Fading into a memory: Cursive becomes lost art with advancements in new technology
T eachers and educational administrators are deciding cursive is a less important part of the curriculum than learning to read and use 21st century digital tools to communicate, said Joanne Carney, associate professor of elementary education at Western.
She said students must learn computer skills to communicate effectively. In one of Carney’s graduate courses on literacy, she discovered that her students felt the same way about how cursive is presently taught.
“Cursive is taught for limited time periods in one or two grades,” Carney said. “Most students don’t practice it enough to develop good handwriting.”
The director of curriculum and instruction for the Bellingham School District, Jim Facciano, said the Bellingham School District recently made a switch in teaching handwriting that would change how kids learned cursive.
The school district moved from teaching kindergarten and first graders D’Nealian handwriting, which is print handwriting with a curlier style, to ball-and-stick handwriting. Ball-and-stick handwriting looks more like regular print writing and is seen more frequently in signs, books and TV.
D’Nealian is normally learned before cursive to help ease the transition.
“D’Nealian handwriting is confusing for the little munchkins,” he said.
Since the transition, it has become easier for the kids to learn to write. Instead of 23 to 27 types of movements to form letters for D’Nealian, students only learn eight movements for ball-and-stick.
Western senior Amiee Lorenz learned cursive in third grade and can still write in it, but only does so to sign her name. She learned by making an alphabet book with cursive letters and animals and objects matching the letter.
Whenever Lorenz would write in cursive it never looked as elegant as it was supposed to. She thought her print handwriting was more legible.
“There is a generational difference in writing styles,” she said. “My mom still writes everything in cursive.”
Western sophomore Kaylyn Brown, a special education and elementary education major at Woodring College, said technology classes in elementary schools teach important skills for kids to learn for the future.
“It is important that children are learning at a young age,” Brown said. “The resources they have around them and how to properly use them.”
Brown is required to take two information technology classes that help further her technology proficiency, to pass those skills onto future students.
Cursive Handwriting Practice - News
“Cursive is taught for limited time periods in one or two grades,” Carney said. “Most students don't practice it enough to develop good handwriting.” The director of curriculum and instruction for the Bellingham School District, Jim Facciano,
Are you ever required to write in cursive? Have you ever been complimented on your neat handwriting? Or told your penmanship needed practice? If you had your way, would you type everything? Why or why not? Students 13 and older are invited to comment
The district uses the Zaner-Bloser Handwriting curriculum, which introduces cursive handwriting in third grade, and practice in fourth and fifth grades. The goal is 10 to 15 minutes of cursive handwriting instruction each day, according to Beth Olthoff
On April 13, Ewing resident Rani Nguyen, a 6th grade student at the Academy was recognized with an award for best cursive handwriting at her grade level in the state of New Jersey. Nguyen won a handwriting contest sponsored by Zaner-Bloser,
It's a matter of baby steps: from nightly cursive practice to weekly quizzes on times tables. Summer book reports come next, maybe even some watered-down sort of science project. Suddenly, we're grown up; whole semesters can go by and the only thing
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This book is a useful and effective teaching tool because: Each letter is introduced and practiced before students are asked to use it.Cursive Writing
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Handwriting for Kids
Offers worksheets using names, numbers, and cursive examples for writing practice.
Cursive Handwriting Practice
Use these worksheets to practice your cursive handwriting; Includes all 26 letters, including cursive f, cursive q, and cursive z.
Printable Handwriting: Cursive Writing
DN-style fonts available with rules, dotted letters, arrows, and more. Printables and tool to generate handwriting worksheets. ...
Lowercase Cursive
Find lowercase alphabet animations to help kids learn the correct way to form letters.
Cursive Writing
Free cursive writing printable activity worksheets.
