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Once taught, do you require cursive work across assignments?


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I know that there are various schools of thought when it comes to cursive instruction.   I decided years ago that my children should be taught to write in it, if for no other reason than I want them to have the ability to easily read it.   I've done that, and my current 5th grader has acquired a beautiful cursive hand through various copybooks, etc, but is loath to transition to completing his regular school assignments in cursive.  I think the primary reason for this is that at this point, cursive takes him longer than printing (which will likely continue to be the case until I enforce cursive across assignments).  He also claims that it's harder for him to judge if a word is spelled incorrectly (an area in which he struggles) when he's writing in cursive, and I can confirm that seems to be the case. 

I'm torn.  On the one hand, I keep finding reasons why forcing cursive within particular subjects isn't a good idea.  Spelling?  See above.  Latin?  Same thing.  Writing?  It slows him down and hinders his ability to get his thoughts down on paper during the drafting process.  But on the other hand, I know he won't become faster  without being forced to practice to the point that it becomes easier than printing, and there may be a short-term cost in other areas to achieve that.  

That leads me to the question: if a child knows *how* to read and write in cursive, how important is it for him/her to adopt it as his personal mode of writing?   Do you require your student to complete his/her assignments in cursive once it is taught, or leave it up to them?  I think I'm wrestling with whether this is a hill worth dying on (or at least fighting for), and hope hearing how others have thought this through will help me to either fish or cut bait 🙂

Edited by maptime
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I don't really understand why cursive is important. I hope that doesn't sound snarky because I really don't mean it that way. I'm teaching my 8 year old cursive (or "script," as my teachers used to call it) just because I feel nostalgic for it. I associate it fondly with my grandmother, and with quiet time in the classroom, and I think I also read somewhere that learning it is good for your brain. But I'm not super committed to it. Those of you who are, and who encourage your kids to write only in cursive, why?

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Of course. They won't retain it if they don't use it. And that's the reason you teach it: so that they can write everything in cursive.

English has always been written in cursive, which is to say that all our source documents are written in cursive. If our children cannot write in cursive, they cannot read those. Or other documents that might be part of their personal history.

I have no proof of this, but I have read that people in other English-speaking countries write in cursive. I don't see why we would allow our children to be so ignorant when it's something so easy to teach.

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14 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

Well the first reason is signatures.  I want my kids to be able to sign their names and on many documents, there's the signature and then the "printed" name.

Also, even though so many scripts online are print....occasionally you come across a website that has a mix of fonts.  

And finally, many important documents are in cursive.  Sure you can find a print version of the text online, but if they go to visit the originals, I want them to be able to read them.  

 

3 minutes ago, Ellie said:

Of course. They won't retain it if they don't use it. And that's the reason you teach it: so that they can write everything in cursive.

English has always been written in cursive, which is to say that all our source documents are written in cursive. If our children cannot write in cursive, they cannot read those. Or other documents that might be part of their personal history.

I have no proof of this, but I have read that people in other English-speaking countries write in cursive. I don't see why we would allow our children to be so ignorant when it's something so easy to teach.

 

I feel like these points illustrate my dilemma.  It's important to me for my child to be able to read and write in cursive for all of the above reasons, but it seems to me that all of those bases could be covered with a dedicated "cursive page a day", without insisting on it being used for all written work.   I do, however,  know he would never gain lighting-speed this way.  I guess I'm trying to figure out if there is something inherently important about using cursive instead of print as his primary means of writing in his regular life, beyond the baseline ability to read it and form a nice signature (I'm confident we've accomplished and could maintain both of these facets).

As a personal anecdote, I myself can competently read and write in cursive, but my printing is faster and neater, so I use that.  It's never been a "problem", but I do wonder if I'm missing something.  Faster note-taking, perhaps?  

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38 minutes ago, Ellie said:

If our children cannot write in cursive, they cannot read those.

Why would you not be able to read cursive if you can't write it? I can read Japanese katakana but my writing of the symbols is atrocious. It doesn't stop me from reading them though. Just curious.

3 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

I think the inherent benefit is simply the practice.  

