I may be in a minority here, but I think cursive is an outmoded skill, like Morse Code and semaphore. There may be a few people who need these skills, but there is no point in teaching them to everybody. Claims about fine motor skills are just a way of rationalizing maintaining something that is traditional–there are probably plenty of actually useful skills that would develop fine motor skills.
The only time most people use cursive is to sign their names, and frankly, you could sign your name with an X and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference. Our kids will rarely even have to sign their names, because they won’t write checks and will pay with a PIN, not a signature.
“Don’t most people’s signatures look like a 4th grader’s? Mine just looks like my first and last initials and then loops”
No, my signature looks like my name. Each letter is easily distinguishable / readable. My H and S do that first-letter-then-scribble bit, but I don’t.
I agree with Hunt that it’s no longer necessary, but I do think something is lost by not having it. I feel like I’ve lost good handwriting skills over time precisely because of keyboarding and not having to handwrite anything other than short notes or lists. I used to have nice handwriting and it’s declined.
I think most fine motor skills could be taught by a good drawing class and the kids would enjoy it more too. I’m a bit on the fence about it. I’d like it to be taught enough that kids recognize the letters, but I don’t think the hours of practice are required. My kids never were graded on it, which probably is why they have such terrible handwriting!
I was at a British international school. We actually learned italics before we learned cursive.
My credit card signature is nothing like my real signature either!
I sometimes thought there was more effort to make your signature unique and completely illegible.
I’ve forgotten how to tie the knots I learned in Boy Scouts, because I never tie any knots except on my shoes. I do sort of feel a loss, but there are other things I have learned to do that are more useful to me.
The last sentence of my post makes no sense. What it was supposed to say is that I spent five years in Germany and I sometimes thought they made an extra effort to make their signatures artistic and completely undeciferable. There was a guy named Muller whose signature just looked like waves for example.
When I take notes by hand, I doodle. In fact I doodle a lot, and I encourage my clients to do so. Having your hands be occupied doing something - whether it’s doodling or playing with a koosh ball or similar - can unleash creativity.
Cursive was taught under “Penmanship” class in my Catholic Elementary School. Was the only class i did poorly in…and my handwriting and signature is only marginally better than that of my former medical resident roommates I had after college.
I disagree learning cursive facilitates fine motor skills as I have had no problems with other tasks which require fine motor skills…like taking apart laptops…including the intricately small parts/screws without causing damage/breaking something.
In contrast, some friends who have excellent cursive handwriting and some techie skills lack the fine motor skills to take apart electronics without breaking a fragile part, ripping apart a fine ribbon cable, or stripping tiny 2-3 MM screws.
One ended up having to replace his Ipod 5th generation classic just over 2 years after it was released because he ripped the fine ribbon cable while attempting to replace the battery after the battery failed completely and the warranty ran out. In contrast, I replaced the battery on mine without damaging anything and it’s still running strong on the second battery to this day(10 years this coming summer).
I think the ability to write pretty cursive is more akin to the ability draw or paint than to fine motor skills. And I am proof that practice does not result in better formed cursive letters.
I used to think that drawing was related to ability, but I took a class with an amazing teacher who convinced me otherwise. It takes practice and learning to see, but almost everyone can learn to be competent.
The high school teachers at our sons school have been requiring all tests and handwritten work to be printed for at least 6 years. No cursive is allowed. I guess the handwriting has been so bad that they haven’t been able to read the kids writing…
As an adult, I NEVER write in cursive, apart from writing my signature. I print when I scribble meeting notes or grocery lists. 99% of my daily writing is electronic, which requires TYPING on a computer, tablet or phone. I type so much that typing has corrupted my formerly neat handwriting style.
My kids can’t write in cursive. They were never taught it. But they’ve figured out on their own how to read it–it’s not rocket science.
They’ve both devised a distinctive, stylized “official” signature. So, having a signature that is more sophisticated looking than a 4th grader’s is not dependent on learning how to write in cursive.
I would say that if I were taking notes, such as in a work situation, I’d probably print, but if I were writing a letter or signing a card, I’d do so in cursive.
I also used to have that little bump on my middle finger (right beneath the fingernail, on the side closest to the index finger) from holding a pencil. We all did in our day. Now it’s barely there!
Bumping this thread to add that my daughter received a lovely handwritten note yesterday from an admissions officer at one of the colleges she’s applying to and it was comical to watch her trying to decipher it. I had to help her with a few of the words.
I just saw this thread and all I can say is the more things change, the more they stay the same!!!
When my parents grew up (my mom is 80 my dad would be 85), their elementary school did not teach cursive. That was a long time ago. They learned to print and they connected some of the printed letters. Both have/had nice handwriting and had no issues in their lives and never had problems reading other people’s handwriting in cursive as far as I saw. The only (ironic) thing was that when my mom went back to teach elementary school when she was in her 40’s she had to teach herself cursive so she could instruct her students.
So anyway, although I learned cursive, I don’t see it as a big deal at all. Maybe it is more important that kids learn to type properly at a young age in today’s world?
I think it’s sad if our kids can’t read cursive, because there are documents and signatures in cursive and it’s a useful think to be able to read (and write if desired). Since my kids are in their later 20s, both can read but not write cursive “nicely.”
I think the only cursive I’ve needed to read in the last ten years was in letters from my 88-year-old mother. It’s like that Gothic printing Germans used to employ.
