The demise of handwriting
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- October
- 29
I was taken aback last year when, during back-to-school night at my son’s school, his fourth-grade teacher noted that students would not be taught cursive writing if they had not learned it in the earlier grades. There just isn’t time to teach it by the fourth grade, he said. For those that don’t know, cursive writing is what we commonly refer to as “script,” or what a friend from England told me this weekend is known as “joined” writing back home.
I’ve thought about that teacher’s comment ever since, and it came up in conversation over the weekend. It strikes me as sad that such a school policy — perhaps a natural consequence of the modern-day, state-test-driven public school system — might spell the demise of cursive writing. I was therefore not surprised to find that I wasn’t alone in that concern, and that there has been some debate over this in recent years, as expressed in this article from The Washington Post last year.
Now, my son does write in cursive, and I frankly don’t know that any of his friends don’t. But it seems clear there are kids out there that still use block writing, and perhaps it is just a matter of time before the computer keyboard replaces all penmanship. I certainly hope not. Heck, our own Constitution and Declaration of Independence are written in cursive. Are we heading for a generation of children who won’t be able to read them?
This entry was posted
on Monday, October 29th, 2007 at 11:20 am by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon.
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My 4th grader loves to write in script and enjoyed all of the workbooks from last year. This year, at the class open house, a savvy mom asked the teacher to please require that the kids complete some of their assignments in script because there is a standardized test in 5th grade that requires them to use it.
Thanks for the input, CR.
I’m actually quite surprised to hear that there could be a standardized test that requires the kids to write in cursive. My son is now in fifth and, although he does write in cursive, I’ve learned that there are other students in his grade that don’t know how. So they’d be at a disadvantage to meet the requirement that you alluded to.
As a teacher I think it is really important that children learn to write in cursive. I teach third grade and although it is difficult to fit in the children do learn by the end of the school year. However, I hear that they are not required to use it in fourth grade or middle school.
Thanks for posting here, Mary. A teacher’s input is valuable, particularly on this topic.
Personally, I’ve been continually surprised on the input I’ve gotten on this issue. I was approached by a mom last week who reads Parents Place, and she told me she was furious that her son, who is about to apply to colleges, never learned to write in cursive. And this is no substandard or even average student: He’s a high-achieving student. But, apparently, he was never taught in the earlier grades and then it just wasn’t taught as part of the curriculum.
What a shame.