I have a niece and nephew who were taught cursive then never required to use it.  As a result, in high school, they cannot read cursive.  Which I forget when I write out birthday cards.   

The highlighted has certainly not been my experience. I taught most of my kids print then cursive. In 5th grade, I didn't require them to use cursive but however they choose to write it needed to be legible. My boys leaned toward print. My girls leaned toward cursive. All of them can read and write in cursive, but for everyday writing, they have been allowed to choose what is most comfortable for them. My oldest daughter wanted to learn cursive first so that's what I did for her. I did not notice any difference really in her than in my other kids. Her handwriting now as an adult is a mix of print and cursive, as is mine.

My children's world has certainly not been devoid of cursive so maybe these students who cannot read it somehow don't see a lot of cursive in addition to print in their day to day lives? I can't imagine that. So many ads and decorative things and what not use cursive like fonts. My kids, despite not having been made to use cursive beyond the 4th grade, are still able to read and write it just fine when they need to. I'm not sure which is more common, the bolded situation above or my experience but the type of handwriting my kids use has not been a hill I was willing to die on. It just needs to be legible, whatever they choose to use for their everyday handwriting, and they need to be able to read either. If they can achieve that, I'm satisfied.

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I do insist that DS10 use cursive in all school assignments, except math. He still confuses the letters 'b' & 'd' in manuscript writing, but never in cursive. That said, his cursive is only slightly more legible than his printing, which is atrocious. He continues to get faster and more automatic in his cursive, so I'll continue to require for now.

DS7 is a lefty, and continues to print all of his letters/numbers bottom-up and right-to-left, often writing entire words backwards. He just started cursive this September, and it is lovely and perfect and much, much faster for him. I haven't yet required that he use cursive in other subjects yet, but I will in 3rd grade.

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I taught cursive first to my older two, and wish I had for my second.  They were expected to write in cursive for assignments, but by the time they were in late middle school/high school they did most of their work on the computer.

My middle can only do cursive, and it has been a bit of an issue.  When he took driver's ed last year and they took a quiz, they would pass them around to grade each other's quiz and none of the students could read cursive.  The teacher could read it just fine, it was not a penmanship issue.  DS ended up grading his own quizes.

My youngest was and still is very resistant to using cursive, but I make him do some at least once a week to keep in practice.  I also want him to have a signature that isn't print.  It always makes me cringe (I know judgemental of me) when I see young people not be able to sign their name in cursive.

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45 minutes ago, OKBud said:

Try writing papers by hand and p r i n t i n g them in block letters. It takes longer (which deleteriously effects your train of thought and flow while writing) , it takes up more space/paper, and perhaps most pertinently: it strains the hand a lot more. 

Not doing cursive is cutting yourself off at the ankles for paper writing. 

 

While block letters (all capitals?) is not the alternative I'd be proposing, your point about the speed of writing is one I am currently weighing.  I wonder if this is a YMMV situation in which each individual has the style they find the fastest, or if cursive is objectively (measurably) faster.  The latter is certainly possible.  I just wish I knew by how much.

 

32 minutes ago, square_25 said:

We haven't taught our daughter cursive yet, and I'm certainly not going to require it in assignments when I do. I want her to be able to write legibly and reasonably quickly. I find lots of people's cursive much more unpleasant to read, personally, as do most people I know. It's very easy for it to degenerate into chicken scrawl. But if it turns out that she wants to write in a beautiful cursive hand (or in a mix, like I write), more power to her. 

 

This raises a point I hadn't considered.  While the ability to read and write in cursive are non-negotiable to me, if clear communication is the goal, could legible print actually be the ideal default In light of the ever-growing population who find cursive writing a barrier to comprehension?  Like, being understood might be more important than speed. More food for thought. 

ETA: I didn't mean to imply that you are incapable of reading cursive.  I was just connecting your point about the inscrutability of many cursive hands with the comments above about how many people no longer know how to read it

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First, I write best in cursive. It is so much faster for me. I am teaching my kids to write in cursive, partly so that they can read it. 

