If your children or grandchildren did not learn cursive writing, you should be concerned. There is a growing body of research that shows a strong connection between cursive writing and learning. Some clearly suggest that is impacts a child’s learning to read. While learning to read requires additional strategies, these studies have shown an impressive list of benefits to learning to write in cursive. These include- Defining fine motor skills, improving memory and retention, stimulating creativity, and neural development. The ability of researchers today to track brain activity has shown the benefits of learning cursive. They show it can provide a stronger foundation for both writing and reading.
A study in Norway((Askvik,et al) showed how cursive writing and typing engage different parts of the brain. These areas impact the way the brain processes information and the way children learn. Cursive impacts learning more than typing. They concluded that digital technology that allows for note taking and drawing in the learning process may be the best of two worlds.
Recently, I read that Finland had banned tablets from the classroom and made the decision to only use books for classroom learning. If students can have the choice of doing an assignment on their computer or playing a game in class, this might not be such a bad idea. Recently some individual schools have banned cellphones from classrooms. Will any decide to go completely back to the books?
At least 24 states have passed laws requiring the teaching of cursive writing since this research on its value emerged. In Iowa, elementary students are taught cursive writing. The grade level at which this is implemented may vary. The number of students reading below grade level could be the result of the decision to eliminate it from standard curriculum in the past. I am sure other factors such as the Covid pandemic could be responsible. We cannot ignore the impact of the amount of screen time today’s children are spending instead of reading. .
If your child did not lean to write cursive, there are numerous online and book based materials to teach them how to write. So much of our history has been written in cursive. It would be a tragedy not to be able to read it in the original hand writing of its creators.
References
The Importance of Cursive Handwriting Over Typewriting for Learning in the Classroom: A High-Density EEG Study of 12-YearOld Children and Young Adults. Askvik, vander Weel and vander Meer(2017)
The Teaching of Cursive writing in the first year of primary school: Effect on reading and writing skills. Semeraro, Coppla, Cassibba, and Lucangeli. Journal PLos, 2017,
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