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Cursive is not being taught in the public schools here anymore. Most likely for 2 reasons...1. It isn't on "the test". 2. Computers are taking over the world and our kids will never have to write again.

How will they ever read a letter from Grandma?

Are all of you teaching cursive to your kids?

We're teaching cursive here! My son (10) is not thrilled about it, but he's improving. My daughter (7) enjoys it! My husband wants us to keep up with it, so we will!

Yes! I understand from a friend whose son just took the SAT that the very last section was signing your name and writing a statement in cursive. She said it was the hardest part of the SAT for her 16 yo!!

deltagal wrote:Yes! I understand from a friend whose son just took the SAT that the very last section was signing your name and writing a statement in cursive. She said it was the hardest part of the SAT for her 16 yo!!

How interesting!!!

Heart_Mom wrote:

deltagal wrote:Yes! I understand from a friend whose son just took the SAT that the very last section was signing your name and writing a statement in cursive. She said it was the hardest part of the SAT for her 16 yo!!

How interesting!!!

Yes, and of course this mom was beating herself up for not having made her son do more cursive.

What a horrible mindset and a terrible disservice to children! All those awesome, beautifully written historical writings, among developmental abilities.

Absolutely I taught cursive!

Crazy! My husband came home from work a few months ago, telling me that it's not standardly taught in schools around here, either. He had a young co-worker ask him to read something to him because he couldn't read it...he'd never been taught cursive.

Yes, my kids will learn cursive using HWT. My ds was so proud when he finished his first cursive book a few weeks ago. He prefers to write in cursive and his friends in public school are a bit envious.

Yes for cursive in our family and we are using Carrie's recommendation. " Cheerful Cursive". It does not only teach them to write cursive, but to read it as well, right from the start. So they can instantly begin to read Grandma's letters...

Yeppers. We'll start cursive in the fall. My oldest only signs his name in cursive, but at least he knows how to write in cursive. He just chooses not to.

I found it interesting as I was looking through the newly released 1940 census today that it was all proper cursive. Even those that weren't super neat still had all correct form. What I was looking at didn't have any printing and all the capitals had the fancy curves and swirls, even single letters.

Ditto everyone else We've started cursive with my 6 year old daughter. She hates printing, but begs to write in cursive. She does a great job and since her printing was quite neat for her age we went ahead. It's going so well! Part of what I'm loving about homeschool is I can move her at her pace, whether slower or faster than "standard" and design her learning experience to be uniquely fit for her!

No cursive here!




Jenifer Dees

I have taught cursive to three of my children and only 1 more to go! When my daughter took her SAT for college there was an essay part of the test. I have heard from others that if you write in cursive you receive more points than someone who does not. The evaluators see those who write in cursive as more advanced in the thinking area. My dd who took the SAT does not write in cursive even after a few years of lessons due to a loss of desire to try. She can only write her signature in cursive. Her handwriting is not neat but mostly legible. Her difficulty is being left handed for writing and ambidextrous for other tasks. She did not get a lot of points on the essay portion of SAT but overall her score was satisfactory. I like that children receive lessons in cursive but it becomes their choice if they prefer print or cursive.
The ability to print neatly helps when filling out job applications. Granparents might like a letter in cursive. It is faster for me to write in cursive when taking notes in classes or seminars.
Tammy

My dd will be learning cursive in the fall. Because of some fine motor issues, she will be a little older than most (9) when she starts. But she is ready, as she is wanting to curl the tail on some lower case manuscript letters. She is getting excited about doing cursive. My dd is currently reading the ER book, Amelia Bedelia. There is cursive on some of the pages, showing the instructions Mrs. Rogers gave her. What will happen to books like that?

I think the cursive issue is sort of like the situation with math. Because of calculators, computers, etc., there are many who probably wouldn't know how to do the four basic operations on paper, because they can just pull out a calculator and find the answer that way. Not good for the brain!

Well, none of my kids' grandparents write in cursive (except one who has passed away) - and we have one elderly relative who writes in a beautiful italic style! I don't think I know anyone who writes in "proper" cursive except my husband lol! Most end up with a kind of a hybrid of slightly joined-up printing. We plan on teaching our kids to read regular cursive - but we are going to focus our handwriting time on cursive italic, which, in my opinion is more legible and more beautiful than the other style - and certainly nicer than the hybrid that most folks end up with.