When to quit Cursive?

[sea_mommy]

Is there a point when I should stop cursive?

 

Ds10 can now write fairly comfortably in cursive, can read cursive in books, and can read cursive in letters that we receive from family/friends.  However, he still prefers to write most things in print and will only write cursive if I tell him that he needs to.  Is instruction in cursive writing just something that I continue . . . forever?

 

 

[Ellie]

I'm of the generation when cursive was required for everything except math and labeling maps. The end.

 

I still kind of feel that way.

 

Your son shouldn't need cursive *instruction,* of course. But I think when he writes anything, it should be in cursive. JMHO, of course. :-)

[OneStepAtATime]

If you find value in cursive then have him write in cursive until it becomes truly automatic, until muscle and procedural memory and fluency are established.  Otherwise the skill will be lost once he stops.  It may not be lost right away but it will eventually be lost from lack of use.  He probably doesn't like writing in cursive right now because the process is not yet fully established.  

 

If you find no value in cursive and don't care if he forgets how to write and read in cursive then just stop.  

 

There are people who feel strongly that cursive is a necessary skill and there are people who think it is a waste of time.  You can find arguments on both sides of this issue.  You might Google and see which side fits your own views.

 

FWIW, DD hated cursive but she was in school when it was introduced.  They had to write all spelling tests in cursive and most compositions.  She did that for three years before we started homeschooling.  When we got her home I didn't think about working on cursive.  She seemed to know it.  Well, she did have a lot of it down pretty well but after a year of not using it (she was working on typing) she forgot quite a bit.  She realized she didn't want to lose the skill.  I got her cursive practice books and used software to type up cursive practice copywork using her favorite quotes and eventually the skill improved again.  Now she practices often and frequently writes in cursive so that she doesn't lose it again.  But it is her choice.  She's in High School now so I am letting her make the call on how much of her daily work is in cursive and how much is in print and how much is typed.

[fourisenough]

If you don't require him to use it, he'll lose it. Ask me how I know...

[Guest]

I'd say if, upon the eve of becoming a high school senior, he wants to do everything in print, I'd let him then.

 

Reason being, by that time, he will have experienced writing many many many essays and papers and pages of notes, and if he really wants to do all of it with an excruciating number of pen lifts and stops and starts, then more power to him.

[Mom27kidz]

Lol... when I was in school we did like 2 months of learning cursive and was jus expected to write all things in cursive. Now days workbooks last years!

 

I think it depends on the student... if it's enjoyable.... keep doing it. If not, quit. As long as they can "read" cursive. My kids all know cursive but prefer to print or do some type of half and half blended thing. It doesn't bother me since every Essay they submit will be on the computer typed anyway.

[OneStepAtATime]

FWIW, although this is neither here nor there, I had to write in cursive for several years when I was in school and so I did learn it and I can certainly read it but it was never super comfortable for me to write in that form.  I know cursive is supposed to be faster and flow better than print once you really master cursive (which is one of the arguments for teaching cursive) but that was not true for me.  When I hit college I shifted to a kind of hybrid of print and cursive which I still use.  It just flows better for me than solid cursive or solid print.  

[Raifta]

With DD, we did about a year and a half of formal cursive and then she chose to continue to use it in a fair amount of work (and she is very prolific in the amount of writing she does) so we stopped doing it in any formal sense.

 

With DS, I have told him that once he completes the current cursive book, which will probably be about a year and a half after we started at the rate we're going, he can stop formal work as well.  I doubt he will continue in cursive.  My goal for him is to ensure that he can read cursive.  I write them long letters/lists in cursive three times a week with instructions for their day whilst I'm at work and they get letters from their great aunts in cursive, so he does get practice reading assorted styles.  He has a tough time with any pen to paper activities so forcing the issue does not seem productive - I'd rather that when he spontaneously does write, he is happy to do so instead of cursing the need for cursive.  Much as I would love for him to be able to write in cursive as I myself find it so much easier than printing, I don't think that's going to be the case for him.

[rainbowmama]

I don't use cursive except to sign my name. I periodically ask my ten year old to write some of her work in cursive so she doesn't forget it, but we only spend on year on cursive instruction. It's not a high priority to me.

