Making Your Mark With Cursive Writing

Cursive writing is a skill that in recent years, has seemingly disappeared. Until 2010 it was a part of the school curriculum and an important part of education. Handwriting, or penmanship, had long been a source of pride. So much so that the colloquialism dotting all "I"s and crossing all "T"s" is still used to describe a situation in which one pays great attention to detail. So what happened to cursive writing? Is there still a need for children to learn it? What resources are available to teach it? How can I motivate my child to learn it at home?

There are several causes that led to the decline of cursive writing. When Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were formed in 2010, cursive writing was not included in the standards for English. As a result, the 41 states who adopted the CCSS in 2011 did not require cursive writing in their curriculum. Technology has also contributed to the decline. Our use of computers in school, home, and office has placed the emphasis on typing and keyboarding skills . Tasks that once required written words now require keystrokes. But is cursive writing making a comeback?

There has been a surge in the number of states that now mandate cursive writing in their elementary school curriculum. As of this year, the number of states has increased to 23 and others may soon follow. So what has been the impetus for the change? It appears that many states are re-visiting the benefits of cursive writing.

Researchers have found that cursive writing engages the brain in ways that typing or keyboarding does not. Its benefits include stimulating brain synapses, improving cognition and memory, developing fine motor skills, instilling self discipline, helping with language learning, and improving reading comprehension.

If cursive instruction is not currently a part of your child's school curriculum, a quick search online will yield many resources to help them learn it. K5 learning offers free printable cursive writing worksheets for your child (grades k-5) to master the cursive alphabet, cursive letters, cursive letters joins, cursive words, cursive sentences, and cursive passages. It also offers low cost workbooks that you can download and print.

To view their online resources, click here.

If you are a teacher or educator and you are looking to implement a handwriting curriculum in your school, Zaner-Bloser Handwriting has a curriculum (for both manuscript and cursive) that includes student and teacher edition workbooks for grades pre-k through 6. You can find out more about their curriculum here. To promote penmanship and give a space for students (grades K-6) to showcase their handwriting skills, Zaner-Bloser also hosts their own National Handwriting Contest. The contest starts in the fall and ends on February 1st. You can find out more details about their contest here.

Given the prevalence of digital devices for accessing, recording, and sharing information, encouraging our children to engage in handwritten communication may seem challenging. However, proficiency in reading and writing cursive enables us to stay connected to our past (as historical documents and old family records are often in cursive) and allows us to leave our own distinctive, personalized mark with a stylized signature.