To think cursive handwriting in reception is a good idea

[Lardlizard]

Yanbu if you agree

Personally I think it’s hard for them to start with but better in the long run

@Forky123 that’s really interesting thanks. I hope that the reason cursive is taught is based on something like you suggested. In and of itself I don’t understand the need, but I can understand that it might have benefits beyond just style of writing.

When DS was in nursery he learned to write them in Reception they taught cursive.

He would argue with the teacher every day that he had already learned to write so why didn’t they show him this before is they wanted him to write like that?

His handwriting was quite nice until he went to secondary school - now it’s a horrible mess.

Cursive is far faster than printing and there are many advantages to being able to write in a way that isn't immediately legible to others.

Cursive has been responsible for destroying my DD's faith in her own intelligence and abilities.

She's almost definitely dysgraphic, and possibly dyslexic with it. Handwriting in any form is a labour intensive nightmare for her but she's broadly legible in print.

Her year 3 teacher simply did everything verbally, year 4 called the whole subject 'cursed writing' and agreed that clear writing was the only thing that mattered.

Year 5 has swallowed the kool-aid and will not engage with anything other than cursive, even with professional reccomendations in place. Cue endless writing drills and her sacrificing spelling, grammar, punctuation and content to be able to cope. In less than half a year, DD went from near top of the class across the board to the bottom, because she simply can't do it.

Lockdown came like a Godsend gor her, because we've been able to get her away from a requirement which was destroying her. She's learning to touch-type, the pressure's off, but the child that wrote stories for fun at 8 now cries at the idea of having to write. Cursive literally hurts her to do

Pelleas I completely disagree. I write much, much faster in my own hybrid print-with-the-odd-join style than I ever could in cursive. Look at all the overlapping you do for a start, you use twice as much ink! Why put more barriers to learning in front of children? Teach them correct, and neat, letter formation and let them develop their own handwriting style. Just shows how backwards the government is in insisting that this is still important or even relevant.

YANBU

I'm 64, Even I only started it at around 8 or 9 years old. I rarely write now. Today's children are very unlikely to need need handwriting anyway. I can't remember the last time I hand wrote anything more important than quiz answers or a shopping list.

Fuck cursive! My daughter had beautiful handwriting, now it's an illegible mess. Some letters are good joined up, they naturally flow but all these "joining " lines make it look scruffy. Pre computers I wonder how many people got the wrong prescription drugs from their GP?
My daughter gets so stressed about it and gets told off if she doesn't join all her letters, its ridiculous. Let her concentrate on learning actual stuff and writing with her beautiful non joined up handwriting which didn't take as long as she didn't have to spend ages trying to join the letters.

I was sceptical but now am all for it: DS1 wasn’t taught cursive and has scruffy writing now, DS2 was taught cursive and his handwriting is so much better. After the first year of a page full of spiders it’s now totally legible, and he writes faster too which will be handy for exams.

İ don't understand the need for cursive. İ used to struggle so much with it. When I got to secondary my English teacher asked why is rote like that as it looked awful. İ said i thought we had to... For a full year i struggled like this. She said don't do it you don't need to hear. Within a week my writing was much better!

My boys are both left handed and really struggle with it but it's school policy. They do very well at school apart from that. Apparently they can fail year 2 if they don't sort it out when i pushed a bit further what she actually meant was she will get marked and the school if the kids can't do it! Very different to failing gear 2

@Givingup123456

İ don't understand the need for cursive. İ used to struggle so much with it. When I got to secondary my English teacher asked why is rote like that as it looked awful. İ said i thought we had to... For a full year i struggled like this. She said don't do it you don't need to hear. Within a week my writing was much better!

My boys are both left handed and really struggle with it but it's school policy. They do very well at school apart from that. Apparently they can fail year 2 if they don't sort it out when i pushed a bit further what she actually meant was she will get marked and the school if the kids can't do it! Very different to failing gear 2

That's the problem, it's another political stick to beat teachers with, just because Michael Gove liked it and its reminiscent of the supposed glory days of the 1950s.

Fine if you're coodinated and like an ink pen. I actually get on OK with it (introduced y3 late 80s). But it's not child centred. It's totally bamboozled DS1 who had basically learned neither style to the detriment of producing anything legible let alone thinking about punctuation, spelling and actual content. (You can guess how home school is going...) DS2 (y2) kind of prints then adds flicks randomly rather than a flowing formation. I have hopes that he will be a reasonably functional writer and despite being less than keen has already passed DS1.

But penalising teachers and schools for a child's handwriting style, especially when SENs are involved and early years development is relevant is just plain wrong. Especially when secondary schools couldn't care less!

Cursive is far faster than printing and there are many advantages to being able to write in a way that isn't immediately legible to others.
Not in year 1 though

You're honestly suggesting that cursive script is taught to 4/5 year old as standard? I'm glad you're not a teacher!

It matters why?

I think it's a bit young, surely it's better for the letters they learn to read and write to look similar?

I think we were taught to join up in year 2/3 with handwriting books.

If any good thing comes of 6 months out of education, then getting rid of some of the shit that Gove put in the curriculum would be welcome by me. However I don't think Dominic Cummings would let his legacy in education go.

I'm sure I read that it helps with memory and reading too, something to do with the fact that connecting the letters reinforces comprehension or something.

This...it helps train muscle memory so the hand becomes used to the feel of correct letter strings and so aids spelling. (As long as they spell words correctly, otherwise it reinforces misspelling!) The idea is it becomes a) fluid and speedy and b) automatic so it actually helps writing content as muscle memory takes over some of the spelling.

In theory. In practice, some children get it, do beautiful handwriting but still misspelled, whilst others are much scruffier trying to add on joins after having printed, or can't do the joins correctly, or hate it so much they become reluctant to write.

Personally I think touch typing is a more important skill for speed and accuracy. I would rather they learned print, teachers model joins in Y3/4 for children to explore as they wish, but touch typing from very early on.

I have beautiful handwriting and must have found cursive easy as a child as I don’t remember any issues at school.

My two boys who are old enough to write find any kind of writing hard and my eldest who is nearly twenty prints whenever he has to write. Middle one seven and struggling with joins. Little only four so who knows there?

However. I like having nice handwriting and I guess I only do from early teaching so I’m not sure 🤷‍♀️

I'm dyslexic and I can't read even the most perfectly written cursive. It seems totally pointless to me. It doesn't look better, it's not faster, it's just making things harder with no real benefits.

Some children struggle to write at all in Year R, adding cursive is ridiculous.

I was in primary class 5 when we were taught cursive back in the late 80s. By that point most of the class had moved onto using a handwriting pen as we all had neat writing. It was one lesson with the headteacher one day a week. I think correct letter formation is much more easier to grasp without the flicks. My handwriting remains neat regardless of whether I print or join.

Cursive was invented by evil people. Hate it. Haven't written in it since them forced years at school. I see no need for kids to learn it. Print is fine and most things typed these days anyway

God no, most adults cursive is barely legible let alone a 4 year olds. Thankfully our school does not do this. Dd is 10 and decided to do it off her own back - her teacher is trying to discourage it. She's dyslexic so will be allowed to type all through high school anyway - better you can actually read what's she's written for now!

I learnt cursive writing in primary school and remember that other people really struggled. I only write in cursive handwriting for birthday cards. I think it is pointless to teach that to kids now and they would be better off just learning basic print. For kids that struggle it can really put them behind at primary school in all but Maths!

Why? I have managed to get to middle aged without joining up my handwriting - we have these things called computers now and everything