April 30, 2013
Should schools require children to learn cursive?
Introduction
Paul Sakuma/Associated Press The new Common Core State Standards, a set of national benchmarks for American public schools, do not require students to learn cursive. As a result, states and districts are grappling with whether to teach this skill.
Last week, North Carolina passed a bill making cursive part of the school curriculum. Is this a step backward, a smart decision or something else altogether?
Read the Discussion »Debaters
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Let It Die. It’s Already Dying
Teachers would be better off focusing on the skills that will impact student success -- including printing and typing, not cursive.
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Cursive Benefits Go Beyond Writing
The speed and efficiency of cursive helps in the classroom, and research shows learning cursive contributes to brain development.
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Handwriting Matters; Cursive Doesn’t
Teach children to read cursive but teach them to write in a hybrid style typical of effective handwriters.
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A Cultural Tradition Worth Preserving
At one time in our history people took great pains to write a letter utilizing their best penmanship; it's an art form to be cherished.
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