I wonder why it shouldn't be taught. It is every bit as valid of writing form as block letters.

Our school district went to a Reading/phonics curriculum that includes cursive reading and writing.(My at the time 3rd grader..could not READ the spelling words for the week though.)It took him until 4th grade to read it comfortably..when he was made to write it that way as well.

Much of the reason our Kindergartens are taught D'Nelion is as a segway into cursive. But it didn't help my kid. LOL

However, when they get to secondary levels..everything important that is graded..is turned in off a printed sheet of paper...The most important tool to "turned in assignments", your memory stick! (Don't loose that!)

Just the fact that question was even being considered is enough to make me sick.
We are raising generations of kids who don't know how to spell correctly anymore, they can't speak proper english now, and now they would even consider dropping cursive is infuriating. It is the continuation of the " dumbing down of America"

It is the continuation of the " dumbing down of America"
My thoughts exactly. So they will likely have to learn how to sign their own name in cursive, but will they ever be able to read other's signatures?...sigh...Who on earth can legibly print as fast as they can write? I can't, that's for sure.

When I first started teaching 4th grade, in the mid 60's, we had supervisors for everything, including handwriting. Mrs. Geiger, was the handwriting supervisior, and she was so helpful to beginner teachers, ME. I learned a lot from her.

As the years went by, they eliminated handwriting supervisors, and went to strictly, tv lessons. Because Mrs Geiger was so helpful, before, I was able to continue, on my own, plus using the tv lessons.

THEN, as years went by, we didn't have to include it in our lesson plans. But I did, and I'm so glad I did.

My son has poor writing, due to his going to private school grades 1-3, and when he did go to public, school, they expected him to have learned cursive in 3rd grade, which he didn't in private school.

Same thing with telling time: grrrrrrr

I stressed to parents not go give their kids those digital watches, but STANDARD, so they could learn to tell time.

AND WHILE I AM ON IT: counting money another grrrrrrrrrr

I know schools here in Canada are also looking into more technology teaching and leaving behind some of the good old lessons.
I used to go into the grade 3 classes and teach calligraphy when the students were learning cursive writing. It added another dimension of fun to it all and taught them control over their wrists movements and pens/pencils.
Computers really are a wonderful tool, they have helped so many people, especially those with disabilities. I see no problem with them in the schools but I would rather they be in the upper grades and have the lower (elementary) grades continue to learn ALL the basics. When computers crash or the power goes out...these young people will still need to know how to adjust and use their "basic" skills.
Working in a preschool environment now it is very scary to hear 3 & 4 yr olds talk and play around all this technology. As an example...we had icy pops one day...when one little one finished they looked at the stick and saw printing on it and said "oh, that's a web address"! Admittedly a smart child for recognizing it...but also very sad that a child that young knows this before being able to even print her name let alone cursive writing.
Sorry...just my thoughts on it. We should all walk before we run.

Walking's better than crawling, it seems to me.

ole joyful

LOL Get out of my head. I was laying in bed the other night and was thinking that schools should offer cursive writing again.

I remember being taught in school - doing the loops, etc. I was never good at it. I print write, just like my sister does so she must have taught me to first write when I was a child. I remember the teacher getting mad at me because I write the capital letter I backwards and not the "proper" way, the way she taught. LOL I have all my old school notebooks where it shows me practising writing I's over and over again.

My Mom and my Dad's 3 sisters all write the same and none of them grew up together. It was just the way they were taught in school. My younger brother has beautiful cursive handwriting as does my sister Marjorie but she does hers with a "flourish" that is sometimes over the top. LOL I remember my Mom spending time with Paul practicing cursive writing.

I need to get back to hand writing. I have horrible writing now because I am using the computer all the time. I used to love writing hand written letters and I don't even do that anymore. I loved writing so much that I would copy and recopy my grade school note books with a cartridge ink pen.

It would be nice to see kids being taught cursive writing but they rely so much on electronics now and would they really use it.

Anne

I remember when I worked for a school district my old boss was so upset because the new schools were putting digital clocks in the classrooms. He had a good point. As he pointed out, the clock used to be used as a teaching tool but the designers and architects wanted to have a "high tech" look. They also went with "open classroom" concept - no walls and were so proud. Then they floated a referendum to build walls after they got sick of everyone hearing the films being run in 3 other classrooms while one was taking a test! Yep, these folks went to college! They's gots degrees!

