Cursive

[dementia412]

oohhh... oops... Thanks for all the repies!

 

[Aristomommy]

Did she learn that denalian alphabet first? It's like a mix of print and cursive, supposedly to help them learn cursive easier. Personally, I don't like it.

Anyway, dd started with the denalian, and just this past year, third grade, they started writing cursive. I learned cursive in third grade and so did Corey, so it seems like she is right on track to me. I don't know if I would teach her much at home, because the teachers usually have their own way of doing it, and it might confuse her.

DD8's school began denalian in the 1st grade. It is an odd mix of cursive and print. I'm glad that only lasted for a year, because I couldn't copy it....

She started cursive in 2nd grade and in 3rd grade they pretty much expected it with assignments.

 

[solferino]

DD (8) just finished 2nd grade and they started a little bit of learning cursive the last few weeks of school, which will continue going into 3rd grade with full-cursive instruction. I don't think it's until 4th grade that the teacher requires complete use of cursive though.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I am a former second grade teacher who taught cursive. I hated teaching it because only about half the class was ready for it. The third grade teachers ended up reteaching. My son is now in the school district where I taught, and they have moved cursive to third. I am glad because his fine motor skills were not ready, but I think he is ready now. I am waiting patiently to review with him after she teaches a letter.

 

[SplashMountainMama]

Growing up, we started learning in 2nd grade. But get this, the school system in which I am a school social worker, they don't even make the kids learn cursive. I didn't know that until the last month of school, and I was asking some of the 3rd graders I work with. They said the teachers don't make them use cursive because "it isn't necessary later in life." I asked 2 of the teachers, and they said this was true. I was appauled!!

I'm a 4th grade teacher and at our school students learn cursive in 3rd grade, but teachers usually ask students to use it more regularly in 4th grade. There was a lot of discussions amongst staff members this year about whether or not we should be forcing kids to use cursive or not. While I agree that it's good to learn it and be able to use it, is it really a necessity anymore in our society? It's an interesting question. Many students in high school/ university print notes or use laptops. As an adult, except for your signature, how often are you in a situation where cursive is absolutely imperative? Would our students benefit more from having extra time to work on keyboarding/ typing skills as opposed to spending hours working on learning "the only proper way" to form cursive letters? Just as society's needs change so must our educational system evolve. I'm not suggesting that we abolish cursive all together just that we should probably put it more in perspective.

 

[dementia412]

here is at least one, okay, two arguments for teaching all kids cursive

I don't type notes, and most students in my university don't. Can you imagine the hardship of taking notes in print? I've been in a few classes where I can't even keep up in cursive. Worse yet, the students most likely to not have computers to take notes on (the poor students) are also more likely to have gone to schools that brush off teaching cursive because they think it's pointless, and they would rather teach them only what will be on the year end test so they can keep all their funding. (which they need since the property taxes in the poor areas yield little to help schools out) So these same kids can't aford computers and can't write. I see these kids try college, and after a semester or two they drop out. It's not just writing, but a host of problems they face. That is just one of their issues.

.. also most subjects seem pointless to the majority of people... how many of you ever had a need to know what the insides of a from look like , and how much of that French do you remember? Do you really need to know the 50 states and their capitals? Just because something is not necesary, does not mean it is not worth learning.

Wow, can't believe a post of mine has lasted this long... they usually die within the hour.

 

[SplashMountainMama]

I don't see it as an issue of not teaching it at all. I do think cursive should be taught, but I think maybe (in some schools) there's too much emphasis placed on cursive writing and not enough on other life skills like learning how to use a computer. How many if us spend more time using cursive in our jobs as opposed to using a computer? No, not every subject is essential (and I'd argue whether or not kids are even learning the 50 states and their capital cities), but just because something's always been done a certain way doesn't mean we shouldn't at least be open to the possibility of change. IMO, students in less fortunate areas would benefit from more time on learning computer skills (as well as the basics) since it's less likely they would have a computer at home to learn on their own, but that's just my opinion. I find this an interesting question with really no one answer for every situation, but it's definitely a sign of our technological times.

 

[gower525]

I am a second grade teacher and our district has always taught cursive in third - until now! I just found out that we will start teaching cursive in 2nd this year. AGGG! I have never taught cursive - I guess it is time to learn the correct way to form the letters! I don't think that there is any reason to rush cursive writing. What's the point? Our district is moving it up just because third grade has so much to do already (multiplication).

 

[DreaGirl]

Former teacher here (now SAHM) and I agree with the other teachers. Please don't start teaching cursive at home! It is very hard to "correct" mistakes in style once they are learned. Every school district has their own program that they follow that your child will be expected to learn.

Around here it starts in 3rd grade. I taught 3rd for two years and the children who had been taught at home had the hardest time. JMHO.

 

[pigletof4]

My dd7 started learning cursive at the end of the school year (first grade) we go to a Montessori school. She has a cousin same age going into third grade and he hasn't learned it yet. He was quite impressed that she was learning cursive. In fact, anything I find around the house now is in cursive.

 

[pigletof4]

I just noticed I have a tag. Thanks tag fairy.

 

[Taqwus]

Gah, why do schools still try and teach this, cursive is really utterly useless in life in my opinion. Especially with the little touches everyone puts on it sometimes it is very hard to read
I hated it my handwriting was so bad that I actually got punishwork and sent to the office because I could not write normally
Currently I use print and have used it for many years, I hardly even remember how to write cursive anymore

 

[jagafen]

This is one of my "hot buttons"....I will try and keep it short! (stepping up on soapbox)

I love my teachers......but I hate the educational system for pushing handwriting skills upon children before they are developmentally ready for them. Children's fine motor skills in early childhood/kindergarten are becoming extremely poor. Kids aren't playing as much as they used to (now a days more video games, less playground/outside time) Back to sleep is a good movement for babies and such, but parents are over-compensating and are afraid to put their babies on their stomaches. Prone play during the first year is CRITICAL for developing hand arches and shoulder/elbow/wrist stability and strength which is a large component of later on developing good handwriting skills. Part of the reason that later handwriting issues may occur is that children are being forced to hold pencils (and produce a greater amount of written output e.g. journaling) before their little hand muscles are developed and strengthened sufficently. Dysfunctional pencil grips lead to dysfunctional handwriting patterns and letter formation. And I am talking about "normal" (quotes intended....we are ALL temporarily abled!!!) kids not those with visual perceptual/visual motor impairments here....Our kindergardners should be working on improving fine motor skills and visual motor skills with appropriate activities during their early childhood educational experiences and not HANDWRITING LETTERS until the end of the year at the earliest (or later at the start of 1st grade in my opinion) I realize that with today's educational system that this is a difficult stance to take. There are other ways to teach letter formation besides with a pencil in hand. If anyone is interested, search/check out the Handwriting Without Tears program for some good, multi-sensory/fine motor/visual motor friendly ways to teach letter formation....But as parents (and I am one) who want the best educational foundation for our children, introducing handwriting before children's hands, fingers, muscles, joints, and minds are ready is just setting them up to develop bad habits......and as a previous poster stated....bad habits are heard to "break". (stepping off of soapbox)

Oh, and as an aside....legible handwriting is legible handwriting, regardless of the program/style that is being taught in your school district. Please advocate for your children.