However, reading historic in the original cursive seems very futile if that is one of the "teaching cursive" goals. I am currently looking at both a replica of the original Dec of Ind in cursive and it is very difficult to read for me. I am also looking at one of the first reprints of it in typescript and it is much easier o read. I cannot think of a reason why I would struggle through reading it in cursive. 

My father always brings up "what about signing checks" as a reason for learning cursive. I think that signatures will be going the way of the dodo soon enough. And if they dont, people will do what people have always done, draw a line with squiggles on it for their siggy. There is no need to learn cursive in order to have an illegible signature😂😂😂

Also, my husband only every prints in caps. He prints fast and this has not hindered him in any way in adulthood. 

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Their signature is always what I started with when teaching cursive. Just seemed like a logical place to start.

Plus I've never heard of a rule that signatures had to be neat, well formed cursive. I worked as a cashier in high school and on and off as needed in adult life. I've seen thousands of signatures. I don't think many other people got the memo about the cursive requirement either. Yes there is sometimes a line below for your printed name but that's in case your signature is illegible. If something happened with whatever you signed, if the signature cannot be read, it could be argued in court that it is not your signature at all. So, to cover their behind, whoever is asking for your signature wants you to sign and print your name so it is more difficult to deny that it is your signature in court. I've seen plenty of people who sign things in a handwriting that is print or very close to print. The handwriting used does not make the signature any less legally binding in my experience.

Fun fact: In Japan, they do not have signatures per se,  instead they have a custom stamp or seal that is dipped in red ink and used to stamp any kind of official paperwork or anything that we might use a signature for really.

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I’m not going to get involved on if cursive is important, nope. 

now to answer the OP it’s very much a use it or lose it thing. So if you decided it was important enough to teach, yeah I’d require all handwriting to be in cursive bc otherwise what’s the point. I have the data to prove it. Both my kids learned cursive in French school, DS wrote me gorgeous letters back then. I did not insist on it when he came back and he’s reverted to a very bizarre and not pretty chicken scratch.  He writes a lot so I have much opportunity to be reminded of this particular failure of mine 😂
Now I’ve reformed with dd (much younger)—she does daily copywork in her cursive book, weekly dictation and all other writing she does (not much) is in cursive. 

Edited by madteaparty
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I wish I had taught cursive sooner.  My oldest four (12, 10, 9, 7) have all learned it over the last year or two together, and their cursive is far neater and easier to read than their print.  This is especially true of DS12, who is dyslexic and has really atrocious printing. 

Which leads me to the key reason I'm posting: cursive drastically reduces directional problems that children with learning disabilities like dyslexia face.   If I'd known this years ago, I would have taught it from the get-go.   

I am gradually increasing the amount of cursive I require for schoolwork.   Ultimately, I'd like all my children to use it by default.  If practiced, it becomes a faster and less tiring method than print (and in the case of my kids, at least, it is already significantly neater).  

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My DS is learning cursive because over a year after reading the series, he was still intrigued by Ramona Quimby’s discussion of it & her “kitty-cat Qs”. 😅

Once he completes the HWT workbook I will have him continue to practice writing a little bit in cursive once or twice a week - maybe writing letters to a friend or family member - but it certainly won’t be all of his writing. He has perfectly sufficient print handwriting; clear, neat, & small. 

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I had decided to do cursive first with my youngest. She could recognize letters from 18 months old, but she wasn’t drawn to writing.  I taught her cursive, and it was beautiful.  Unfortunately, she had no idea what she was copying, nor could she independently write in cursive.  Her cursive copy work was great.  But it completely failed to be a functional writing system, and after three years of practice with no improvement, we switched to print and started working on typing, because typing is the skill we really need to be fast and automatic.  

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We chose to teach cursive penmanship so that the kids will be able to use it--whether for daily communication, accessing historical records etc.--as effortlessly as possible.

Why teach any form of remote/recorded communication if you're not going to master it so that it can be used as a means of communication?