There's times and places for digital clocks but I still like analog. On my new computer I set up an analog clock rather than digital. I find it easier to read, but then again, I can add some numbers in my head without a calculator.

My penmanship has always been horrible. It's why I learned to type in junior high. You got extra credit if you typed things, plus by the time I re-wrote things legibly it took less time to type it, even with hunt & peck and speed increased with practice. However I still take a lot of notes (or I'd be lost) and do a lot more on paper than apparently most others seem to.

Let's see:
Calculators in class and for tests because they can't add.

Notebook computers to take home because they can't write. But they *still* don't teach kids how to type properly! ARGH!

Pictures on everything because they can't read.

Manners and respect that would make a monkey slap them.

But hey, at least the special elections can force through bond referendums to keep the important things like football, band and bus service for anyone more than a couple blocks away. There isn't time to teach kids is there? But I forgot. That's not why schools are there anymore. They're babysitters.

And one of the reasons I took early retirement after 30 1/2 years of teaching.

Just ONE of the reason.

YES YES YES YES...............

Amen Cynic.

Most kids couldn't use a rotary phone either and couldn't make change if the cash register computer didn't tell them the correct amount. Our educational system is in a sad state of affairs, and like Glenda, I am glad to be out of it. No mastery of anything...just teach to the tests.

Yes, it should still be taught. It is taught at our local elem. schools, but not with the strict rigor as when I was a kid. When kids train their brains to do something new, it's good! Also, it's a bit of a "rite of passage" to learn cursive, and the kids seem proud and enthused about it. Some have to work a lot harder than others.

I think it would be helpful in taking notes--a little faster than printing.

My kids school doesn't teach it, so I do instead.

Principal, my age, and I retired at the same time. Total burnout, for both of us.

His problem was when the youngsters wanted to hug him, and he had to hold his arms OUT, so as not to touch them: Lawsuit

We even had, and I was ONE, that had to have restraining orders against PARENTS, that if they came on the school grounds, the law would be called to arrest them.

SHAME SHAME SHAME

Remember the song: reading, writing, and arithmetic?

I think they should be taught cursive writing, but not to perfection like we were, as they'll probably only use cursive for signatures on documents and that's it.

All those hours and hours I spent trying to make perfect loops and perfect letters were a waste of time...my handwriting is awful, and I rarely write, always type now anyway.

Pretty soon texting will be the norm and used in the books our kids are gonna have. I HOPE NOT!

I did hear that books in schools will soon not be the kind we think of...they will be the e-reader type. Much, much cheaper for the school sytems and easier to revise as needed.

As a retired elementary school secretary, I don't know what to think of all this.....is it really PROGRESS?

I remember when my kids were in elementary school, I asked why they did not teach cursive longer and stress the form. I was told that the kids come to school having learned cursive at home and from tv and though they do it wrong, there would be too much class time spent getting them to unlearn the awkward way they learned and then teaching them correctly. Ahhhh, they just need some of those nuns who drummed it into me!

In all fairness, soooooo much more is taught during the day in a typical classroom than when I was in school. There are only so many hours in the day.

In fairness, I don't know what they're teaching in classes these days but I can look at the end result and see there's some problems. There's still a thing called fundamentals. I do think that some things like typing should be taught in the early years since it's such a part of our everyday life now. However being able to balance a checkbook, fill out a written job application and other basic skills has taken the back burner while my tax dollars to the schools steadily increase. I question the priorities.

Going to electronic media though is a very real possibiity. We are more and more reliant upon the internet for our daily lives. I'm reminded of the Star Trek episode where Kirk was accused of killing a guy and was represented by an attorney who would only use books - not computers.

Libraries still have books but many more books on various media. It certainly is far cheaper to press a CD or DVD than to print a large book. Shipping, space requirements and more support the use of modern media. The ironic part is with all the electronic media, look at how much still gets printed out every day!

