started at an early age," she said of the camp in July that targets ages 3 to 9.

"You need a good foundation to write efficiently. And so many don't have good posture or know how to hold their pencil. These are things we are going to target," she said.

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Victoria Santellano, 18, is an advocate for cursive writing. (Photo: RUDY GUTIERREZ/EL PASO TIMES)

Montero said she believes elementary teachers do try to teach their students these basic skills, but they don't have the time to go back and reinforce them or refine them.

"Those skills sound simple, but they are complex and required for higher learning," she said.

Montero said, in her experience, children who had struggles writing an essay during standardized tests were being referred to therapy in fourth and fifth grades. In a sense, the struggle to write interfered with learning and prevented students from demonstrating what they had learned.

"Some children don't have a disability: They just need reinforcement in writing instruction and to build those skills," she said.

In an informal El Paso Times survey on social media that asked people about the need for cursive, the responses were as varied as an individual's string of letters.

Jerusha Lang, an art teacher at Tornillo Intermediate and Junior High, said she believes it is an important skill that is lacking in students.

"The majority of historical documents are in cursive, yet my students can't read simple instructions on the board if I do not print," she said. "We are losing touch with our past."

Not all parents, however, see a benefit for their children to learn cursive.

John Fattorini sees it as a neutral skill.

"My children, ages 16, 18 and 20 years, learned it but do not use it. They sign their names in cursive because it's what we've been taught. A more useful skill would be credit management," he said.

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Some people believe cursive is an important skill that children should learn. Others think technology skills are more important. (Photo: PHOTO BY MARIA CORTES GONZALEZ/EL PASO TIMES)

Another parent, David Sanchez, who has an 11-year-old, also does not find much use for it.

"There's too much technology to stay behind. It's a new world and they need to keep up, so I don't think cursive writing is crucial," he said.

Most people agree cursive comes in handy at the doctor's office or when signing an official document. But some believe it also is a fun skill that is telling of the person.

Lang said, "Cursive is beautiful to look at and expresses the writer's personality. I love seeing children develop their personalities and take great pleasure in visually seeing self-expression."

Mari Sosa, instructional officer for English Language Arts in third to fifth grades in the Socorro school district, said her 19-year-old son was not able to communicate through technology when he was in basic training in the military.

"The only way to communicate was by writing letters. It was his personal stamp, if you will. I knew it was coming from him and nobody else because it was in his handwriting," Sosa said.

His cursive allowed her to hear his voice in his writing.

"It's hard to hear that when someone is typing or texting," she said.
María Cortés González may be reached at 546-6150; More comments from social media: mcortes@elpasotimes.com; @EPTMaria on Twitter.
Erin Flores Ritter: "My kiddo learned how to write in cursive at Guerrero. She was very excited to learn how to write in cursive. Her second and third grade teachers are what I consider 'old school.' Those teachers taught the way my sister and I were taught back in the day."

Eva Paniagua Valles: "I print these pages out and teach my kids. It's too bad this isn't important anymore in schools because no matter how technology grows we still need to sign our names on documents."

Blanca Venegas: "I think it should be taught! My husband was never taught to write in cursive and to me it's kind of strange. I love the elegance of it. It's romantic. Maybe teens will be drawn to it if you say it's vintage."

Christine Lopez: "I had to teach my sister who graduated last year from Chapin. I was disappointed. I think it is extremely important for them to learn. But yet again she didn't graduate learning how to write a resume, cover letter, etc. ... I keep up the skill and get complimented."

Marissa Vasquez Thurman: "I remember learning cursive in the fourth grade. My teacher, Mrs. Ortega, would give us a penmanship license if we mastered cursive. The license was a little piece of paper that was laminated and taped to the corner of our desks. If we got one that meant our cursive was good enough that we could begin turning our work in using an ink pen. Everyone wanted one so we worked our butts off!"

Leticia Alva: "Mine don't how to write in cursive but I don't know either. I see now how important it is. Kids that write in cursive write faster and nicer than kids that don't."
Make plans Handwriting Camp
Melissa Atkins Wardy: "We began this in home school this year. Yes, handwriting is important. It is a reflection of your personality and your connection to your words. As an adult, handwriting reflects professionalism. I do not demand perfect writing, but I do require a neat script for important assignments and personal correspondence."

When: Tuesdays and Thursdays, July 11-Aug. 3

Who: Ages 3-4 (1 to 2 p.m.), ages 5-6 (2 to 3 p.m.) and ages 7-9 (3 to 4 p.m.)

Where: 1510 N. Zaragoza Road, Suite A-12

Details: Children will learn proper hand and body position for writing, coloring, cutting strategies and handwriting instruction.

Registration: Deadline is June 30.

Cost: $20 per one-hour session. Recommended: eight sessions. $20 fee for materials.

Read or Share this story: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/education/2017/06/16/debate-swirls-whether-cursive-dying-art-crucial-skill-youths/394590001/

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Debate swirls on whether cursive is dying art or crucial skill for youths

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CLOSE As parent Jennifer Dixon remembers it, learning how to write in cursive was not smooth for either her son's class or their teacher last year. "When my son was in third grade, the teacher gave up when half the class revolted and had meltdowns," she said.

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http://info.thinkfun.com/stem-education/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!
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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https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/04/30/should-schools-require-children-to-learn-cursive/let-cursive-handwriting-die

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Morgan Polikoff is an assistant professor of education at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, where he researches the design and effects of standards, assessment and accountability policies.

