When is the last time you wrote in cursive besides writing your signature? If you answered honestly, it has probably been months if not years since you have last written a letter or document in cursive. Cursive is a style of penmanship that supposedly allows you to write faster by connecting the flow of the letters together. The handwriting is most popular among the older generation. State legislatures are currently going back and forth discussing if cursive writing should be included in the Common Core curriculum for students. Debates have arisen in the nation as to why or why not cursive writing is important for students to learn. Do you feel that your child should be using cursive in the classroom setting? Realistic and understanding parents would probably answer no. Indeed, cursive writing should be eliminated from the Common Core curriculum for students because it is a waste of their valuable class time and it is a useless skill in our world today.
People argue that cursive is a skill that helps children grow as students. They claim cursive writing develops motor skills, reinforces learning, and helps students connect with the past (Concordia University). Linden Batemen, a state representative from Idaho, states, “Modern research indicates that more areas of the human brain are engaged when children use cursive handwriting” (Smyth). People point out that cursive is a handwriting style that has a more aesthetic look than print. They believe that, having to cypher through someone’s chicken scratch is much harder than cyphering their cursive writing. Another major argument is that children who are not educated in cursive will be unable to read important historical documents, letters from their elders, or, even worse, not be a...
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... children can be taught on an individual basis. Take a stand today and help delete cursive writing from the Common Core curriculum so as to help your children become more knowledgeable on the important subjects that they will be tested on in the future.
Works Cited
Braiker, Brian. "Tossing the Script: The End of the Line for Cursive?" 24 January 2011. ABC News. 18 March 2014.
Concordia University. Concordia University. 21 March 2014.
Davis, Laura E. "Cursive Handwriting: Should it Still be Taught in Schools?" 15 November 2013. Los Angeles Times. 18 March 2014.
Scholastic News. "Can You Read This?" Scholastic News 12 September 2011.
Smyth, Julie Carr. "Cursive Handwriting in Schools: Should it be Taught?" 15 November 2013. 7ONLINE. 21 March 2014.
Zimbler, Suzanne, Yusuf Halabi and Bridget Bernardo. "Should Schools Teach Cursive." Time for Kids 21 September 2012.
Welch, Diana, Liz Welch, Amanda Welch, and Dan Welch.
New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2006. Rabinowitz, Tova. Exploring Typography. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson/ Delmar Learning, 2006.
Michaela Cullington, a student, wrote a paper “Does Texting Affect Writing?” in 2010 for an English class. The paper is an examination of texting and the belief that it negative effective student’s writing. Cullington goes into detail about textspeak- “language created by these abbreviations”- and their use in formal writings. She organizes the paper in a way that is confusing to understand at first (pg. 1). At the end of the paper, she discusses her finding in her own research which comes to show that texting does not affect writing. But this is contradicting to the information she received from the teachers. The students and the teachers were seeing differences in the use of textspeak in formal writing. Cullington has good support for her
Nancy Chodorow and Susan Contratto.
Cursive should not be taught in schools! Schools don’t need cursive. There are other things that kids could be doing in class. Read my next paragraph to find out what and why.
Witherspoon, Abigail. “This Pen for Hire.” Harper's. June 1995: 49-57. WilsonSelectPlus. E-Journals. State University. 19 September 2004.
7. Jean, Georges. Writing- The Story of Alphabets and Scripts. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1992.
The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 03 Dec. 2013. Web. The Web. The Web.
Handwriting is a means of expressing language, just like speech. However, handwriting is not taught in school as much as in previous years. In the past, handwriting was taught as a precursor to reading and spelling. Today, students of all ages are rigorously tested on their writing skills, yet they are not allowed the time it takes to develop this skill. I remember writing in a Big Chief notebook, holding a chubby pencil, trying my best to make the curves and lines of the letters just right. When I attended elementary school, the teacher devoted at least forty-five minutes to handwriting each day. Handwriting should still be taught in school because it is an essential first step to reading and expressing one’s thoughts and feelings and because of its impact on higher education.
Maria Konnikova states in her article “What’s Lost as Handwriting Fades” that “[I]n alexia, or impaired reading ability, some individuals who are unable to process print can still read cursive, and vice versa.” This fact proves how vital at least a few lessons on cursive writing could be. Children suffering from various learning disabilities will be more successful if they are taught more ways to succeed. For some children cursive will be a real challenge and they would much prefer to use standard writing. For others, cursive will help them remember things more
This method is great for people who like structure and is by no means for every person in the world. It sets rules and strict guidelines that may hurt the creative process for many people. Yet, it will also help you to avoid plot holes. And it will save you from spending unnecessary time trying to figure out where the story should go. Either way it is a great method if you are looking to try something new.
In conclusion, Cursive writing is very well out dated. We use technology now more than ever. Maybe a new common core standard should be computer skills. As cursive writing holds no benefits to students. The truth comes out, cursive writing has essentially disapeared. So why ever bring it
For centuries, cursive handwriting has been considered an art. However, to a increasing number of young people the form is becoming extinct. The graceful letters of the cursive alphabet have been transcribed on innumerable love letters, acted as the method for articulating thoughts in journals and diaries, and have been scrawled across elementary school chalkboards for generations. Yet, cursive is gradually vanishing due to the accessibility to keyboards and smartphones. While the loss of the cursive alphabet may appear inconsequential, recent studies have revealed that in fact the gradual death of the fancier ABC’s instigates concerns for future generations.
Kysilko, David. “The Handwriting Debate." NASBE. National Association of State Boards of Education, Sept. 2012. Web. 16 Dec. 2013.