If cursive (or print. or typing. or drawing, or texting,or morse code, or short hand. or whatever form of recorded communication is being considered) is slow and ineffective after 3+ years, then it may not have been taught very well. (Assuming no major LDs) We've taught cursive using a combo of Kumon and a generic workbooks but because I didn't find a workbook that had sufficient amounts of intelligently designed drill, I had to supplement and create/assign the intelligently designed drills that my kids require myself.

Some of the handwriting drills that we do are
--doing 2-minute handwriting sprints each day (some days we only do 1 sprint. Others we might do 2 or 3 sprints.)
--completing select handwriting drills/exercises by the timer
--drilling and automating letter combinations
--drilling the X most common words to the point of automaticity

The caveat is we write cursive in a way that is visible to all the kids.
When Hubby or I write something at the whiteboard--or
When we update the grocery list in the kitchen--or
When we update the family billboard--or
When we leave notes for someone--or
When we give gifts and make inscriptions--or
When we write notes to the kids--we write in cursive.

 

 

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I have never required assignments done in cursive. My kids can read and write it. My 14 yod has multiple penpal and writes all her letters in cursive but prints assignments. My 10 yr old writes a few sentences in cursive/week. For our family, that approach has been enough.

Typing is by far a more important skill these days. If they can read and write cursive when they need to, no biggie one way or the other. 

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7 hours ago, mathmarm said:

We chose to teach cursive penmanship so that the kids will be able to use it--whether for daily communication, accessing historical records etc.--as effortlessly as possible.

Why teach any form of remote/recorded communication if you're not going to master it so that it can be used as a means of communication?

If cursive (or print. or typing. or drawing, or texting,or morse code, or short hand. or whatever form of recorded communication is being considered) is slow and ineffective after 3+ years, then it may not have been taught very well. (Assuming no major LDs) We've taught cursive using a combo of Kumon and a generic workbooks but because I didn't find a workbook that had sufficient amounts of intelligently designed drill, I had to supplement and create/assign the intelligently designed drills that my kids require myself.

Some of the handwriting drills that we do are
--doing 2-minute handwriting sprints each day (some days we only do 1 sprint. Others we might do 2 or 3 sprints.)
--completing select handwriting drills/exercises by the timer
--drilling and automating letter combinations
--drilling the X most common words to the point of automaticity

The caveat is we write cursive in a way that is visible to all the kids.
When Hubby or I write something at the whiteboard--or
When we update the grocery list in the kitchen--or
When we update the family billboard--or
When we leave notes for someone--or
When we give gifts and make inscriptions--or
When we write notes to the kids--we write in cursive.

 

 

I agree it’s just quicker and easier to use cursive once mastered. Once I told DD all her writing needs to be in cursive (again. She doesn’t write that much), it’s kind of fun to see her twirling out her little words. 
I have zero concerns that this will hold back her learning to type 😂😂😂

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16 hours ago, Little Green Leaves said:

I don't really understand why cursive is important.

It's important because you can go faster with it. 

To the OP: I made the mistake of not requiring my kids to use cursive after they had learned it.  So they don't use it, and as a result they have trouble with any situation that requires rapid handwritten notes.

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I think the purpose of cursive to be able to write more quickly in taking notes, has been taken over by being able to type quickly to take notes.  

I have beautiful cursive, also, and I cannot read older documents written in cursive.  Neither can my mother.  Sure, I have a better shot than someone who doesn't know any cursive, but the bottom line is that I can't read old documents.

I also have a hard time reading my mother's handwriting when she sends me letters.  I can make it out, but I have to make an effort.  

So I don't think that being able to write cursive is a guarantee to being able to read cursive.  It is not my experience.  

We had a decoupage Declaration of Independence up on the wall in the living room when I was growing up, and I used to spend a lot of time trying to read it.  I could read some of it but -- it's not very easy.  And it's been the same for me when I am at a museum that has old ledgers and diaries.  I usually cannot make out the cursive.  

