By Jacqueline S

Cursive: Reasons It Should Be Taught Today & the Science Behind It

SWhen I was in first grade, Mrs. Scherger, my soon-to-be 2nd grade teacher told me, “Here at Trinity, we learn cursive in 2nd grade, so starting next year, you’ll be able to read anything written by anyone, even the Constitution.” That was an exciting, mysterious prospect to me because at that time all I knew was the print in my readers.

Now, under the Common Core State Standards Initiative for “best educational practices”, it states that “cursive is no longer required to be taught” and instead will be replaced by keyboarding.

In Killing Cursive Is Killing History HuffPost has this to say: “Not only can this generation not read or write cursive, they can no longer even sign their names. They write everything, including their own names, in block letters. Signing your name has been a proof of identity for hundreds of years. Those who could not sign their names would have to make their mark in front of witnesses. Contracts, mortgages, wills and all manner of other legal documents require our signature. What will the future bring for people who cannot put their signatures to documents?”

OTHER SIDE EFFECTS:

What is being missed here – what many educators do not realize – is that by learning cursive:

you were not just learning how to communicate in another font
you were building neural pathways necessary to stimulate brain activity that enables vision-motor control and language fluency necessary for cognitive development, learning, reading, sports, socialization and everyday tasks

REASONS CURSIVE SHOULD BE TAUGHT:

THE SCIENCE FOR COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Fine motor skills are the building blocks our brains need to connect and make sense of the world around us. Cursive is a great example of many specializations taking place at once.

Cursive combines:

tactile information (touch/sensation)
hand-eye coordination
movement control (fine motor dexterity)
visual integration
directing movement by thought, and
thinking simultaneously, in a fullness that print alone does not

Jackie’s Note: here is a printable list of 30 ways to help your boys (and girls, too!)!

Understanding and knowing how to form letters on lines at a certain shape and size, at a certain angle, in real time and space comes through the fine motor control of the hands and arms. Cursive handwriting naturally develops sensory skills, as they are called, by taking advantage of a child’s inability to fully control their fingers. (source)

Neurologist Frank Wilson wrote in his book, “T he Hand: How its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, And Human Culture ”, “teachers should not try to educate the mind by itself. If educators continue to dissolve the disciplines that involve the hands and the body in full movement (as in active play), much of the knowledge will be poorly processed and inadequately learned.”

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