A lot of interesting points have been brought up. As for cursive-here it is taught at some point in 3rd grade and never again. By the time kids are in 5th or 6th grade, they barely remember it. I am on the fence about this. As the kids get older, important assignments are typed in Word or made into power points on the computer. Maybe it will be a lost art before long. You are right about the signatures though. Recently something required the signatures of my 6th and 8th graders and when I saw them, it looked like third grader wrote them! I should start working with them on that. Even my 12th grader never uses cursive. I did all the time in high school.

Well, the sentimental side of me says that kids should be taught cursive writing. I know that's a skill that isn't nearly as important as it was when I was young, though, so then I ask myself, if cursive writing were a new subject, would I want the school to take time to teach it? I don't know. I think I'd prefer that they spend more time on keyboarding, as it seems a *much* more useful skill in today's world that every child know how to touch type.

Those of you with kids in high school and college - how do these kids take notes in school? The college kids I know use laptops exclusively, but I don't know whether that's the case for high school. If kids aren't actually using cursive writing, I certainly don't think it's worthwhile to teach it only so they can read one another's signatures. No one can read my signature, even if they know cursive writing, and that's true for many people.

Here's a good one too. My stepdaughter (who started her Junior year in high school yesterday) had ordered some jeans from a company online. One pair didn't fit and she had to send them back. There was a preprinted label, which she used on the package. I told her she'd need to write on her return address. She did so.

Then I saw the package.

PREPRINTED LABEL
WAS HERE

Wrote her return
address here

I asked her.... 'Haven't they taught you where to put the address and return address in school?' Her answer was no, of course. She also says she hasn't been taught how to write checks, and a number of other common skills. She thinks maybe they'll teach that when she's a senior!!!!

Well, I never learned how to address an envelope or letter or to balance a checkbook in school, either, and I went in the 60's. My mother taught me.

I think they should still teach cursive, but even though my daughter can "handwrite", they didn't teach it the way I learned it...it is basicially printed letters hooked together, and I can hardly read her writing. We had handwriting class. I taught her a lot of the basic things...how to tell time, count money, write a check, address envelopes...and if she learned it in school too, I don't know, but when she was a little kid, she knew all of those things.

While on the subject, I wish they still taught math the old
fashioned way.

I wish they taught students to think and reason, basic problem solving, but that is a whole other subject.

Yes, I think cursive writing should be taught, it is important to know how to communicate in a world without electronics. And I so agree with counting money and math. When I worked at the jewelry store we did not have a computerized cash register, we used a cash drawer. I cannot tell you how often our part timers did not know how to make change.

"Much of the reason our Kindergartens are taught D'Nelion is as a segway into cursive. But it didn't help my kid. LOL"

it sure did mine...but then i was in the classroom volunteering and learned it myself. i still practice and do it for the grands...

i can remember my middle school teacher miss adams (leconte jr hi in los angeles) she had the most beautiful handwriting, i've ever seen... it took me weeks to copy her upper case "e", lol..

how sad our children won't be able to read the consititution of the usa...

I went to a private catholic school in the 60's and 70's. They started teaching cursive in the 3rd grade. All your assignments had to be in cursive, not printing. I still have my composition books from back then. I've been complimented on my cursive many times and I take pride in it. Just this morning at Walgreens bought a few items, paid with a $20 bill. The cashier, a young girl just out of high school gave me back my change. She had to look at the change amount on her computer to know how much. I asked her if she could count that back to me from how much my sale was. Her answer was, "Oh, no, I'm sorry, I don't know how." Amazing! Very sad too. I wonder how far in life she will go with the limited schooling she was able to graduate with.

If they never learn it, how can they read it?

I think the answer is, they can't.

A friend of mine teaches college English. He found his students can no longer read his cursive comments in the margins of their papers. He told me a computer program exists that converts cursive to printing. Ye gods.

Someone mentioned counting money . . . does that mean kids can't count money any more either?

Another reason that I'm glad my Grands are home schooled.

A vote "no" . Cursive writing is a lost art. my Mother has beautiful writing, of course she went to school in the 1930's. A letter, a card, even a list in her handwriting , is beautiful-all loops and curls. Mine looks barely more than a scrawl. I hated writing in school. we had to bring in fountain pens, oh my goodness. What a mess-ink all over. Our desks had "inkwells". Each kid had to bring a fountain pen and a bottle of ink. My printing is decent. But my cursive writing-OMG, what is that? And today's kids. All they know is computers, keyboards, and texting.

It's interesting that someone mentioned reading the constitution. Handwriting and language evolves over time, it's hard to read really old manuscripts. I think though that writing is evolving so quickly that we are losing our ability to read old scripts.

in the 90's my children were also taught D'Nealian as a segue into handwriting. I wish that was method that I had been taught. I've picked up many of its forms and really enjoy using that as my everyday script. I still don't use cursive and probably never will. Even my signature is a mixture of D'nealian and cursive!

Guess I never had a chance to teach Emi those things. She was nearly 14 when she became my daughter. I assumed she knew basics like addressing an envelope, telling time, counting money. I do know that my own kids had those things covered in class, as well as at home.

Alisande, my 13 yr old niece can barely count money - she's okay with $20s but throw in some $10s and $5s and she'll get confused. We just had her back-to-school shopping and if her purchase came to $87, for example, she didn't know how many $20s she had to give to cover the cost. I was blown away. She also can't tell time on a regular clock - - only digital. And she's an honor student - - this stuff just isn't being taught the way it used to be.

Has anyone else noticed that younger people don't seem to know the difference between their, there, they're or to, too, two...etc. THAT drives me crazy.

Of course it should. Cursive writing tells much about a person, and if you study the "language of writing", you will see how true that is.

Personally, I prefer handwriting envelopes and such, perhaps that's because I have nice writing if I do say so myself, and I am a professional Calligrapher as well.

I do notice that women seem to write, while men print. I've also noticed that when I see a man write, I usually can tell if he went to Catholic school. Interesting....

I feel sorry for the kids because they are training themselves to abbreviate many words these days which when written make no sense.

They're being educated to live in their new world, not in our old world.

Rilie, that's shocking. One would think it's simple arithmetic: Two goes into eight four times; therefore, twenty goes into eighty four times.

For some reason this is reminding me of when my kids were pre-schoolers and I was teaching them number concepts. If I said, "One tomato plus one tomato" or "One dog plus one dog" they'd always respond promptly with the right answer. But if I said "One hundred plus one hundred," they were silent. Eventually, they got it, but at first the mere mention of the big numbers threw them.

If they had been playing Monopoly or the like instead of video games they'd learn far more about counting money! And we can't blame the schools for that, but then again, they have a responsibility to teach. Maybe they need to teach Blackjack.

I find it shocking that a high school aged person hasn't seen enough mail in their life to know address placement! Unbelievable! I realize letters, thank you notes and such are uncommon items but there's still junk mail for all ages. My head spins on that one.

They're being educated to live in their new world, not in our old world.
I guess that's where we disagree. I just don't believe they're being educated, and that's the tragedy. Although blacksmithing and harness making aren't valuable skills to many anymore "their new world" still requires math, English and other teachings. Many jobs of value still require you to fill out an application. At least for those who won't be living off their parents all their lives.

Schools now are so fearful of lawsuits they have trouble controlling kids so they give in and merely babysit and entertain. Then they just concentrate on fundraising to support non-educational items that are not helpful in the outside world. Parents don't even check to see if kids are learning - they drop them at "daycare" in the morning and pick them up and probably never see a report card. Let's face it, even websites use different fonts so they'd better be able to read even though many use the "say it to me" option on the computer.

Funny how when I was in school, taxes could pay for pencils, paper and the like all through school. But they had a lot less attorney fees then too. When I worked for the district, the school was buying tents, camp stoves and other camping gear for Summer School. Now I just saw a list of recommended items that each student was to bring to class, including the brand and box size and shape of facial tissue they were expected to provide, hand sanitizer and more. Apparently they can't wash their hands in school anymore. Although I realize times have changed, I remember when peanut butter cookies were served for lunch rather than demonized.

Cursive should be taught.

My Mother told me that back when she was in school, they had handwriting courses. I can't remember the name of them though. She had the most beautiful handwriting I have ever seen. Her sisters must have had those courses too, because they all wrote almost exactly alike.

