10 Reasons to Teach Cursive Writing First Before Print

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1 10 Reasons to Teach Cursive Writing First Before Print Joy Campbell, Yahoo Contributor Network MORE: Cursive Writing Cursive Dysgraphia Penmanship Handwriting If there is one talent that Grandmothers have that is superior to yours, it is her cursive handwriting. Older generations have better penmanship than recent generations. Grandma beams with pride when she gets compliments on how her writing flows beautifully in paper. In her days, children were taught in cursive. Handwriting is a core subject. It requires as much as an hour of practice each day. Cursive writing was taught as early as first grade. Since 1941, schools used the "ball and stick" manuscript or print. As a consequence, we have a generation of handwriting disasters. Children write with words so close together. Common letter reversals and confusions with patterns of "b and d", "m and w", "d and g" are so rampant among school children until middle school. Thus, many students are diagnosed with learning disabilities including dyslexia. Proponents of teaching print first point out to the possibility that children will have difficulty reading books since it is not in cursive. They also claim that teaching cursive requires more complicated strokes. They argue that the resulting poor handwriting of the present generation can be solved by technology through the use of computer devices. Thus, cursive writing is a lost art that is replaceable by new technologies. If the benefits of teaching cursive first is understood, many parents will delay the introduction of print in later years of childhood and focus on teaching cursive first in preschool to first grade. Page 86 of 137

2 10 Benefits of Teaching Cursive Handwriting 1. Relative ease in introducing cursive penmanship to preschoolers. Contrary to common beliefs, it is very easy to teach cursive handwriting. It only requires 3 movements: undercurve, overcurve and up and down. Print handwriting necessitates an even more complex stroke of straight lines and perfect circles. 2. Prevents reversals and confusion of letters The letters "b and d", "f and t", "g, q and p" are confusing for young children. In cursive, writing the letter "b and d" require a huge difference in directionality. 3. Enhances spelling ability In cursive, children learn to spell correctly since hand movements create some muscle memory that retains the spelling patterns. 4. Develops internal control systems that can be used as tool for learning In a cursive writing, the incorporation of movement, pressure and visual processing is a bit multifaceted. This augments visual spacial and coordination skills. In writing lowercase letters in print, six strokes are required against three movements in cursive writing. Fluent movement is developed. With cursive writing practice, the neuron connections in the brain, responsible for organizing other kinds of information and skills, are greatly strengthened. 5. Potential for errors are diminished Cursive handwriting reduces errors because of the continuous flow of writing. In print, the child picks up the pencil from the paper to start a new letter in a word, thus the potential for mistakes is higher. 6. Improved reading skills The goal in reading is to read words instead of letters at a time. Cursive writing promotes reading words, instead of a distinct letter. After words, reading will move to sentences. Thus, remedial support for comprehension and reading of words are occurring less. The child reads what he or she writes as "whole words" rather than as individual letters. Page 87 of 137

3 7. Enforces the skills for patterns in reading and writing Unlike print writing, lower case cursive writing starts from the same beginning point. In print, various letter start from the top, down, middle and many different positions. Letter inversions and reversals are eliminated. 8. Prevents erratic spaces between letters and words In cursive, the flow of writing moves from left to right. It teaches spatial discipline. In print, the child's handwritings are difficult to discern. The spaces between words are so tight. It is hard to tell where the words begin and end. 9. Helps Left Handed Children In print, the left-handed child proceeds to write printing from left to right but will cover what he has written with his arms. This is called the hook position. In cursive writing, the left-handed child learns to write from bottom up and turns the paper clockwise causing great comfort and legibility. 10.Use as a tool to put thoughts on paper quickly and easily Mastery of cursive will be to the advantage of any student in the long-run. The child will be able to write faster. The student can get his or her ideas on paper quicker. It can also be advantageous in taking notes from lectures. Conclusion: The handwriting of our present generation is pathetic. The generation of our grandmothers are proud of their cursive handwriting because they labored to perfect the art of cursive handwriting. With print being taught first in schools and many home school curricula, bad habits are acquired that are difficult to break. The shocking proportions of learning disabilities including Dysgraphia and Dyslexia in our generation may be to a certain extent, be related to print handwriting. Source: Samuel L. Blumenfield, "How Should We Teach Our Children to Write? Cursive First, Print Later!" Page 88 of 137

4 EDUCATION POLICY TECHNOLOGY HIGHER EDUCATION ONLINE SCHOOLS PARENTING INTERNATIONAL / UK K-12 CAREER INDEX Research: Handwriting Spurs Brain Activity, Typing Doesn t While educators find handwriting increasingly irrelevant, there is evidence that the act of writing by hand provides significant developmental benefits. Putting actual pen to paper can have significant benefits for brain development, the Los Angeles Times reports. Recent research has found that when students learn how to write by hand, they also increase their brain activity and improve their fine motor skills. Similar benefits were not detected when kids were typing or simply repeating their lessons verbally. Scientists compared the neuroimage scans of preschoolers who were learning to write by practicing printing their letters and those who were just doing verbal repetition. After four weeks of training, the kids who practiced writing by hand showed brain activation similar to an adult s, said James, the study s lead researcher. The benefits of writing by hand also included improved letter recognition, which is the No. 1 predictor of reading ability at age 5. Good handwriting also has benefits that are harder to detect on a brain scan. For most kids, writing is faster than typing. Research found that students between second and sixth grade wrote essays that were both longer and more thorough when using pen and paper rather than a computer. In addition, those who handwrote their papers did it quicker than those who typed them. This research, however, is in contradiction with a Vanderbilt University study done in Spring 2011 that showed that students who typed produced better quality writing. Although more and more school districts are dropping cursive requirements for their students, either because they lack the funds or because teaching keyboarding seems a more logical application of limited funds, there are others who believe development of good handwriting is an important part of education. Colorado makes a compelling case-in-point. While the public schools in the state are moving away from cursive, usually devoting only a small part of class time to Page 89 of 137

5 it up to third grade, private schools frequently make it a backbone of their literacy efforts. Some, like Denver Montclair International School, start teaching handwriting in kindergarten because they believe that in addition to other benefits, knowing cursive also helps their students learn second languages like French and Spanish. - See more at: Page 90 of 137