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Just like summertime temperatures, the cursive debate is heating up - especially now that the newly established Common Core standards don't include the curly, looped handwriting style children have learned in penmanship classes for generations.

In response, some state legislatures are seeking to make it compulsory, like North Carolina where the senate passed a bill to make cursive a requirement in public schools. Supporters of the "Back to Basics" legislation, which passed 37-8 and also requires North Carolina students to memorize multiplication tables, said that cursive is important to know even in the age of keyboards and digital devices.

"[Students] have the right to know the same types of things we knew when we were coming along," Republican Sen. Austin Allran, the bill's sponsor, told the Charlotte Observer.

Those who argue for cursive insist that it teaches fine motor skills, is faster and more efficient than printed handwriting, and that it enhances the creative process and has other cognitive benefits. In addition, many historical documents will be illegible if people can't read in cursive.

"Cursive writing is a long-held cultural tradition in this country and should continue to be taught; not just for the sake of tradition, but also to preserve the history of our nation," Jimmy Bryant, director of archives and special collections at the University of Central Arkansas, told The New York Times.

Opponents say it's time to let cursive be written into the pages of history.

"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," Morgan Polikoff, an assistant education professor at the University of Southern California's Rossier School of Education, argued in a New York Times opinion piece.

While the topic is polarizing, there are some people who fall into the middle, like Kate Gladstone, a handwriting expert and educator quoted on the topic of handwriting in publications as diverse as The New York Times to the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Gladstone believes that cursive should be taught in our schools - but only to be read, not written.

"Reading cursive can be taught in just 30 to 60 minutes - even to five- or six-year-olds, once they read ordinary print," Gladstone says. "Writing cursive, however, takes much, much more time and effort to master, even sketchily."

Should educators take the time to teach children how to first draw and eventually to write these elaborate letters when there is so much more substantive curriculum? Gladstone says no because it's not a worthwhile return on the investment of time and energy.

What's more, most adults abandon cursive writing for a hybrid of mostly print letters joined occasionally in a cursive style. In 2012, handwriting teachers were surveyed at a conference hosted by Zaner-Bloser, a publisher of cursive textbooks. Only 37 percent wrote in cursive; another 8 percent printed. The majority, 55 percent, wrote a hybrid: some elements resembling print-writing, others resembling cursive.

"When even most handwriting teachers give up cursive, why would anyone else continue to exalt it?" Gladstone asks.

Handwriting matters, she says, and offers fine motor skills and cognitive benefits whether in cursive or not. But she insists that children should be taught efficient handwriting, which research shows is most legible and efficient when it combines print, or manuscript, and cursive letters.

Cursive isn't required for legal documents, either. In state and federal law, Gladtone says, cursive signatures have no special legal validity over any other kind.

So is the writing on the wall for cursive? Neatoday.org asked its Facebook fans - K-12 educators from all over the country. We got an overwhelming response - almost 800 comments. The verdict? Keep cursive writing in schools. Here's what some of our fans had to say:

Get the high stakes testing out of elementary schools, and we'll have time to teach cursive writing again!

The Constitution of the United States is written in cursive. Think about that. I make my kids at least learn to read cursive.

Not everyone has a computer and printer.

Absolutely teach cursive. Teach everything possible, exercise those brains, grow neurons, every little bit of knowledge helps us THINK!

Handwriting is much more personal and I still prefer it on cards and in mailed letters. I use it for people I really care about on special occasions and other appropriate times.That being said, most of my day-to-day communication, including this post, is on a laptop.

For most of us, cursive is faster than printing. Speed is often the difference between getting the facts down correctly during note-taking, and trying to figure out or remember what the first part of the note referred to. Since note-taking remains part of the academic experience, and notes are often shared/compared, it's nice to have consistency for readability-especially for one's self.

I'm glad I learned cursive and know how to teach it. It is much faster for taking notes in a class and you can write really classy thank you notes. Manuscript is important, too, for clarity in filling out forms. Learn both and don't always rely on a keyboard.

Let us know what you think in the comments below or visit facebook.com/neatoday.

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Does Cursive Need to Be Taught in the Digital Age? - NEA Today

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Just like summertime temperatures, the cursive debate is heating up - especially now that the newly established Common Core standards don't include the curly, looped handwriting style children have learned in penmanship classes for generations. In response, some state legislatures are seeking to make it compulsory, like North Carolina where the senate passed a bill to make cursive a requirement in public schools.

