Shunned in Computer Age, Cursive Makes a Comeback in California
By: By Daniel Trotta
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Shunned in Computer Age, Cursive Makes a Comeback in California
A student at Orangethorpe Elementary School practices writing cursive as California grade school students are being required to learn cursive handwriting this year, in Fullerton, California, U.S. January 23, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
FULLERTON, California (Reuters) - A generation of children who learned to write on screens is now going old school.
Starting this year, California grade school students are required to learn cursive handwriting, after the skill had fallen out of fashion in the computer age.
Assembly Bill 446, sponsored by former elementary school teacher Sharon Quirk-Silva and signed into law in October, requires handwriting instruction for the 2.6 million Californians in grades one to six, roughly ages 6 to 12, and cursive lessons for the "appropriate" grade levels - generally considered to be third grade and above.
Experts say learning cursive improves cognitive development, reading comprehension and fine motor skills, among other benefits. Some educators also find value in teaching children to read historic documents and family letters from generations past.
At Orangethorpe Elementary School in Fullerton, about 30 miles (50 km) southeast of Los Angeles, fourth- to sixth-grade teacher Pamela Keller said she was already teaching cursive before the law took effect Jan. 1.
Some kids complain about the difficulty, to which Keller has a ready answer.
"We tell them, well, it's going to make you smarter, it's going to make some connections in your brain, and it's going to help you move to the next level. And then they get excited because students want to be smarter. They want to learn," Keller said.
While teaching a cursive lesson this week, Keller dished out gentle tips to her students such as "Lighten up a little - do it really gently ... An eraser is our best friend ... That loop is wonderful. I love that loop."
During a recent visit to the school library, Keller said one student grew animated upon seeing an image of the U.S. Constitution, written in 1787, remarking, "It's cursive!"
Several of Keller's students acknowledged the subject was difficult, especially the letter Z, but enjoyed it nonetheless.
"I love it, because I just feel it's fancier how to write, and it's fun to learn new letters," said Sophie Guardia, a 9-year-old in the fourth grade.
In teacher Nancy Karcher's class, the reaction from third-graders ranged from "It's fun" and "It's pretty" to "Now I can read my mom's writing" and "It's for my secrets."
CURSIVE COMEBACK
As computer keyboards and tablets proliferated, cursive faded. In 2010, the national Common Core education standards were published to help prepare students for college. Cursive was left out.
"They stopped teaching kids how to form any letters at all. Teacher colleges are not preparing teachers to teach handwriting," said Kathleen Wright, founder of the Handwriting Collective, a nonprofit promoting handwriting instruction.
But cursive is making a comeback. California became the 22nd state to require cursive handwriting and the 14th to enact a cursive instruction bill since 2014, according to Lauren Gendill of the National Conference of State Legislatures. Five states have introduced cursive bills so far in 2024.
Leslie Zoroya, project director for reading language arts at the Los Angeles County Office of Education, said research has shown that learning cursive promotes several skills that link together and improve childhood development.
"You're using different neural networks when you're doing cursive rather than printing. And so it's creating those pathways in your brain. It also helps with the retention of information, how letters are formed. As you're creating the letter, you're thinking about the sound that letter makes and how does it connect to the next letter," Zoroya said.
Quirk-Silva said she was inspired to sponsor the bill after a 2016 meeting with the Jesuit-educated former Governor Jerry Brown, who, when he learned the recently re-elected assembly member was a teacher, immediately told her: "You need to bring back cursive writing."
Technically, cursive was still alive. California's standards had cursive writing goals, but Quirk-Silva said instruction was flagging and inconsistent.
"The hope of the legislation is that by the time students leave sixth grade, they would be able to read and write it," Quirk-Silva said.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Donna Bryson and Sandra Maler)
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BRAVO!!! This is a very beneficial move to help increase the intelligence and versatility of American students. Good reasons for it are stated in the seed above. If I recall correctly, where I went to school rewards were given for the best cursive handwriting in the class. However, over the years my handwriting has deteriorated, and the day after I may have written something I sometimes can't even make out some of what I wrote. Having read the seed I posted I intend to slow down and try to be more careful with it.
