Cut cursive & keep keyboarding or combine

Third-grade students used to be taught cursive, but schools across the country are eliminating this instruction. The September Time for Kids issue debated whether cursive writing is an obsolete skill as did the summer issue of California Educator.  The new common core standards that have been adopted by over 40 states no longer require cursive writing instruction.

Some argue that new technology makes cursive writing irrelevant because instructional time should be spent on tested skills such as reading and math. Others are opting to spend that time allocation on keyboarding instruction instead of handwriting.

I teach both, but spend more class time on keyboarding skills than handwriting, because as a writer I compose at the keyboard. Being able to compose and edit online is an asset.

Many districts have a technology component that requires teaching keyboarding, but as with many of the skills that are not tested, this directive may not be followed.

 Just as I use the content of science and social studies to teach nonfiction English standards such as text features, I use keyboarding to facilitate editing in the writing process. Students don’t mind the revisions as much when asked to type their story and polish it for publication on the computer. They are more resistant to long hand editing requiring crossing out, arrows, and rewriting.

Those in favor of continuing to teach cursive writing say that signing their names and reading other’s cursive writing are skills that students will always need. Lawyers will tell you that cursive signatures have no special legal validity over other signatures and many companies, including the IRS, accept electronic signatures.
Another argument for keeping it is that not learning to write cursive means not understanding cursive so historical documents can’t be read. This doesn’t carry a lot of weight because students so rarely lay hands on source documents. They read the typed versions of The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in textbooks.

Reading cursive still matters, but it can usually be taught in less than an hour to children as young as first grade, if they know how to read. So being able to read cursive isn’t justification enough for writing it.

But others argue that we don’t stop memorizing times table just because we have calculators. Cursive is a skill that students need in their tool box.  Many teachers have assigned practicing it for homework.

Perhaps a compromise is in order. According to research, the fastest hand-writers with the most legible writing use a half print, half cursive hybridized version that features the best of both styles. It resembles italics and this handwriting streamlines for speed without the complexities of conventional cursive. The trick is that they join some letters, but not all of them. They make the easiest connections and skip the rest.

The first handwriting books published hundreds of years ago taught a semi-joined style called “Italic” which originated in Italy.  

Kate Gladstone, internationally known as the “Handwriting Repairwoman,” is a specialist who coaches topics such as joining strokes and speed development. If you want to gain and maintain rapid readable writing skills you might want to download the Better Letter application that she features her advice.

Better Letters is an iPhone app that acts as your personal handwriting trainer with audio and written lectures plus font practice. This app features an Italic handwriting style which allows the user to select the “ink” color to trace the on-screen letter and numeral examples. It also includes nearly 300 practice words that use common English letter combination plus your own practice words can be input.

Students still take written sections on tests such as the SAT exam that include a timed handwritten essay totaling a sixth of their score. Many teachers still write on the whiteboard so when handwriting is slow and illegible, it can interfere with even the best-planned lessons.

So cursive is still used, but it’s looking like Italics might prevail. I’m curious enough to download the app. How about you?

  Kristi McCracken, author of two children’s books and a long time teacher in the South Valley, can be reached at educationallyspeaking@gmail.com.