I watched my daughter try to sign her name just above the signature line. She looked at me a little lost. I felt sorry for her and frustrated that she had not been prepared for something so simple. Cursive hasn’t been taught in my kids’ district in years. They had become whizzes on computers, but what about something as simple as signing your name? It made me wonder if cursive was a thing of the past or something worth reviving.

It’s certainly a heated argument regarding the current state of education. The role of cursive is ambiguous at best, and there are no clear answers.

However, there is one thing we can all agree on: the role of cursive in modern education has changed.

Incorporating cursive in the curriculum had been on the decline for years, but in 2010, there was a drastic drop. With the broader implementation of technology, there was a shift to more typing, and the Common Core standards created more rigorous classroom standards, making things particularly challenging. Something in the school day had to go, and cursive was already questionable. It seemed like the obvious choice.

Education Week addressed this specifically  referring to an interview with Sue Pimentel, a lead writer for the Common Core Language Arts standards. In the interview, she “explained that the decision was about priorities – and that learning to use technology took precedence.”

Not having enough room in the curriculum doesn’t outweigh the benefits of teaching cursive for many. While some argue to let cursive go (like the way the abacus and the slide rule were abandoned for more modern instruments), the benefits of cursive cannot be ignored.

The word that comes to the forefront of many cursive debates is signature. People need to sign their names on documents. The truth is many kids are growing up without the skills to do so. If  education is preparing kids for life, is eliminating cursive doing them a disservice? Something as simple as voter registration will be an issue for those who have never been taught how to sign their names.

Signatures also lead directly to the second most common argument in favor of cursive. The inability to read historical documents because one cannot read cursive can put people at a disadvantage. This argument is much more of a personal conviction than an official one, but it should not be ignored.

Some argue, however, that the ability to read cursive is a skill independent of the ability to write in cursive.

“If you don’t know how to write it, you won’t know how to read it,” said Tina Baker, the Assistant Head of Lower School at Mount Paran Christian School. “People should be able to recognize it. As our kids learn how to write in cursive, they write stories or Bible verses in cursive, and we post them in the hallway with our writing samples. They’re able to read each other’s stories.”

Teaching kids the skill of simply reading cursive could be taught in as little as a 30- to 60-minute lesson. The arguments are not as simple as cursive semantics.

The most surprising and perhaps convincing arguments for cursive in the classroom have little to do with such specifics. They address more general benefits that would be easily overlooked.

Cursive can teach fine motor skills, increase the speed of writing and aid in the creative process. While this may seem like a lofty argument, it goes beyond generalizations to specify the benefits to those struggling with dyslexia or brain injury.

“People may say, ‘Well, you can type everything now,’ and yes, society is going toward that,” Baker said. “But there are all different learning styles, and the research shows the importance of how their memory and recall is forming. You recall information better because you’ve written it down in cursive. It’s more important than just learning signatures. If you only read the word signature, you’re not able to read the whole document you’re about to sign. You don’t want to be limited to just what you can sign.”

The Georgia Department of Education has recommendations for cursive writing instruction in grades 3 and 4, but it is left to local districts how writing will be taught, since the skill is not assessed at the state level.

At MPCS, cursive education starts in second grade. “It’s almost like a lost art,” Baker said. “It’s very beneficial for students to learn. It’s multisensory, and studies concerning notetaking show students’ retention of information is better in cursive vs. print. Kids don’t know how to sign their names, and that’s very valuable as a life skill.”

Sometimes, kids have learned their signature at home, and they have to unlearn this. “They’re not learning the starting points of each letter which is critical in learning the proper formation of the letters,” Baker said. “You have to realize the starting point, do the motor practice and the correct strokes.”

But maybe this is not an either/or argument. Virginia Berringer, a professor of educational psychology claims that “printing, cursive and keyboarding activate different brain patterns, and that in some cases, students with certain disabilities may struggle with print but do well with  cursive.” Education is like a toolbox, with teachers putting all available tools in and showing students how to use them. As they mature, students can pick the tools that work best for them.

There is likely no right or wrong answer here. The school day is filled with demands, and cursive is a casualty of more than just the digital age. A six-hour school day likely only has four hours for traditional academics, so time for cursive simply doesn’t exist.

“Kids think it’s a great skill to be able to write in cursive. They realize it’s a skill that not everybody knows,” Baker said. “It’s unfortunate that schools aren’t continuing to teach cursive, as it’s a multisensory approach. It’s an important piece of the puzzle that should be added.”

My son just started learning cursive (thanks to a rogue teacher who still sees the value) and I was shocked to see that his typically messy, uneven printing was countered by smooth, thoughtful loops and curves of cursive. It made me wonder.

Maybe it’s time we ask ourselves and our schools questions:

  • Is cursive a good homework assignment?
  • Is it just a filler activity?
  • What is the role of typing?
  • How can you implement a modern take on cursive within the full demands of a school day?
  • Can I teach cursive at home?

After all, the best learning always starts with questions.

-Rebecca Hastings

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