 

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Phasing in cursive might well go better than attempting to have writing across the curriculum straight away. Cursive 1-3 times a week once the cursive lessons are complete, with an appropriately short amount of copying (to start, this might be as little as a sentence) could help. Especially if these are covering different subjects (so you might have your 5th grader write a cursive sentence during one history, one science and one English lesson per week, for example). I'd emphasise getting it readable, accurate and meeting whatever criteria you expected that sentence to meet (copywork is a good starting point, and then moving on to using it to answer questions or to complete other tasks), rather than speed, because the speed comes with confidence and practice. If he needs aids and large amounts of time to do it, that's fine - rushing won't accomplish anything. The rest of the time - for now - the 5th grader can use whichever other means of writing he feels gets the job done best.

Once your 5th grader is doing a good job using a cursive entence for curriculum tasks, and doesn't need an inordinate amount of time to do it, you can increase it to paragraph-length tasks, then multi-paragraph-length tasks, and so on and so forth. Eventually you will get to a point where both cursive and manuscript are comfortable. There's value in continuing to use both in appropriate places, as well as using typing for tasks where that's appropriate. A student who knows how to use all three to best effect for their own purposes is the #1 goal of including all three of manuscript, cursive and typing in a curriculum.

While I was taught cursive across the curriculum at school, it always required maths solutions to be in manuscript because that helps students communicate the number working more clearly, computer work was included every so often to maintain the effects of typing practise, and spelling was allowed to be in whichever script the student was most comfortable using).

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My DD7 wanted to learn cursive and wants it fancy. She is of an artistic bent.

Being in first grade and it being her first year of it, I require it all the time.

Her writing either way is neat and legible, most of the time. Practice, practice. 

By 6th or 7th grade it will be her choice from that point on. That's how it was for me growing up.  Neatness does count though.

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19 hours ago, Little Green Leaves said:

I don't really understand why cursive is important. I hope that doesn't sound snarky because I really don't mean it that way. I'm teaching my 8 year old cursive (or "script," as my teachers used to call it) just because I feel nostalgic for it. I associate it fondly with my grandmother, and with quiet time in the classroom, and I think I also read somewhere that learning it is good for your brain. But I'm not super committed to it. Those of you who are, and who encourage your kids to write only in cursive, why?

 

I liked this post but I actually was referring to you mentioning "script."  I said script to my two teenagers the other day and they had no idea that I meant cursive.  It is funny to me that modern children recognize the name I see as more formal.

I do think think that cursive is important.  My children learned cursive in 3rd grade in p.s. so at about 7/8 y.o.   By 4th grade most assignments were required to be in cursive.  If they hadn't been taught I would have taught them myself.  I think most adults I see actually use a hybrid of print and cursive.  I know my handwriting developed from what was the quickest and easiest when taking notes in school.  

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I think I would make sure the kids could read it fluently and they may enjoy a little fun cursive practice several times a week.  

My older kids started cursive in 3rd grade and we did a cursive workbook every year till about 7th grade and it was a fun and easy part of the school day.  In 4th grade I started writing everything on the white board and all notes I would give them in cursive to help with reading it.  DD writes everything in cursive to this day, DS1 uses a hybrid of print and cursive.

DS2 is just now learning cursive in 2nd grade.  We do one page per day in a workbook.  I think by middle of 3rd grade I will have him writing everything in cursive.  

 

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4 hours ago, ieta_cassiopeia said:

Once your 5th grader is doing a good job using a cursive entence for curriculum tasks, and doesn't need an inordinate amount of time to do it, you can increase it to paragraph-length tasks, then multi-paragraph-length tasks, and so on and so forth. Eventually you will get to a point where both cursive and manuscript are comfortable. There's value in continuing to use both in appropriate places, as well as using typing for tasks where that's appropriate. A student who knows how to use all three to best effect for their own purposes is the #1 goal of including all three of manuscript, cursive and typing in a curriculum.

This speaks to me 🙂

Thanks for your helpful feedback, everyone.  I can't say that I have a firm resolve one way or the other yet, but you all have provided lots of good food for thought.