Districts and states should not mandate the teaching of cursive. Cursive should be allowed to die. In fact, it's already dying, despite having been taught for decades. Very small proportions of adults use cursive for their day-to-day writing. Much of our communication is done on a keyboard, and the rest is done with print.

Educators and policymakers should resist the urge to add more skills to the Common Core because doing so undermines the strength of the standards.

Additionally, there is little compelling research to suggest the teaching of cursive positively affects other student skills enough to merit its teaching. While both research and common sense indicate students should be taught some form of penmanship, there is simply no need to teach students both print and cursive.

The Common Core standards are well constructed and full of the essential skills students need to succeed in reading and writing. The architects of the standards certainly weighed the inclusion of cursive and believed there was no need to include it. Thus, educators and policymakers should resist the urge to add more skills. Doing so would simply result in a crowded, less-focused curriculum, undermining the strength of the standards.

Given these realities, teachers would be better off focusing on the skills and knowledge that will impact student success in the future. These include printing and typing, but not cursive. As we have done with the abacus and the slide rule, it is time to retire the teaching of cursive. The writing is on the wall.

Join Opinion on Facebook and follow updates on twitter.com/roomfordebate.

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Morgan Polikoff is an assistant professor of education at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, where he researches the design and effects of standards, assessment and accountability policies. Districts and states should not mandate the teaching of cursive. Cursive should be allowed to die.

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https://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/should-cursive-still-be-taught-in-schools

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TULSA - You may want to hold off before sending that handwritten note to your grandchild.

That's because a growing number of young people can no longer read cursive.

Since the U.S. adopted Common Core standards in public schools back in 2010, cursive has declined and even disappeared entirely in some school districts.

But, is erasing cursive to the detriment of future generations?

We're doing some homework on the collapse of cursive in this Denver7 360 report, talking with a calligrapher who says there's still benefits to knowing cursive, a professor who teaches future teachers, a tutor who says good riddance and another who says it still has some practicality.

Let's begin with keeping cursive alive - in the home studio of Srujana Nimmagadda, owner of Menakshee Designs.

"Learning to write well is something that you're never going to regret," said Nimmagadda, whose day job is working at Ball Aerospace as an aerospace engineer. "I know it's unique that I also do calligraphy," she said.

For her, it's not a cloudy issue at all; good handwriting has value.

"I think there's just a different sort of connection that you have receiving a hand-written letter," Nimmagadda said.

And she argues there's a quiet confidence projected when communicating in cursive.

"If there's a way to keep it in schools, I think they should," she said.

That brings us to Dr. Krista Griffin, a literacy professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

"There isn't a lot of research supporting cursive one way or another," Griffin said.

She has 25 years of experience teaching future teachers.

"There's no one-size-fits-all anything in education," Griffin said. "That's what I tell those future teachers."

Griffin says in the 21 st century, with high stakes standardized testing, cursive isn't always worth valuable classroom time, especially given the demands put on teachers today.

"If I'm a teacher and I know my job is dependent on how well my students do, cursive isn't on the test," she said.

But, she also sees strong cognitive learning with reading and writing in cursive.

"When I'm taking notes, I can't move as quickly as when I'm keyboarding," Griffin said. "So, I'm going to be thinking about what the professor is saying and paraphrasing, which is a higher-level cognitive skill."

Other experts agree.

"There's a myth that in the era of computers we don't need handwriting," said a leading national researcher. "That's not what our research is showing. What we found was that children until about Grade 6 were writing more words, writing faster and expressing more ideas if they could use handwriting - printing or cursive."

But - Victor Camacho questions the time-commitment given to cursive.

"I learned cursive when I was in 3 rd grade," Camacho said. "And I haven't used it since. There was no real practical reason to use it."

Camacho is now the owner of High Performance Tutoring, with 35 Denver-based tutors. His tutors put a heavy emphasis on STEM disciplines.

"Art is practical in that it kind of feeds our soul in a sense," Camacho said. "But, it's not practical in the sense that, 'Oh - you need to eat.'"

He believes a greater emphasis on things like statistics, personal finance and computer programming would be much more beneficial in school than teaching cursive.

Camacho believes higher proficiency in those skills could also alleviate many ongoing societal issues.

"If we replace cursive with helping people manage their finances, I think that would go a long way," he said. "How to manage money and how compounding interest works and how investments work and risks vs. returns. That's what children should be learning."

Stephanie Rosalky is the owner of Wash Park Tutoring, and she doesn't disagree.

"Cursive is not a skill that is needed today to be successful," Rosalky said. "Everything has really moved to a technology platform."

But, Rosalky says cursive does have practical applications, for example, it can help with disorders like dyslexia on a case-by-case basis.

"It kind of limits some reversals that are happening for students," Rosalky said.

"I have a friend who has dyslexia and she will do less reversals and omit fewer letters when she uses cursive," Griffin said.

Both Griffin and Rosalky also respect the argument that cursive is a long-forgotten, elegant form of writing that is appreciated more by older generations.

"They see it as a very personal way of communicating that gets lost," Griffin said.

"It is beautiful," Rosalky said. "It looks very nice."

And that brings us back to Nimmagadda.

"There's something very grounding about picking up a pen and paper," Nimmagadda said. "There's a lot of history and tradition. You can tell what's happening in a society through the years as you study a style of script."
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Should cursive still be taught in schools?

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TULSA - You may want to hold off before sending that handwritten note to your grandchild. That's because a growing number of young people can no longer read cursive. Since the U.S. adopted Common Core standards in public schools back in 2010, cursive has declined and even disappeared entirely in some school districts.