Until relatively recently, the teaching of cursive writing was a mainstay of elementary education. For one commentator cursive is an increasingly anachronistic skill that is a waste of time that would be better spent on more relevant skills such as foreign language acquisition. Leavenworth High School Senior Rebecca Hollister, suggests that, other than for very few uses like signing official documents, cursive writing has no real-world utility.
Cursive writing is more than a pleasing visual.
Leavenworth Times Columnist Marti Crow disagrees. Crow points out that cursive writing has value beyond stylistic concerns. Crow alludes to scientific evidence that cursive writing is connected to higher order thinking skills. She points out that brain imaging studies demonstrate that children writing in cursive are activating a wider range of mental functioning than children typing digitally. She also points out that cursive writing is mentally more challenging than print because of its requirement for movement coordination and more demanding visual recognition skills.
Brain studies show that writing letters involve more advanced brain function than communicating on a screen.
Laura Lurns · Learning Success expert
Key takeaways
- Cursive should not be taught in classrooms because there are other more challenging and stimulating lessons that educators should be focused on instead.
- For example, elementary schools could offer more foreign languages and science instruction instead of cursive.
- Cursive is hardly required except for signing documents in today’s society, and so teaching its use in classrooms should become obsolete.
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