Parents, How Do You Feel About This?

This is a pet peeve of mine. My child's school does not teach it at all. SO, theoretically my children could finish elementary school and be unable to sign their name. I DO feel like this is unacceptable. I bought a book and have started teaching my oldest at home.

My oldest son had maybe 6 weeks worth of instruction on it in @ 3rd or 4th grade. My other son is going into 3rd this year so I don't know if he will be taught it or not (different school). I haven't decided how I feel about it yet. I see pros & cons on it. Probably the only time oldest son uses it is to sign his name on paperwork.

i'm sorry to see cursive get abandoned on the dusty shelves of academia along with the classics and reciting the times tables out loud.
but it's clearly much more important to keep kids swotting for standardized tests. they have done SO much to improve the educational process.
(i hope the sarcasm is clear, but i know my fingers don't always express what face i'm making.)
i'm such a fossil, though. ::::::::::cue up creaky organ music:::::::::
at 7 i was filling my fountain pen from a bottle, or maybe i was just transitioning from that to those new-fangled ink cartridges. we weren't allowed to have ballpoints in class, and blotting paper was part of my school supplies.
my handwriting was exquisite. it isn't any more.
:) khairete
S. (and her ghostly ink-stained fingers)

Like TF said, cursive is a valued part of curriculum here. My friends from other states have mentioned cursive being dropped. I don't think removing cursive from curriculum is uncommon.

If it were me, I would teach my child cursive at home. I think it's sad and unacceptable that children don't learn cursive. It's another way schools are continually failing our children.

ETA: Unless 30 is "old," then it's not just old people using it. I write in cursive exclusively. Cursive is more efficient.

Our school still teachers cursive, but I'm not sure to what extent. My son was sent home with a D'Nealian letter writing chart in K and we break it out sometimes. For kids with his sort of vision disability (ocular motor dysfunction) the cursive reading and writing is actually easier because of the connectedness of the letters, so I've been encouraging him to try it when he's in the mood for it.

Amy J is right; cursive is so good for the brain in so many ways and employs the brain in ways print writing doesn't. I also feel that even if there is loads of technology which make cursive 'irrelevant', I certainly don't want my child dependent upon that technology to be able to express himself well. Writing will never be completely obsolete!

To my knowledge, state schools in PA no longer teach it. The public schools in our area don't and there have been many articles that it has been cut drastically nation-wide. The short-sighted excuse is that kids don't need it because they will use computers for everything. The real excuse is that it's not important for standardized tests.

It's EXTREMELY bad news as studies show it is crucial for spacial development which leads to innovative thinking and spelling reinforcement, hand-eye coordination etc. There is NO GOOD EXCUSE to cut it since everyone I know can print and write cursive AND USE COMPUTERS.

Anyway, I homeschool and we use the Zaner Bloser handwriting books including for cursive. My second grader started it in mid-first grade. She loves it and her handwriting is already really pretty. You can order the books from their website online and teach it yourself.

It's terrible in my opinion that schools have cut it.

Our public school still teaches cursive, so you can't make a general statement like "public schools no longer teach it," etc.
I'm glad our school still teaches it and glad that my kid learned cursive.
They also have keyboarding classes.
If my child attended a school that didn't teach cursive? I'd probably teach him myself.

My older two went to private schools, they were taught cursive, pubic schools no longer teach it at all. If you want your children to learn cursive you have to teach them yourself.

I didn't read everyone's responses here but there are two very good reasons for learning cursive:

First, so you can read The Declaration of Independence and other documents. It may not seem like much since you can find them online nicely typed up but how sad that our children can not read the actual document.

Second, and probably the more important reason, so they can write their SAT answer faster. It is proven time and again that students who are able to write in cursive score higher on the SAT's then their peers who print. The reason...those who write in cursive are able to write their answer faster which gives them the ability to get more ideas down on the paper and they have fewer unfinished sentences.

The mind works faster than our hands. The ability to write in cursive allows students to keep up with their ideas better than students who print.