Would those who have never learned cursive writing be capable of reading the most famous document in American history?
How? “Experts say” is a pretty weak argument. Are there tests on this? Let’s see some data. Let’s see that it’s practically useful.
Obviously, I was part of the many generations taught to use cursive, but these days, I can’t see the point. Any document I produce is done on a computer. Same with my kids. Anything handwritten, I print - all caps, actually. I just use bigger letters for capitals. It’s a Drafting thing I learned in the 7th grade.
Not all knowledge or skills are necessary for all time. There’s a reason we don’t require Greek and Latin in school anymore. I see no reason to keep stubbornly teaching cursive. There are so many other productive uses for a young student’s (and teacher’s) time and energy.
Here is some support for the opinion for you:
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Psychology Today
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Why Cursive Handwriting Is Good for Your Brain
Writing by hand helps the brain learn and remember better, an EEG study finds.
"A new EEG-based study by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) reaffirms the importance of "old-fashioned" cursive handwriting in the 21st-century's Computer Age. Even if students use digital pens and write by hand on an interactive computer screen, cursive handwriting helps the brain learn and remember better. These findings ( Askvik, Van der Weel, & Van der Meer, 2020 ) were recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Psychology . " LINK ->
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The Power of Cursive Writing: Unlocking the Benefits of Handwriting Skills
How Does Cursive Writing Benefit Brain Development?
"The act of writing in cursive stimulates multiple regions of the brain, fostering better learning, memory retention, and overall cognitive abilities. Research has shown that the intricate movements required for cursive writing activate the brain’s neural connections more effectively than other forms of writing, such as typing or block printing.
One study conducted by Indiana University found that when children were asked to generate ideas for a composition, those who wrote in cursive produced more words and expressed more complex thoughts compared to those who used print or typing. This suggests that cursive writing promotes higher-level thinking and aids in the development of creativity and language skills.
Furthermore, cursive writing can enhance focus and concentration. According to an article published in Psychology Today, the repetitive nature of forming cursive letters serves as a form of mindfulness, allowing individuals to focus their attention on the present moment rather than becoming distracted. This mindful engagement during handwriting can improve information processing and ultimately lead to better learning outcomes.
“Cursive writing is an exercise for the brain, promoting cognitive development, creativity, and concentration.”" LINK ->
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Cursive Writing Boosts Cognitive Skills—And Is Still Needed In The Digital Age
Cognitive Benefits Of Learning Cursive Writing
"In fact, scientists have discovered that learning cursive writing is an important tool for cognitive development, particularly in training the brain to learn “functional specialization” that is capacity for optimal efficiency.
“In the case of learning cursive writing, the brain develops functional specialization that integrates both sensation, movement control and thinking,” writes William Klemm, Ph.D., senior professor of Neuroscience at Texas A&M University, in this Psychology Today article . “Brain imaging studies reveal that multiple areas of brain become co-activated during learning of cursive writing of pseudo-letters, as opposed to typing or just visual practice.”
Klemm also says there is a spill-over benefit for thinking skills used in reading and writing. “To write legible cursive, fine motor control is needed over the fingers,” he writes. “Students have to pay attention and think about what and how they are doing it. They have to practice. Brain imaging studies show that cursive activates areas of the brain that do not participate in keyboarding.”" LINK ->
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Now, it's up to you to DISPROVE the reported findings, if you still feel that cursive writing is a useless exercise.
Hold on. Do you really believe that people are incapable of developing their brain in the ways described without learning cursive handwriting? Do you really believe that without instruction in cursive, young people cannot optimally develop fine motor skills, cognitive processing, or other high level mental skills? Do you really believe that cursive handwriting - and cursive handwriting alone - is the only path to optimal brain development?
Or are there potentially other options that might also include skills people actually use as adults in a modern world?
