Dive Brief:
- Seven states — California, Idaho, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee — are toying with the idea of having teachers still teach cursive, despite the fact that the Common Core standards do not mandate the teaching of the skill.
- Cursive lessons, once a cornerstone in elementary school classrooms, has faded in importance as more technologies are pushed into the classroom. Knowing that students will one day work primarily on computers makes teaching cursive feel archaic.
- Advocates for cursive lessons, such as radio host Glenn Beck, argue that students must know how to read and write in cursive so they can read important historical documents like the Declaration of Independence.
Dive Insight:
Pretty handwriting is less important today. With computers available almost everywhere, being able to cross your T's and dot your I's perfectly is valued less. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have any value. Cursive is difficult and teaches young children perseverance, and it can actually be used to strengthen typical handwriting. Taking pride in one's writing and how it looks can also be a first step in wanting to write more.
Cursive is in many ways an art form, so being able to infuse it into the school day can have its benefits for the lower elementary set. At the end of the day, however, it's not so much how the writing looks or what mode it is being produced in, but rather the content and meaning it is trying to share.