I taught my children cursive at home. It isn't hard to do and there are plenty of books online to help you do it.

They didn't officially stop but they used the time for handwriting to teach testing skills and it was obvious the kids all had horrible handwriting. We complained en masse and ended up teaching our kids at home.
I feel it should be required along with keyboarding.

To be honest, I think that second grade is too early for cursive writing. Third grade is more appropriate.

It's not just about the cursive itself. Kids this age are still learning to put on paper what is in their heads. It's hard enough to do that while trying to make the regular letters, much less cursive letters.

Walk around a classroom and you'll see kids who hold the pencils wrong, or contort their hands when they write. They haven't been taught how to write correctly overall. That just makes it even harder for them to learn cursive. All the kids' little hands get tired from writing - it's a hard skill to physically do. Another reason cursive should wait until 3rd grade.

My own kids learned cursive in 3rd grade. Their schools used Jan Olsen's Handwriting Without Tears series, which is a very good series. Because my younger son had a weakness in his right hand, he needed OT and strenghtening (he was 5 years old at the time.) I happened to get really lucky and see an ad in one of the parenting magazines (the free ones that are for your own community) of a class held by an OT who specialized in handwriting, and I called her. She actually used Jan Olsen's Handwriting Without Tears program, the same as the school system used, and had group lessons for my son's age group. It was great because they had fun doing it together, and he learned to write the alphabet at the same time she was helping him strengthen his hand. She also incorporated fun activities with manipulatives that the kids enjoyed (they thought it was just fun) but were things that OT's use for kids with sensory issues. When my older son started cursive in 3rd grade, he actually asked me if he could take her older kids' class so that he would learn cursive better, and I did that for him.

That might be something you could look for - a group class taught outside of school. At the very least, look into Handwriting Without Tears - I'm sure you could get it online. It would be great if you had a qualified teacher teach him how to hold his pencil right and make sure he's doing the cursive correctly. The correct way is the easiest and fastest way and will help his hand not tire out so much.

My GD's school did teach it, but I have heard that a lot of schools are not. I don't agree with not teaching it. Not only won't the kids be able to write in cursive, but they won't be able to read it either! I will say that the class did not really concentrate on it or devote a huge amount of time to it, but it was taught so at least the kids can READ it, even if they still lack proficiency in writing it.

It is part of the curriculum here, but teachers must make the time to teach it. Thanks to Common Core, it's optional.

If my DD doesn't learn in school, she will learn at home. Her brother and sister have pathetic handwriting (SS was so bad he was asked to type his homework as he was illegible). DD won't be able to read her baby book or her great-grandmother's letters if she doesn't learn cursive. I think that skipping cursive in favor of teaching to test is poor use of resources. I have many problems with teaching to test, mostly with the district and not with the teachers (several of whom are my friends so I hear a lot from them). But I digress...in our case, we will have to see. I think SD learned a little in 3rd grade.

School districts that I have taught in didn't start teaching cursive until 3rd grade. Maybe the end of 2nd they would start introducing it a little. 4th grade is when it is really emphasized. 2nd grade students should still be working on printing. Most don't have the dexterity for cursive. It is true that schools are spending less time on teaching handwriting of any kind. Some of that is due to high stakes testing, but it is also because there is more emphasis on keyboarding skills. The excuse for that is that our society is becoming more technology based.

Cursive has been long gone in the school district my girls go to. (I have a 9th and 7th grader) So its been gone at least 6 years here. I bought books and have taught my girls at home.

They still teach it here, but it's very brief.
Handwriting is becoming obsolete. My kids have typed all of their work since 4th grade. They often send digital files to teachers now (saves paper which is fine with me!) The only time I use cursive is on a greeting/thank you card or a gift tag, I haven't written a real letter or paper/report/essay in over twenty years.
I'm more concerned about adequate instruction reading, writing, math, science, social studies, PE and art/music than I am about handwriting.