Tammy

I think that handwriting should be required. If a person can not write or sign his name, I consider him illiterate. I would not hire anyone for a professional position who could not write; I might hire a non-writer as a dishwasher or floor mopper where writing is not required, but never for a higher position. Think about it - You muat be able to sign your name to execute, in an orderly fashion, any legal document including check writing, opening bank accounts, investing, etc.

But then, I was 'old schooled' as they say and I guess it was since that was over 60 years ago. My little country school used the "Palmer Method" of penmanship. My schooling was so old that I learned to use a dip pen and ink, too. That wasn't required, but I practiced that at home just for the novelity and that was a hidden skill that I as able to put to use at times. Back then, some legal papers required signatures in ink because these were very hard to alter.

I remember when fountain pens were popular. You know, those things you carried in your shirt pocket that had a habit of leaking on your white shirt. And never carry one on a flight - The change in air pressure does a marvelous job of pumping the ink bladder unless the pen is vented.

Later, ball point pens were introduced and my high school English teacher would not accept compositions written with ball point. It only took a few years for ball points to be accepted, however.

Yes, I am a fan of handwriting. A mechanical pencil loaded with HB lead in my shirt pocket allows me to write all day in almost any location - no batteries or power outlet required. What a way to take field notes. It's not heavy, either. Although, when I have more than one writing instrumwnts in my shirt pocket, I have been mistaken for a Geek.

I had excellent handwriting in elementary school. Now it is terrible.

I have lost out on jobs because I could not type well enough. Never lost out on earning a living because of cursive writing, have never been asked about my penmanship outside of K-12 schooling.

I agree that kids need to learn cursive writing but my "workability" would have been much improved if I had spend those hours learning how to type.

Now what I think is useless is subjecting 10th graders (in Georgia in 1989) to an entire year of ancient history yet almost nothing was taught about 20th century history. We never learned about Korean or Vietnam and probably only spent a week or two on WWI and WWII, combined. I think I would be a better citizen if the time I spent learning about pyramids had actually been spent learning about the political climate that lead to the 20th Century wars and led up to the current (late 80s/early 90s) state of the nation.

Yes. Perhaps not as intensively as in my day.
One of my proudest accomplishments was earning my Palmer Method Certificate when I was in 6th grade. Incidentally when I moved I found it. I kept it!

Research shows that the fastest and most legible handwriters avoide cursive. The highest-speed highest-legibility handwriters join some, not all, of the letters (making the easiest joins, skipping the rest) and tend to use print-style forms of those letters whose printed and cursive forms disagree.

Learning to read cursive -- which isn't the same as learning to write it! -- remains important as long as some people are writing cursive. Fortunately, it takes just a half-hour to an hour to learn to read cursive if you don't also have to write it (and if you know how to read other writing/printing, of course -- I've taught five- and six-year-olds to read cursive, if they could read other writing/printing and if they wanted to learn to read what else the grownups in their lives were writing to each other).

Regarding signatures -- Despite popular claims that IDs and other legal documents require signing in cursive, this is actually false. Any attorney will tell you that your legal signature is just whatever you habitually use for a signature -- whether that's cursive, printing, or (as is increasingly common) a mix of some kind.

Sure, there are people who love to tell you that "signatures must use cursive," but this has no more validity than an urban rumor. For the facts and supporting evidence (to show you that your signature can use any style), see the "signature" topic on this FAQ page from a handwriting information site: http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com/KateFAQ.html
That page is part of the handwriting information site Handwriting Repair/Handwriting That Works at http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Handwriting Repair/HandwritingThatWorks

I think cursive should be taught! My g-son is in the 8th grade and I have to print when I write his notes so he can read them. Sad!

I found this out last year when i gave my GS his birthday card and i had written in it in cursive.He floored me when he told me he couldn't read cursive,What??????You're 8 years old!! He said they don't teach it in school,that just about blew my mind,so i asked his mom and she said they havn't done so for a few years.

I still think it should be taught,and to not do so is as the op said more of the dumbing down of america.

Kathi

When we all get to writing Chinese ...

... will that be in cursive??

o j

Just as a side note to this and the argument that they are being taught the lessons of their new world, not our old one. If that were true, with technology etc. then why are they not taught typing/keyboarding, computer safety, how to "fix" computer issues etc. etc...and lets not even try to understand the use of computer abbreviations instead of spelling out the words. Does this mean they will no longer be required to learn writing and spelling? This does seem to very much be a case of putting the cart before the horse.
Have we really just given up on them?

