Cursive handwriting needs to go the way of the dodo bird.\u00a0 This is the hill I will die on.<\/p>\n
I have mentioned this a couple times before-\u00a0 like here https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/?p=4510<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0and here\u00a0https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/?p=4718<\/a> .\u00a0 \u00a0Simply put, it is not a skill that children need to learn in 2024.\u00a0 I will go so far as to say we never should have had it in the first place.\u00a0 Why do we need a formal and a casual way to write?\u00a0 Name one other area of your life besides clothing where we have a casual and formal version of the same thing.<\/p>\n I know I’m going to get push back on this, but I have solid reasons for this position.\u00a0 It’s said that learning cursive helps kids learn spelling, reading comprehension, and fine motor skills.\u00a0 It’s also said that kids today don’t know how to sign their name.\u00a0 Let’s take these one at a time.<\/p>\n Spelling.\u00a0 Someone needs to explain to me in very small words why learning how to write words in two different ways helps with spelling.\u00a0 The only thing I can think of is the repetition, so that one’s out the window right away.\u00a0 You don’t need cursive for that.<\/p>\n Reading comprehension.\u00a0 This brings up the second biggest beef I have with cursive- even if it’s done perfectly- which is usually isn’t- it is difficult to read.\u00a0 Kids would be better served by reading more and practicing writing like a 19th century poet less.\u00a0 More reading = more reading comprehension.\u00a0 \u00a0And those old letters from Great Great Grandma?\u00a0 Software already exists that can “translate” cursive, and that technology is going to get exponentially better with the use of AI.\u00a0 You don’t need cursive for that.<\/p>\n Fine motor skills. There are thousands of other ways kids can work on this.\u00a0 Putting together puzzles.\u00a0 Playing with clay or Play Doh.\u00a0 \u00a0Coloring.\u00a0 Finger painting.\u00a0 \u00a0Using safety scissors.\u00a0 \u00a0Stringing beads.\u00a0 The list is virtually endless.\u00a0 You don’t need cursive for that.<\/p>\n Having a signature.\u00a0 Handwritten signatures are becoming obsolete.\u00a0 \u00a0I’ve signed my tax forms digitally (and remotely) since at least 2020.\u00a0 Chipped credit cards are eliminating the need to sign for purchases.\u00a0 No one under the age of 75 is writing checks anymore.\u00a0 By the time today’s elementary school aged kids get into the real world there are not going to be many- if any- scenarios where they will need to get out a pen and sign their name on a dotted line.\u00a0 Even if your child becomes famous enough that people ask them for their autograph no one is going to be angry because it’s not in cursive.\u00a0 In fact, many celebrities don’t use cursive now.\u00a0 \u00a0Trust me on this- I’m married to a serious autograph collector.<\/p>\n So there you have it.\u00a0 Cursive is a waste of time and there’s no need to burden future generations with it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cursive handwriting needs to go the way of the dodo bird.\u00a0 This is the hill I will die on. I have mentioned this a couple times before-\u00a0 like here https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/?p=4510\u00a0 \u00a0and here\u00a0https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/?p=4718 .\u00a0 \u00a0Simply put, it is not a skill that children need to learn in 2024.\u00a0 I will go so far as to say we never should have had… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5090,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[24,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advice","category-bright-shiny-objects"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/fountain-pen-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beckypalmer.me\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}