Once all but left for dead, is cursive handwriting making a comeback?
In this file photo from 2013, a fourth grader at St. Francis International School in Silver Spring, Md. practices cursive writing. Once thought to be on its way out, cursive instruction is hanging on as states are moving to require that students learn it. (Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Post)
Cursive writing was supposed to be dead by now. Schools would stop teaching it. Kids would stop learning it. Everyone would stop using it. The Common Core standards adopted by most states in recent years no longer required teaching cursive in public schools, and the widespread reaction was succinct: good riddance.
But like Madonna and newspapers, cursive has displayed a gritty staying power, refusing to have its loop de loops and curlicues swept to the dustbin of handwriting history. Just last month, Louisiana passed a law requiring that all traditional public schools and public charter schools begin teaching cursive by third grade and continue through 12th grade. Arkansas legislators passed a law mandating cursive instruction last year. And 10 other states, including Virginia, California, Florida and Texas, have cursive writing requirements in their state education standards.
The cursive comeback is championed by a mix of educators, researchers, parents and politicians who lament the loss of linked-letter writing and cite studies that learning cursive engages the brain more deeply, improves fine motor dexterity and gives children a better idea of how words work in combination.
And some also just like the way it looks.
“I think it’s really discouraging to get a note from a college graduate that is printed like a second-grader,” said Beth Mizell, the Louisiana state senator who introduced the cursive writing bill in her state.
The Republican lawmaker said she acted when she heard from a surveyor who told her he couldn’t find young people who could read the notes on old land documents. A grandmother, Mizell said she was shocked to find out that students were no longer learning cursive in school.
“It seemed we had made a decision that was arrogant on our part that we didn’t think these kids needed something that we had taken for granted, that was our way of communicating for Once all but left for dead, is cursive handwriting making a comeback? - The Washington Post:
