The Importance Of Cursive Writing

Cursive handwriting has been taught in American schools for the past 300 years and once was the principle way of communicating (Blazer, 2010). The declining emphasis of learning cursive handwriting can be attributed technological advances. The debate over the value of handwriting instruction didn’t start with the introduction of the computer; it dates back to the debut of the Remington typewriter in 1873 and is revived with each new technological advance, including the Dictaphone, the Xerox machine, and finally, computers (Blazer, 2010).

BOTH SIDES OF THE ARGUMENT

In her article Blazer (2010) notes several reasons to teach cursive writing: learning cursive writing helps students develop reading, communication, and fine motor skills, students

Breen (2013) points to the fact that few schools make keyboards available for day-to-day writing. The majority of schoolwork, from taking notes to essay tests, is still done by hand. According to Vanderbilt University professor Steve Graham, who cites multiple studies showing that sloppy writing routinely leads to lower grades, even in papers with the same wording as those written in a neater hand (Breen, 2013). Blazer (2010) also lists reasons for eliminating the teaching of cursive writing: cursive handwriting is becoming irrelevant and obsolete with the rise of technology, standardized tests don’t require the use of cursive handwriting, typing is more efficient, cursive writing is very difficult for some have found that most schools teach cursive handwriting in the latter part of second grade or in third grade. The majority of teachers report spending 12-15 minutes per day teaching cursive handwriting. However, school districts vary significantly in the amount of handwriting instruction they provide to students (Blazer, 2010). Although there is great academic debate over the benefit of teaching handwriting and cursive handwriting more specific, it seems that a majority of schools across the nation still deem it worthy to be taught. Karadag (2014) discusses the impact that learning cursive writing has on curriculum as well as the individual learner, “It is acknowledged that cursive writing provides various benefits for teaching and mental development. The national and international studies in the literature reveal the positive effects of cursive handwriting: such as making writing faster, recognizing words easily and distinguishing numbers and markings easily, preventing syllabication, supporting kinesthetic intelligence as well as mental and physical development, improving attention span and in- depth thinking skills.” In juxtaposition to Karadag’s statement Blazer (2010) notes, “studies have found that typing, which uses an easier set of motor skills, allows students to spend more time focusing on the planning, grammar, and composition of their writing and less time