Cursive Writing Losing Hands

Since letter writing is becoming a rarity thanks to email, computers, and instant messaging, cursive writing also suffers from lack of use. The Dallas Morning News reports that cursive writing practice has lost its importance.

Students still learn cursive in third grade and are required to follow the rules for writing each letter correctly, but they’re not spending as much time in perfecting the writing as in the past — just enough to know it.

I’m all for that, but I still believe kids must learn how to write in cursive because they do plenty of homework by hand on notebook paper (that thing with three holes and lines). Kids can’t rely on calculators when doing  math, so they have to show the steps by hand. They also do plenty of worksheets that still get distributed on paper.

My daughter’s handwriting is like her father’s … hard to read. It concerns me because if her teachers can’t read it, then how can she expect her work to get graded? I don’t expect my kids’ handwriting to be fancy and beautiful, but at least legible.

I have a box full of letters that Paul and I wrote to each other during the time we were engaged and separated by the miles (him in Washington, D.C. and me in Texas). Since we were geeks and emailed each other before the Internet expanded beyond the Department of Defense, we have a few printed letters. The handwritten letters stir more feelings than the printed one.

I’ve been keeping a journal since 1989 and write in cursive. My handwriting isn’t pretty, but at least my handwriting is recording my life. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long before my hand cramps. Also, every year when I send a thank you gift to my clients, I write a note to include with the gift.

Every year around their birthdays, I write a letter to my kids reflecting on their past year. At first, I did it by hand, but then I got so busy after having the third kid — I had to resort to the computer otherwise there would be no letter. However, I get other opportunities to write letters to them — like when they go to overnight camp. Got to make an effort to return to writing letters by hand.

Thank you notes — should always be done by hand and my daughter will be writing a lot of them come February. It’s going to be fun reminding her to do the notes.