Cursive Handwriting is not a Curse
When is the last time you saw a teenager without a cell phone in their hand? Many teens, and even adults, use modern technology to quickly communicate with their friends and family members. Will our future be everyone texting away on their mobile devices instead of writing? Today, keyboarding is in, and the Common Core Standards in public schools no longer require elementary students to learn cursive; some schools are even dropping the teaching of cursive writing entirely ̶ dismissing it as an “ancient skill.” While electronic devices have brought an element of convenience to the general public, evidence has shown that putting a pen or pencil to paper has benefits that typing simply cannot replace. “The most …show more content…
When viewing the alternative- typing on a tablet or on a computer- statistics have shown that “students learn better taking handwritten notes as opposed to typing on a computer,” (Christensen, the Federalist, 2015). That said, students simply cannot write down every word that their professor says, so they turn to a quicker alternative. Using cursive writing is faster and easier, and students can manage to get more written down if they use cursive writing. Some might say that students can type faster than they can write, but there is a direct relationship between handwriting and composition- the more the student writes, the better the quality of their work. Typing may be faster, but writing something down on page forces a person to slow down their thinking, and process what they are learning. Writing in print may be more beneficial than typing, but overall studies have shown that cursive writing helps improve the mind the most. Cursive is faster and more likely to engage students by providing a better sense of their own personal style and ownership. Cursive has an added benefit of being artistic and highly personal, that allows children and adults to express their individuality. This promotes individual personalities and allows people to be more engaged with what they are …show more content…
Educators should know that writing acts as a sensory integration exercise for your brain. Cursive writing goes further and helps calm nuero-typical children; meaning that it helps your brain develop faster than normal. This fast paced growth is what causes kids who learn cursive writing before learning print to be imaginative and inspired. Maddie Crum states that “children who were better able to produce letters, numbers and shapes in preschool demonstrated better academic achievement in second grade,” (Crum, Huffington Post, 2015). Not only better achievement in major subjects- like math, science, history, and reading- but unusually high performances in the arts. One argument brought up by Crum is that “certain historical letters and documents won’t be readable by non-cursive writers,” (Crum, Huffington Post, 2015). Based off this judgement, which I think is fairly accurate, historians in the future who do not learn cursive will look back at the world’s written work, and will not be able to read it. Found in A Typographic Workbook, I recently read that the “organization of the composition in our writing creates a plan that can help minimize frustrations caused by learning and causes a chain reaction in our brain that helps us focus our imagination by using our hands,” (Clair 229). Summing up Clair’s basic points, she is stating that by using cursive in our writing, this
When is the last time you saw a teenager without a cell phone in their hand? Many teens, and even adults, use modern technology to quickly communicate with their friends and family members. Will our future be everyone texting away on their mobile devices instead of writing? Today, keyboarding is in, and the Common Core Standards in public schools no longer require elementary students to learn cursive; some schools are even dropping the teaching of cursive writing entirely ̶ dismissing it as an “ancient skill.” While electronic devices have brought an element of convenience to the general public, evidence has shown that putting a pen or pencil to paper has benefits that typing simply cannot replace. “The most …show more content…
When viewing the alternative- typing on a tablet or on a computer- statistics have shown that “students learn better taking handwritten notes as opposed to typing on a computer,” (Christensen, the Federalist, 2015). That said, students simply cannot write down every word that their professor says, so they turn to a quicker alternative. Using cursive writing is faster and easier, and students can manage to get more written down if they use cursive writing. Some might say that students can type faster than they can write, but there is a direct relationship between handwriting and composition- the more the student writes, the better the quality of their work. Typing may be faster, but writing something down on page forces a person to slow down their thinking, and process what they are learning. Writing in print may be more beneficial than typing, but overall studies have shown that cursive writing helps improve the mind the most. Cursive is faster and more likely to engage students by providing a better sense of their own personal style and ownership. Cursive has an added benefit of being artistic and highly personal, that allows children and adults to express their individuality. This promotes individual personalities and allows people to be more engaged with what they are …show more content…
Educators should know that writing acts as a sensory integration exercise for your brain. Cursive writing goes further and helps calm nuero-typical children; meaning that it helps your brain develop faster than normal. This fast paced growth is what causes kids who learn cursive writing before learning print to be imaginative and inspired. Maddie Crum states that “children who were better able to produce letters, numbers and shapes in preschool demonstrated better academic achievement in second grade,” (Crum, Huffington Post, 2015). Not only better achievement in major subjects- like math, science, history, and reading- but unusually high performances in the arts. One argument brought up by Crum is that “certain historical letters and documents won’t be readable by non-cursive writers,” (Crum, Huffington Post, 2015). Based off this judgement, which I think is fairly accurate, historians in the future who do not learn cursive will look back at the world’s written work, and will not be able to read it. Found in A Typographic Workbook, I recently read that the “organization of the composition in our writing creates a plan that can help minimize frustrations caused by learning and causes a chain reaction in our brain that helps us focus our imagination by using our hands,” (Clair 229). Summing up Clair’s basic points, she is stating that by using cursive in our writing, this