The Demise of Cursive Handwriting

23 responses to “The Demise of Cursive Handwriting”

1. There was a reason we learned cursive and it was to be able to sign our name and communicate with others. I understand that with social media hand written communications is a lost art but don’t they want to be able to sign their name, even a digital name. Apparently they’d rather only use their thumbs.

2. My thoughts mirrored the comment above………what about a LEGAL signature for people? If they are only able to print, then their signature would be easily copied and not unique to them. I still believe cursive handwriting needs to be taught. Perhaps it doesn’t need to be as strictly “graded” as it was in years past, but it should still be taught.

3. I remember we wrote in the Marion Richardson style of writing our head was so strict on following the style and a friend of mine wrote at a slant and she had to go to the head everyday to show her writing that day, she had to go every day until the end of the term. This has bought back such memories thank you. I write all my labels by free machine now and really enjoy them even if they are much bigger labels xxx

   1. This is a BIG mistake! Everyone should learn to write. I agree with the above inputs. Is this just another place where big government is putting their nose in where we don’t need it?

      1. I had a discussion with one of my son’s teachers regarding this when he couldn’t read a handwritten birthday card from his great grandmother. Inspired me to write Beets. Social media & technology are great. Moving forward is important but so is remembering where we came from. -cheers

4. I will admit I avoid handwriting whenever possible. Typing is faster and easier to read. As I get older, it is more difficult for me to maintain a steady hand when writing for any length of time. That said, I have a hand-written thank you note on my list of to-do’s when I finish this reply. I still count that as a “must”. And the comments about legal signatures is right on point!! Silly and short sighted to drop this skill from our schools.

5. It’s not on the test. 😉

   1. You sound like my teenage son–if it’s not on the test, why should we bother? Good time management skill…

      1. That was sarcasm 😀 They don’t teach it because it’s not on the state mandated tests they need to pass.

         There’s no time left to teach anything that won”t be tested.

         I actually agree it should be taught – and have taught my kids myself.

6. I believe it is just another subject that is cut from our children’s schooling, no arts, no writing, no music, no physical ed. It’ very sad. Of course things are changing quickly and computers are key to the future but well rounded individual are equally as important.

   1. It seems hard to believe that in the primary grades they can’t squeeze in 15 minutes a day to learn cursive. After all, we learned cursive and we also learned to type–the computer skills, well that’s another matter–for me at least!

7. The biggest concern to me about this is all of our historical documents are in cursive writing. Diaries from the past are in cursive writing. Our children will not be able to read these themselves and create their own opinions. It will be like a foreign language to them. They will have to depend on others to tell them what they say.

   Signatures may be a thing of the past and may become your thumbprint or a retinal photo. This is “progress.” Not being able to read cursive is control of future generations. They are doing this little steps here and there so people barely notice.

   I hope parents come forward and fight this.

   1. You make a good point–that most of the primary documents of history are written in cursive. I hope it doesn’t happen…

8. That is so sad. I hope something is done to keep cursive around. No matter how technologically based our society gets we can’t go without knowing how to write with a pen properly. It’s ridiculous to stop teaching something just because it appears to be going out of style. There might come a day that computers and smartphones go out of style themselves (though right now that looks quite doubtful..).

   1. I wonder if it will really happen. Though cursive is no longer mandatory, many schools in our area are still teaching it.

      1. That’s good to hear. Maybe handwriting isn’t dying out just yet. What a terrible thought though. :/

9. I firmly believe that everyone should know cursive. If you cannot read cursive then your native English becomes a foreign language when written in cursive. I have taught my children to read and write cursive. Still, due to lack of exposure they have difficulty reading letters from their Great Grandmother! It may not be the wave of the future, but it is a connection to our past. 🙂

   1. You make a great point–that cursive is a part of the English language. It would be so terrible not to be able to read a grandparents’ letter–or the primary documents of history!

10. I think all parents, grandparents and teachers should be writing to their local and state or provincial school boards to try to keep this in the school. Many people are discussing this but not taking it to the next level. Without the complaints, the school boards will have no reason to take a second look and maybe realize that what they are doing will not enhance the students.

    1. Our schools are still teaching cursive for now. It’s no longer mandated, but they do teach it.

11. I homeschool my 4-year-old son and I am starting cursive right off the bat with him. I use a curriculum that believes in cursive writing. I used it with my older children and it helped their reading and spelling as well. Because the letters blend together it makes reading a little more natural and it helps to not mix up letters like “b” and “d” because they are very different when writing in cursive. 🙂

    1. I think you are wise to teach him cursive. You must be very organized (and patient) to homeschool!

12. You all will be happy to know that my 4th grader is learning cursive in her public school this year! She wanted to learn last year, so I worked with her on it, but pleasantly surprised to see she was actually being taught cursive. I prefer to print, easier to read and I can write in print faster than cursive. I totally agree that everyone should learn cursive or joined lettering (European “cursive”).