Would you like to point out to me where I said I did. I replied to your putdown of cursive writing with evidence that it is beneficial. Now answer my question - would someone who never learned cursive writing at all be able to read the most famous American historical document, the Declaration of Independence in its original form?
For writing by hand cursive is certainly more efficient than printing like a child, which is clumsy and mentally halting...
It does not flow. It is inelegant. Cursive can even express feelings.
And it demands knowing how to spell, because it does not coddle one with a red underline.
I cannot imagine excelling a university without being able to keep up with lectures taking notes in my cursive shorthand...
You're the one who posted the argument in support of cursive. All I am saying is that it may be possible to reap the benefits listed without actually learning cursive. Do you accept that or not? Because if a person can develop their brain in the described ways without cursive, then cursive is not necessary.
My putdown? Why are you making this so personal? I have said I don't think it's necessary for modern kids to learn it. I said I didn't see the point of it. I didn't say it was inherently a bad thing. If you want to teach it to your kids, knock yourself out. I won't try to stop you.
The standards that society/the state require of young students should have some relevant purpose, but they should also be implemented with an eye toward an efficient use of time, energy, and resources. There are many things we could teach in school, and we could argue some benefit for a great many of them. But are they necessary? It takes a lot of time and effort to learn cursive. Some people - including some very bright people - never get very good at it (let me introduce you to my doctor).
In fact, the handwriting of most people, from what I have seen, looks like an illegible disaster - AKA "Chicken scratch." There is a reason teachers wanted reports typed long before we all had computers. It's just easier to read.
Might our efforts be better spent learning something else?
Will you ever get around to answering any of mine? (DELETED)
Let me break that down a little.
Do they need to read it in its original form? If so, why? Many adults probably can read the document if you put it in front of them, but can they tell you what any of it means? Which is more important?: Being able to read it in the original script? Or understanding it? Do you concede that the latter could be achieved without the original handwriting?
Even if they do know cursive, they will have problems. Let's start with the heading:
That's not even cursive. Do we have classes in calligraphy? No. And yet people manage to read this anyway. Or maybe they don't. I can't speak for everyone.
But the cursive body of text has issues, also. In the following sentence, why is "Course" capitalized in the middle of the sentence? I was taught not to do that.
And what are these words?:
necefsary? onepeople? difsolve?
Is viewing this in its original form actually all that helpful? This is three mystery words in just a part of one sentence. While I think it can be fun and fascinating to study the document in its original form, I don't think it's necessary for teaching it. It may even make learning the document more difficult.
(Offensive sentence deleted by Group Administrator - RED BOX RULES )
I print faster than I can use cursive. Engineering or architectural designs use printing, not cursive. If that is something you have been trained in, you become very adept at printing quickly and clearly.
So can calligraphy or crayons, but we don't require kids to write with them.
I'm not saying don't learn it. I'm saying I don't see the point of requiring it anymore. Our particular brand of cursive was invented in the 15th century by an Italian. Hence the term italics. So it didn't always exist, and it won't always be needed.
Interesting. Many people who learn shorthand will argue its merits - and I wouldn't dispute them - but we don't require it of all students.
It can depend on what profession one eventually enters as to whether the ability to read (and write) cursive could be necessary. In my profession it was necessary to do research and read preserved and filed documents that could be extremely old, such as land title documents and wills. If I did not have the ability to do so I might not have been able to do a proper job practising my profession.
I posted this article indicating that learning to read and write cursive was beneficial. If there are other methods to achieve the same benefits, that's just fine.
Cursive writing and keyboarding skills are both good learning experience and develop fine motor skills.
I prefer to print and can do that readable and neatly.
Sometimes I HAVE to print, since my handwriting has deteriorated so much I can hardly read it myself.
In school I used sloppy cursive writing to cover up poor spelling ability. Spell Check is the best thing about computers.
I get red-underlined all the time because I use Canadian/British spelling.
I trained my mobile to spell and speak Aussie..
It doesn't even offer the American option of spelling anymore...🤣🤣
It's given up..🦘🦘
Same here, because I use Australian/English spelling