I do have a question for those of you in the use-it-or-lose-it camp who feel that cursive needs to be used across the board in order to be maintained: has this proven true with your kids in regard to printing?  Put another way, have your children lost the ability to print because their school assignments are completed in cursive?  I mean this with no snark.   To be honest I'm still a bit dubious, but if that line of thinking does hold true, I would need to think carefully about whether I want his sole means of handwritten communication to be one that many of his peers will struggle to read.  

 

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I know in my life I only use truly legible cursive on checks and signing documents. Most of the time I either type or scrawl. My kids can decipher my scrawl in their lesson planners, so maybe they have an advantage in being able to read cursive bc it is way easier than my scrawl! (Not being able to decipher is not an excuse for not completing an assignment! 😉 )

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On 2/3/2020 at 4:18 PM, Little Green Leaves said:

I don't really understand why cursive is important. I hope that doesn't sound snarky because I really don't mean it that way. I'm teaching my 8 year old cursive (or "script," as my teachers used to call it) just because I feel nostalgic for it. I associate it fondly with my grandmother, and with quiet time in the classroom, and I think I also read somewhere that learning it is good for your brain. But I'm not super committed to it. Those of you who are, and who encourage your kids to write only in cursive, why?

Problem is, if you omit everything in school your child really "needs" to know..to survive, you can stop after kindergarten. 

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2 minutes ago, square_25 said:

You can function at a very high level, go to college, get a postgraduate degree, and have a really good job without cursive. That’s much less true if you never learn to read, write or do math past an elementary school level.

I understand the case for cursive, but that’s a wildly overblown argument.

This is true. And I never said cursive alone is extremely important. I, myself, have been asking how much I want to expect of my younger children with this. However, what I am saying is..the blanket reason "they don't NEED this" can actually be applied to most everything. IF I decide not to put much effort in to cursive, it will be because I feel that while it is a worthy subject, there are other things I would rather spend our time on.  I do not actually care at all if someone else does cursive. I will likely carry through on the cursive because I feel the hand written word is still a wonderful thing and I would like my children to be able to hand write a letter to their own children some day without it looking like a 6 year old did it. I have handwritten letters to each of my children. I have journals that are handwritten from before I had children. I hope when I am gone, my children, and maybe my grandchildren, will cherish these letters I have written them. And I would love for my children to be able to pass this on to their children. But again, someone else might find importance in something I think it not that important. Also, I find what is important to vary by child. If I had a child who was very good at languages, I might want them to learn 2 languages or more beyond English. But if I have another child who excels at math and science, I might encourage higher level of that and skip over the languages, or skimp on them anyway. 

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40 minutes ago, Janeway said:

This is true. And I never said cursive alone is extremely important. I, myself, have been asking how much I want to expect of my younger children with this. However, what I am saying is..the blanket reason "they don't NEED this" can actually be applied to most everything. IF I decide not to put much effort in to cursive, it will be because I feel that while it is a worthy subject, there are other things I would rather spend our time on.  I do not actually care at all if someone else does cursive. I will likely carry through on the cursive because I feel the hand written word is still a wonderful thing and I would like my children to be able to hand write a letter to their own children some day without it looking like a 6 year old did it. I have handwritten letters to each of my children. I have journals that are handwritten from before I had children. I hope when I am gone, my children, and maybe my grandchildren, will cherish these letters I have written them. And I would love for my children to be able to pass this on to their children. But again, someone else might find importance in something I think it not that important. Also, I find what is important to vary by child. If I had a child who was very good at languages, I might want them to learn 2 languages or more beyond English. But if I have another child who excels at math and science, I might encourage higher level of that and skip over the languages, or skimp on them anyway. 

I hear you. For what it's worth, I wasn't asking why we NEED cursive. I was asking why people find it important enough to require cursive across the curriculum. I'm not saying there's no value in it, I'm just wondering what the value is.

 I guess I don't really relate to everyone saying that they write more quickly in cursive. I still do write a lot by hand, but I use print, or a kind of cursive-influenced print with a few linked letters here and there. I associate cursive with formal writing -- it's what I had to use as a child when writing polite letters to distant relatives, for example. I don't know if my kids will do as much of that kind of thing as I did. Times are changing. When I was a kid, people still wrote letters as a matter of course. Now, everyone in my family has a cell phone, even my grandmother.