I have been a regular substitute teacher for 12 years. In our district, cursive is introduced in the late portion of the 2nd grade ( when school is almost out and basically all studies are completed, etc)

Beginning in 3rd grade, there is daily cursive practice (mostly a morning warm up) which is expanded upon during the language arts portion of the day.

By mid semester, children are encouraged to do all work in cursive and complete sentences. By the end of the year and through 5th grade, if you do not use cursive on spelling tests, worksheets, daily journal, etc it is counted against your grade.

So here.... yes it is still taught and looked upon as something that is important for each child to learn.

If it's that important, teach it to her. Teachers only have so many hours in a day and cursive just isn't a priority anymore.

Our public schools only touch on it here and there. I am homeschooling and don't have it as part of the curriculum, but they do get some worksheets on it, and at least understand the basics.

Honestly, the only people who use it anymore are 'older', not old, people. Computers have taken away the need for anyone to do anything more then print.

In our school they teach cursive writing in grade three, but they aren't required to use it exclusively until grade four.

Penmanship now a days seems to be archaic as we have turned to electronic devices. I do believe it teaches technique, patients, and attention to detail. With budget cuts and the need to cram something in. I believe it falls under the art category now. So its not a bad idea to start teaching it on the side if you really want them to learn it. My daughters extra curricular art class teaches it but not her public school.

It really isn't taught anymore. My kids have picked it up, but they have never been told they have to write in cursive. They got minimal instruction...but a lot of people no longer use it.

I am with Momof2boys and don't know how I feel about it, but if they aren't going to need it in life, I don't see the big need for them to spend hours upon hours in instruction on learniing it.

For more answers, put cursive in the Mamapedia search!

I understand that it's sad to see cursive as a lost form of writing. However, I don't see a much benefit in knowing how to write in cursive except for signing your name. I think it's better to develop good handwriting skills in normal print. I'm a nurse, and I get so frustrated when doctors write orders in cursive. I don't have any trouble reading cursive when one takes the time to write it well, but often cursive allows for laziness as doctors will trail off with a squiggly line at the end of words. I appreciate clear, easy-to-read writing, and I think print requires that more than cursive because you have to write each letter separately.

I think people hold on to cursive more for it's sentimental value than for its functional value. The only other benefit I can see to writing in cursive is potentially being able to write notes faster in college .. but I can write nearly as fast in print and its easier to read. And now many college students are typing notes, which is much faster.

My son, going into fifth grade, didn't really do much cursive writing until about 4 grade. Even then none of his papers were cursive.
I don't care. Almost everything now days is on the computer typed up. Cursive is a lost art! And one that I wasn't taught either.
L.

I learned cursive in fifth grade. I think my daughter learned it in fourth. Other than my signature, I never use it. I can print faster and more legibly than I can write. My daughter is the same way.

My daughter didn't learn it until 3rd or 4th grade.

Cursive writing is taught in 3rd grade, not second.

My daughter's school won't learn cursive until 3rd grade.

Our kids got that in 3rd grade. They did start trying to do it in 2nd but it was more like Grandma, how do I make a cursive "G"? instead of them knowing how to make it and practice it.

My daughter did learn it in 3rd grade (she's in 8th now), but I think our district is also phasing it out, if it's not already gone. They are working on keyboarding instead. At first I thought this was awful and sad, etc. But then I realized that schools used to teach shorthand- from way back? It was not needed because of the tech stuff that came along so it was phased out. Same thing I guess.

I think they need to learn how to sign their names, but otherwise, it really isn't applicable anymore. As someone else mentioned, it's more of an art now- like calligraphy.

As I said, my daughter did learn cursive. But since then she has never- not once- been asked to write an assignment in cursive. But she has typed hundreds of papers. Times change, I guess.

I'm not really sure if they teach it here or not. My daughter is going into 3rd grade. She has her own interest in it though. She has been practicing on her own and I help her if she needs it

my kids started cursive writing in second grade (private school). from what i understand, public schools don't start cursive (if at all) until fifth grade.