02/08/2024
Our approach to handwriting needs to change. Because the keyboard has ruled, handwriting, whether printing or cursive, has grown to be very low on the priorities of early education. Studies show that learning cursive, being able to form the letters, develops a part of our creative brain necessary to learn math and complex numerical tasks. (As a university writing instructor, it saddens me to see students at the higher education level unable to sign their names, much less print. Although my observations are not scientific, I do notice a marked difference in the critical thinking and writing abilities of those students who are at least partially skilled at handwriting and those students who either were not taught handwriting at all or were not taught with emphasis.
Cursive has made a comeback in many school districts, but not everyone agrees that it belongs in an already packed curriculum.