In my mind, cursive has value as a link to the past. It's also a way to stay off of screens and be a little more reflective. I guess I feel like it has a similar function to knitting or crocheting. I'm definitely teaching it to my kids, and I'll probably have them practice it a few times a week throughout elementary school, but I don't expect to require it in most writing assignments.

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8 hours ago, Little Green Leaves said:

I hear you. For what it's worth, I wasn't asking why we NEED cursive. I was asking why people find it important enough to require cursive across the curriculum. I'm not saying there's no value in it, I'm just wondering what the value is.

Value is subjective. Hubby and I value that our kids gain a total mastery of as many communication forms as possible before they graduate from school.
We value the idea of each of them being able to clearly, fluently and with as little effort as possible, express their thoughts and communicate them clearly with, for, or to themselves or others.

Since written word is a major form of communication we want the kids to master cursive AND print so that they may exercise choice each and every time that they pick up a pen(cil) to write by hand. In my mind, it's not really a choice when a person feels that one form of written communication either produces an inferior or embarrassing result, or is slow and laborious to use.

Both cursive and print must require minimal effort so that they can freely choose. Therefore, both cursive and print must be practiced and exercised to utter automaticity. We have chosen to prioritize having the kids work towards mastering both script and print before the 3rd grade and to help us achieve that goal we do require cursive penmanship across the curriculum.

For whatever it's worth we also have ambitions of the kids learning a calligraphic style and plan to require regular calligraphy practice for a few years so that they really get it down. So, I imagine starting calligraphy no later than 6th grade and requiring it daily during the first two-years, then 4 x a week in year three, 3 x a week in year four, and 2x a week every year after that.

 

 

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On 2/5/2020 at 1:33 PM, Little Green Leaves said:

I guess I don't really relate to everyone saying that they write more quickly in cursive. I still do write a lot by hand, but I use print, or a kind of cursive-influenced print with a few linked letters here and there.

I was thinking the same thing! I find writing in print to be faster, neater, & more comfortable. Perhaps it has something to do with being left-handed, or my pencil grip... I’m not sure. I do know that in sixth grade I got fed up with my handwriting being nearly illegible & went back to self-teach from primary notebooks. My print now is very clear, if not beautiful. 

As for DS, I’ll require that he use his new skill for copy work once or twice a week next year, then occasionally for free writing after that. I have no preference which he ends up using primarily. He’s in 1st now, so we’ll work on cementing cursive in 2nd before moving on to learn typing in 3rd. 

Edited by Shoes+Ships+SealingWax
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My dd did cursive in 3rd and 4th grades and then stopped and she doesn't remember how to write it and can't read cursive now at 16.  When we went to the DMV, the lady said hardly any kids that come in here can write in cursive.  She also said the signature is just how you "sign" your name, it doesn't have to be cursive and it can be same as print if that's how you sign your name.  Also the same when we went to the bank to set her up an account, for her signature, she simply wrote her name in print.  When my husband's mother sends us letters or cards, the only one that can read them is my husband LOL!!  I have no clue what her cursive says and I had cursive all through school from 3rd grade up but I didn't write cursive after high school and I've forgotten it all.

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This is about how it goes in our house:

3yo: "teaching" proper manuscript letters during spontaneous writing

4yo: cursive letter then word instruction and practice, somewhat randomly

5-6yo: writing basic sentences in manuscript, cursive sentence copywork, 2-3 times a week

7yo: dictation, first in manuscript then transitioning to cursive, manuscript may be used for all other school stuff

8yo: manuscript required for writing assignments, however manuscript may be used for first drafts/outlines. It seems like manuscript helps with spelling perhaps?

9yo+: haven't gotten there yet but I'm guessing I'll require cursive for final drafts of any assignment written in complete sentences in any subject (so not workbooks, vocab lists, etc.)

They also start proper typing practice at 5yo and they may occasionally type writing assignments at 7yo+ as long as they use proper technique.

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