Does your child's school teach cursive?

[Ginny Favers]

My DD6 is in 1st grade and while they do teach cursive in 2nd, she asked me while she was writing out Valentines cards if I could teach her a little. I said, "Sure!" and then I sat down to write and after fumbling around for a little was like, "I think this is how you write a capital Q." It took me a little while to remember the correct way to write some letters, since while I do use a form of cursive, I've modified a lot of letters to form my own personal style which is actually a combination between the two.

I think that if they did not teach it, I would be teaching her. One of these days it's going to be one of those obscure skills that very few people know . . . you know, like proper grammar and correct spelling. And I keep thinking that eventually email and evites will lose their luster and old-fashioned, handwritten things will be all the rage again.

 

[Ms Marigny]

My daughter goes to a French immersion school and they learn cursive in Kindergarten. The idea is that it is more difficult to learn correctly later on, so they learn cursive first, then print writing. The French are pretty serious about their cursive too- she is graded on it! She is in first grade now does her French homework in cursive and her English homework in print.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

Everyone says it's sad it's going away, but why not take the time to teach your child cursive yourself if you feel that way? I posted a link earlier to cursive worksheets. It takes 5 minutes per day to teach them. I think kids should learn as soon as they are reading and writing print well.

I have parents who think I should teach their child to tie their shoes. Well, back in the days where kindergarten was learning to get along, playing with blocks and learning colors and shapes, I probably could have done that. Teachers are being asked to teach more with larger class sizes and less resources. Unfortunately, something has to give.

Thanks for the link! My youngest kids aren't learning cursive and I'm definitely going to print those worksheets out and start working with them. I had to get my son to sign something last weekend and only then was shocked to realize that he hadn't learned any cursive.

 

[TanyaS]

When my 7th grader took the SAT last month, the test takers were asked to write a paragraph in cursive (honor pledge, I think). DS said that many of the kids (from different schools) were not able to write the paragraph in cursive like they were asked to do.

In our public school, the students do cursive worksheets for a few weeks in third grade, but then are never required to turn in work in cursive after that, so it is a skill that is quickly lost. The Catholic school does require all schoolwork be done in cursive.

Like a PP suggested, I have had all my DC do cursive worksheets from time to time, but the ability to write well in cursive hasn't really stuck. I have forty-three bazillion other things I need to teach them outside of school hours, so I've pretty much given up on all but having them able to sign their names.

When I listened to a class of sixth graders give oral reports in social studies, I literally laughed out loud and had to quickly pretend to be coughing instead when one of the kids referred to King Richard v i i (vee eye eye). He obviously had no idea VII meant 7th.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I have an 11th grader and a 7th grader. Both were taught cursive, but they don't use it in school.

The only time I use cursive is to sign documents.

 

[aprilgail2]

Both of my sons were taught cursive in 2nd grade. My oldest is now in 6th grade and has to do his weekly spelling tests in cursive and in pen. I think that is a little much. He has not had to keep up on the cursive every year though so he is still not great at it.
week.

Spelling tests here are only in grade school and only printed-after 5th grade they dont have spelling tests anymore.

 

[shoney]

Spelling tests here are only in grade school and only printed-after 5th grade they dont have spelling tests anymore.

My son is in 8th and still has spelling tests. They aren't that often, but they still have them! I think that's I do have to say, he is a much better speller than I am!


On another note, I do think that if the schools aren't going to teach cursive because it is no longer needed in their mind, then teach keyboarding at an early age. It drives me crazy seeing my kids type with their 2 fingers. They are pretty quick, but still, I think they would benefit from knowing how to actually type! Of course, I have mentioned it to them and they think I'm crazy!

 

[FergieTCat]

I never learned script in school; for some reason, my 4th grade teacher skipped right over it. I've always "scrinted" and never really learned to write anything except for my signature.

Do you think penmanship is a dying art form?

 

[CdnCarrie]

My kid is in grade 4 and learning to write.

 

[Embel]

Our school teaches it in third grade- but I wish they wouldn't. I'd like to see it replaced with keyboarding, which isn't taught until 6th grade. Too late, in my opinion. This generation is going to need keyboarding. They are not likely to need cursive.

Also, based on instagram, twitter, and all the other social media that my children and their friends use, I think all that cursive time must be cutting into time for grammar lessons. They don't know they're/their/there or to/too and half of them can't spell for beans. Spell check kids, there's an app for that!

 

[Luv'sTink]

No, and when asked the teacher said it wasn't important.

I believe it is important to be able to read it and be able to sign ones name.

 

[Luv'sTink]

I never learned script in school; for some reason, my 4th grade teacher skipped right over it. I've always "scrinted" and never really learned to write anything except for my signature.

Do you think penmanship is a dying art form?