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Should All Schools Teach Cursive? (Published 2019)

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A 10-year-old cursive champ makes an argument in its favor. Is he convincing?

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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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Developing an attractive, legible cursive handwriting style certainly has great aesthetic value, but it also has numerous mental, physical, social, and practical benefits. Here are the Top 10 reasons to learn cursive!

1. Improved neural connections. Cursive handwriting stimulates the brain in ways that typing cannot. It improves the dynamic interplay of the left and right cerebral hemispheres, helps build neural pathways, and increases mental effectiveness. According to Virginia Berninge r, a researcher and professor at the University of Washington, "Pictures of brain activity have illustrated that sequential finger movements used in handwriting activated massive regions of the brain involved in thinking, language, and working memory. Handwriting differs from typing because it requires executing sequential finger strokes to form a letter, whereas keyboarding only involves touching a key."

2. Improved ability to read cursive. When individuals cannot read cursive, they are cursively illiterate in their own language. The ability to read cursive is required in many settings.

3. Increased writing speed. The connectivity of a simple cursive style is faster to write than the stop and-start strokes of printing. Speed has been shown to increase attention span during writing. This increases continuity and fluidity in writing, which in turn encourages greater amounts of writing.

4. Improved fine motor skills. "Cursive handwriting naturally develops sensory skills. Through repetition the children begin to understand how much force needs to be applied to the pencil and paper, the positioning of the pencil to paper at the correct angle, and motor planning to form each letter in fluid motion from left to right. This physical and spatial awareness allows them to write, but more importantly, builds the neural foundation of sensory skills needed for a myriad of everyday tasks such as buttoning, fastening, tying shoes, picking up objects, copying words from blackboards, and most importantly, reading." ( Cutting Cursive, The Real Cost. Candace Meyer, CEO, Minds-in-Motion, Inc.)

5. Increased retention. The act of taking notes by hand instead of on a computer encourages a student to process the content and reframe it, which leads to better understanding and retention. Studies indicate that college students remembered information better one week later when they transcribed a paragraph in cursive than when they printed it or used a keyboard.

6. Ease of learning. Printing is more difficult than cursive due to the frequent stop-and-start motion when forming letters. In addition, some printed letters look similar and are easily reversed, like the b and d, which is often confusing to children. Cursive is of particular value to children with learning challenges such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and difficulties with attention.

7. Improved legibility and spelling ability. Cursive requires children to write from left to right so that the letters will join in proper sequence and with proper spacing, making their writing easier to read. It also aids with spelling through muscle memory, as the hand acquires memory of spelling patterns through fluid movements that are used repeatedly. This is the same phenomenon that occurs when pianists learn patterns of hand movements through continued repetition.

8. Increased self-discipline. Cursive handwriting is complex, and is inherently associated with the development of fine-motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Learning cursive prompts children to also develop self-discipline, which is a useful skill in all areas of life.

9. Higher quality signature. Cursive handwriting will improve the attractiveness, legibility, and fluidity of one's signature.

10. Increased self-respect. The ability to master the skill of writing clearly and fluidly improves the students' confidence to communicate freely with the written word. Handwriting is a vital life skill.

Top 10 Reasons to Learn Cursive by Iris Hatfield, author of New American Cursive

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Top 10 Reasons to Learn Cursive - Memoria Press

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Developing an attractive, legible cursive handwriting style certainly has great aesthetic value, but it also has numerous mental, physical, social, and practical benefits. Here are the Top 10 reasons to learn cursive! 1. Improved neural connections. Cursive handwriting stimulates the brain in ways that typing cannot.

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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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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.

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DENVER -- You may want to hold off before sending a 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?

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 Srujana Nimmagadda, owner of Menakshee Designs. During the day, she works at Bel Aerospace as an engineer. But she also practices the art of calligraphy.

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.

But according to Dr. Krista Griffin, a literacy professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, there isn't a lot of research that suggests keeping - or dropping - cursive in schools.

"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 21st 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."

Victor Camacho, the owner of High Performance Tutoring, questions the time-commitment given to cursive.

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

Camacho and his 35 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."

"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."
This story was originally published by Russell Haythorn on KMGH in Denver.

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Should we bring back cursive, or is it irrelevant in our technology-driven world?

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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?