11 March 2014

Should Children Be Required to Write in Cursive?

Under proposed legislation, all Tennessee third graders must learn to read and write in cursive.  It sounds as though it's going to pass if no one bogs the bill down with other pet items. 

Not clarified in the article is the style of cursive to be taught - will just any do?

Do you have a favourite style of cursive?  I learnt to write in Connecticut and in New South Wales, Australia.  So my writing is sort of a cross between the standard cursive you know and this.  This is the only curriculum I've come across that uses capital A's and small r's like the ones I write.

One thing I could never quite get down was this concept of slope.  My writing tends to be straight up and down, no matter what.  I wonder what those special handwriting analysts would say about that.  Probably that I didn't pay attention in class very well. 


4 comments:

  1. I am for teaching cursive. There are times in which you need to be able to read it. It's also good for the brain. Obviously, we may need to rethink that for kids who struggle to write or who have dysgraphia. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/memory-medic/201303/what-learning-cursive-does-your-brain

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    Replies
    1. I did teach Emperor and Elf to write in cursive but they prefer print. Still, I should hope they could read whatever is written in cursive tolerably well and they can also sign their names.

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  2. We were taught cursive in grade three too, but my children learned a modified cursive where some letters are more a print style but linked with a pen stroke. I like it better than the proper cursive where a "p" looks weird because the circle isn't closed and the "r" has that odd little hook etc. I do like the look of the much older copperplate style script though and wish we'd learned it.

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  3. I don't know! I think it's like learning a standard vs automatic in a car. Most drive an automatic but what if you got stuck and HAD to drive a standard? It's just good to know.

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Non-troll comments always welcome! :)

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