[winterbaby]

Italic is a good compromise. I can't print fast enough without it looking terrible, but fast casual cursive just looks like an undifferentiated sea of loops. But for my kid, her cursive is better than her printing so I want to encourage that (while continuing to improve printing) and she might not need italic.

[ocelotmom]

FWIW, although this is neither here nor there, I had to write in cursive for several years when I was in school and so I did learn it and I can certainly read it but it was never super comfortable for me to write in that form.  I know cursive is supposed to be faster and flow better than print once you really master cursive (which is one of the arguments for teaching cursive) but that was not true for me.  When I hit college I shifted to a kind of hybrid of print and cursive which I still use.  It just flows better for me than solid cursive or solid print.  

 

Same here. I did cursive, as required, for years. I switched back to print the second they stopped caring about it (sometime in high school), and still print everything except my signature.

 

If I didn't master it to the point of it being easier in the years of daily use when it was required of me, then, for me, it probably isn't actually easier.

[Hunter]

I'd say if, upon the eve of becoming a high school senior, he wants to do everything in print, I'd let him then.

 

Reason being, by that time, he will have experienced writing many many many essays and papers and pages of notes, and if he really wants to do all of it with an excruciating number of pen lifts and stops and starts, then more power to him.

 

 

FWIW, although this is neither here nor there, I had to write in cursive for several years when I was in school and so I did learn it and I can certainly read it but it was never super comfortable for me to write in that form.  I know cursive is supposed to be faster and flow better than print once you really master cursive (which is one of the arguments for teaching cursive) but that was not true for me.  When I hit college I shifted to a kind of hybrid of print and cursive which I still use.  It just flows better for me than solid cursive or solid print.  

 

 

Same here. I did cursive, as required, for years. I switched back to print the second they stopped caring about it (sometime in high school), and still print everything except my signature.

 

If I didn't master it to the point of it being easier in the years of daily use when it was required of me, then, for me, it probably isn't actually easier.

 

 

I believe in keeping it up long enough to see if it really IS easier for THIS student. I bore people when I go on and on about cursive. :lol: I've spent some tutoring learning disabled students, many of them lefties, and have some pretty rigid beliefs about what I have observed. 

 

When cursive is easier, it is easier. When it is not, it is not. 

[Zinnia]

I have a 2nd grader that still struggles with b/d/p/q reversals. He learned to write with HWT, which doesn't emphasize the differences in letters enough for him.. Cursive helps a lot with that. So, for him, harder or not, it's worth it just for the obvious difference in letters that really reduces the reversals

[J-rap]

We did it formally for two years, in 3rd and 4th grades.  After that, I'd sometimes randomly require an essay or something to be written in cursive, though most of the time I'd leave it up to them.  By 7th grade though, they were typing so much, that cursive -- which I always thought of as easier for longer writing -- was kind of unnecessary.  I never required it for anything after 7th grade, except their signatures.  :)

 

Now they are all in their 20's and they rarely use it for anything except to sign their names, although they do know how to write it and read it if they have to.  I think eventually cursive will be a lost skill.

[nixpix5]

I'd say if, upon the eve of becoming a high school senior, he wants to do everything in print, I'd let him then.

 

Reason being, by that time, he will have experienced writing many many many essays and papers and pages of notes, and if he really wants to do all of it with an excruciating number of pen lifts and stops and starts, then more power to him.

Love this :)

 

I was fortunate to have cursive be a focus all through my elementary school. I learned to write it easily and write solely in cursive to this day. In college everyone copied my notes because I could write verbatim due to the ease of my cursive. It also has kept me from relying on just typing it out on a computer resulting in deeper learning. I never had to review the notes as much if I wrote instead of typed. Research also supports this.

[Guest]

I have a 2nd grader that still struggles with b/d/p/q reversals. He learned to write with HWT, which doesn't emphasize the differences in letters enough for him.. Cursive helps a lot with that. So, for him, harder or not, it's worth it just for the obvious difference in letters that really reduces the reversals

That is the reason we switched to cursive. Best choice for us!