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Linda Woodard

A former educator who will never stop teaching., Officially none at the moment- retired :-)

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Do you think teaching students to write in cursive is no longer necessary??

I have students in my class who were never taught how to write in cursive, hence they cannot read it well when I write on the board or on their papers. And now I see where many school districts are no longer going to teach it across the board as they say it is a waste of time since most writing is now computer generated. I have my own ideas about this, but I would like to hear/read yours first.

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  • Sara Rose Vera

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    Jun 13 2011: Well yes with the advancement of technology writing in that manner is not longer existant. But its better to expose your students to everything possible because out in the real world they would have to learn it..
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      Linda Woodard

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      Jun 14 2011: But it is existent in a way still a way still until my generation dies off! I write in cursive on the board and on students' papers and when some cannot read it, I am taken aback quite frankly with this. I am sad to see this not being taught anymore as it is not only an "art" but it was the method of recording our history, and students will not be able to read original documents as the letters will look like Hieroglyphs to future generations.

      Handwritling also gives us clues into people's personalities and makes what was written seem more personal. My students had penpals from Sweden and when they first got their letters "snail mail", they talked first not about what was written, but HOW it was written, for they felt the "essence" of the person noting how letters were written and if someone had a beautiful handwriting compared to a choppy or illegible one....and when we went electronic, they felt that something was now gone. And to me that in itself, shows that we need to keep cursive in our schools.

      Thank you for responding...

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