What is wrong with retaining cursive writing for its sheer beauty? I love beautiful handwriting, I think mine is such and I so enjoy calligraphy.

And did you know that cursive helps those who stutter? They can often see the flow of cursive as opposed to the breaks in printing or computer printouts.

Here's a doctor's handwriting back when they had good handwriting! 1872

I think it should be taught. One of my nephews in high school couldn't read my family's names on a birthday card because they were in cursive. If they weren't taught in school, I'd teach my own kids.

Remember doing push pulls and ovals in class to get the feel of cursive writing. Recently I was absent mindly doodling and did a series of ovals. My GD asked what I was drawing. She could not believe that we actually had penmanship classes and did such rediculous and time wasting exercises.

I love cursive writing and look at the beauty of it like I look at a fine piece of crochet or other handwork

De-lurking for the subject...

I am the mother of 4 kids. Three boys ages 13,9, and 6. And a daughter age 12.

I am also the wife of a high school history teacher. Where I live they are taught cursive. Beginning in 3rd grade. They start teaching it in the second semester.

Anyhow....I am one that believes a child should write with what they feel most comfortable doing.

@Jemdandy, then I guess you would consider my 13 year old son illiterate. That is where you are ignorant of one fact. Not all children can write in cursive. It has to deal with lack of a fine motor skill disability. He prints his name out.

And it is false that you do need to know how to write in cursive to sign a legal document. My son is on the honor roll, receives straight A's since 1st grade, yet you would down grade his hiring position just because of that. That is wrong.

My 12 year old daughter who is also a honor student and is in 3 advanced classes prefers to print. She says cursive takes way to long.

My teacher's never taught me how to write in cursive my parents did. A lot of parents like to blame the school system for not teaching there children certain things.

Parents are responsible for there kids education if you don't think they are getting taught the right things...then teach them at home.

I do write in cursive. My kids know how to count money. My daughter who is in 7th grade is in 8th grade advanced Math. Next year, when she is in 8th grade she will be bused over to the high school for a math class.

I don't think my daughter would be in all the advanced classes she is in now if I hadn't worked with her at home.

My sons that are 13 and 9. The older one has a fine motor problems with his hands. He doesn't have to write in cursive and is not made to. Matter of fact, a teacher of his just got 'in trouble' for making him try to write in cursive when it is in his files that he only writes in print only. She actually humiliated my son in her class full of other students. Just because he wasn't writing in cursive.

My 9 year old has ADHD and has borderline aspergers however, he still manages C's. And he is in a regular classroom. He is in the 4th grade this year. He also doesn't write in cursive. But he prints. And his printing is the most beautiful I have ever seen.

My 6 year old son...is reading at a late 1st grade level. He is in Kindergarten. I actually started him a year later. So I could work with him at home before he went into Kindergarten. His teacher is thrilled with him. Says he helps her, doesn't seem bored and helps the other students when he is done. She said, he is a born leader. I don't think he would be this way if we wouldn't have decided to start him a year later.

Learning starts and ends at home. If they aren't learning up to par to is time to talk to the teachers. Teacher's these days are Swamped with students. My sons kindergarten class was up to 31 students before they hired a new teacher. Now there is 19 students. However, there are 7 kindergarten classes at his school.

When you have a lot of students to teach. Things do get pushed aside.

It is not unusual for kids not to be able to read cursive writing.

What surprises me is the amount of 'thing's that kids don't know. Like who The first President of the United States was? Or who Columbus was? It amazes me at the amount that kids do not know.

I am always shocked when my husband comes home from school and tells me what his kids don't know.

Another thing....My husband was with his students one day...and one of them pipped up and said,"Mr.___ You are pretty cool." My husband asked,"Why do you say that?"
They told him that you never say, "You should know this stuff." The kids says that makes them feel stupid....just that little sentence.

My husband told them. Thank You, and that he does that because he is suppose to be teaching them....and if they already know it then great...if not you get to learn something new.

I thought that was awesome. Oh, Wow! Sorry that is so long!