Yes. My mother has beautiful handwriting. Think of old documents and the beautiful script that was hand done, dying art for sure, now people use a computer script....blah

 

[NotUrsula]

IMO, the primary reason that it is important for most people is speed. The average person writes more quickly in cursive than by printing, and that is important when you are taking notes in a class that forbids laptops or when doing a timed essay exam. Of course, for an exam it also needs to be legible.

My kids go to Catholic school and they still have quite an emphasis on it. Once past third grade it is not a separate lesson, but they get fractional point docks for illegible words on assignment papers. For that reason it can cost you if you don't learn to write clearly and quickly, by whatever method you choose.

FWIW, DS15 has dysgraphia, and it was a struggle for him to learn to write legibly at all, but cursive was easier for him in the end than printing was. He has issues with spacing the letters properly when he prints, so he used to get docked for writing something nonsensical like "a he ad" when what he really meant was "ahead". Since cursive physically links the letters in a single word, it essentially eliminates that issue.

PS: The best program for DS turned out to be Handwriting Without Tears, and I would recommend it for kids who have difficulty with handwriting. You don't have to go whole-hog on the manipulatives and all that; the workbooks are quite good all by themselves. I asked permission to have DS use HWT style instead of the more serif-heavy script that was being taught in his school, and his teachers were fine with it; they just wanted him to be able to write clearly. As it turns out, the preschool/Kindergarten that my younger DD attends has formally adopted it, and it is working great for her as well.

 

[Jill in Chicago]

You can learn how to sign your name, without understanding all of cursive. You put the cursive up on the board and look at what letters you need. Then you practice linking those specific letters together. All you need to practice is your signature. Done. Your signature then evolves over time.

I do understand that students will not be able to read old letters, but there are many letters written in the language of grandparents that children will not be able to read either. They will need to go to someone else to have them translated. Same thing.

Besides, old letters often have abbreviations, and vocabulary that we do not understand. We have to go to others for interpretation of that as well.


I stopped writing in cursive as soon as it was allowed. I printed all my notes in college and I have taken notes from interviews in print. I am very speedy and it's legible.

The amount that is expected to be completed in a day by students is overwhelming. I don't think practicing cursive is a good use of that time. I would much rather they practiced small motor skills in other ways.

 

[mumto3girls]

Our grade school begins to teach cursive in 2nd grade and continues that in 3rd grade. By the middle of 3rd grade all written work is expected to be done in cursive and that continues through 4th grade. They go to middle school for grade 5. I only have one that has gotten that far and she said that her main teacher for 5th grade said that they have been taught how to write and it is up to them now how to do it--print, cursive, combination of the two, but it must be legible. I do like that they learn it and it is a skill that they will have. They teach keyboarding in 5th grade--two days a week for the whole year. I think that is important also.

 

[DopeyDame]

My son is in a montessori school, and they teach cursive instead of print right away. The 3 year olds are learning their letters in cursive. Theoretically, it's easier for most little kids to write in cursive instead of print, since cursive is more like the scribling that kids naturally do and they don't have to pick up and put donw their pencil as much.
I admit I thought it was a little weird when I first heard that, but it's super cute to see a 3 year old write in cursive.

 

[brookmey]

Cursive starts in 3rd grade at our school. They don't spend as much time learning and practicing it as I remember doing.

 

[arthuruscg]

Well, whats a check?

There is your answer to the necessity of cursive.

For most things, the "signature" is processed by a computer and as long as your mark is the same or with in the programs learned range of your mark, then it doesn't care.

 

[Colleen27]

Our experience has varied from school to school. It was covered but only very briefly at the elem DD11 went to when she was in 3rd/4th grade, and then it was left up to the students whether they wanted to use it or continue printing. But the school DS was at for those grades? They were absolutely draconian about it. In 4th grade he wasn't allowed to print at all. He had math assignments handed back ungraded because he printed his name or the word parts of story problems, and failed spelling tests even though he knew how to spell the words because he couldn't write them in cursive at the pace required to keep up with the teacher.

I think it should be taught because generally speaking cursive is faster than printing. That comes in handy when taking notes, and I don't think it is a good idea to be 100% reliant on technology for things like that. And of course everyone needs to learn to sign their names. But I don't think it should be a big deal or the focus of a great deal of class time. Teach it and move on with opportunities to practice here and there.

 

[Zandy595]

DS is in 10th grade now and can't write or read cursive. When he was in 3rd grade his teacher spent about 2 weeks (20 minutes a day) teaching it. DS basically got nothing out of it. I bought a workbook and had him work on it the summer between 3rd and 4th grade because I was afraid he would have to write in cursive in 4th and wouldn't know how to do it, but his teacher told them to print everything. Since he didn't have to do it, he's forgotten what little he learned. I tried to have him at least practice his signature, but he got frustrated and quite. I'm very disappointed that his school didn't teach him enough and even more disappointed that I didn't push it more.