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

Both of my DC were taught cursive handwriting in primary school in theory but neither of them write that way at all (and one is still at school!), so clearly what is the point? Whoever came up with the idea and why?

As @okiedokieme has pointed out this generation will have very little need for handwriting in their lives anyway.

It depends on the type of cursive, I think. I was taught what I consider 'proper joined up writing', which most people know as looped cursive, and I definitely think it was right to wait until we were 9 to learn that.

Printed or cursive - bad letter formation makes any writing difficult to read. My DH's printed letters are almost illegible, I can read my yr 1 child's cursive far more easily!

I get that typing is very useful, but practising writing is necessary for fine motor skills.
It's much easier to join the letters up later if they learn the basic flicks early.

@ColdToesHere couldn’t we apply that to a heck of a lot of things? I’ve never had the need to use Pythagoras therom but we spent a terribly long time learning it in high school. I’ve certainly never used the four years of french I learned either. I don’t even remember a lot of what I learned at school and I’m only 30!

You’re right, it can be applied to anything @Heismyopendoor Isn’t it better that schools give everyone a broad base level?
Personally I have used my school French. And DH couldn’t be an engineer if he wasn’t taught basic Trigonometry including Pythagoras’ theorem. If we cut basic things out on the probability of them being used in adult life, it would cut down the options that children have in the future.
I’ve never used the physics or chemistry we were taught in school but they’re fairly essential as a base too for so many reasons.

I learned joined-up writing in the 90s and I'm sure it helped me write faster in exams. Or do people who don't learn cursive become just as fast writing in non-cursive?

These days I barely write at all. Exams and school work should move onto computer.

@ColdToesHere I actually meant to tag @NewModelArmyMayhem18 my post makes no sense in relation to yours 😂.

If you’ve seen my previous posts on this thread you’d see I actually agree with cursive. I’m an advocate for it!

And how you’ve Replied was exactly my point! The pp I meant to tag asked what’s the point in learning it when they’ve not used it as an older child or adult, hence me saying you could apply that to a lot of things we get taught at school.

I don’t think DS will ever have neat handwriting. He’s in year 3, free reader, very good at English but his handwriting is awful. He can’t print if he wants to, it’s all this scribbly cursive.

Yabu. If you look at the National handwriting association they don’t recommend it for reception children. Most four year olds are developmentally incapable of drawing diagonal lines (that’s why they do crosses for kisses!) so cursive or continuous cursive is very, very difficult for them. Much better to learn how to form simple printed letters correctly and then the cursive is added later when they can manage it. The countries which teach cursive from the get go aren’t teaching it to 4 or 5 year olds.

hahaha @heismyopendoor I was a little confused. I was thinking "but we're making the same point??"

I have a real problem with cursive writing I don't think there's any need to force children (who are just learning to write/learned one way then taught another way) to use it. Our school start in reception and I just think it's ridiculous and when they start high school they don't have to use it anymore so what was the point?

I agree it’s daft that secondary school
Just let all that hard work go

When I taught in a French school the children all learned cursive as soon as they started writing. One of the great strengths of French cursive is that all the letters are formed differently, and the children seemed to have significantly fewer problems mixing up bd, pq, and so on. However they don't start learning to write until they're six-turning-seven, and lots of class time is given to learning and practicing how to form all the letters and the joins properly.

(Also in support of handwriting, I'm in academia and I write everything by hand first. It's a pain having to type it up later, but my sentences and thoughts are formed so much more clearly when I write with pen and paper).

I don’t think it’s a priority in general, let alone age 5.

Why?

I had to teach both my dcs to print once they started secondary school because their cursive writing was illegible. It's ridiculous that they're still trying to teach it. It's a waste of time in my opinion. Ensuring handwriting is legible is far more important.

Another secondary teacher here... I regularly have to tell pupils to stop joining up their writing so that I have some chance of reading it. I'm a maths teacher and have resorted to telling 18 year olds to put one letter in each box!

I learned cursive in the 70s. As soon as we were allowed to write as we wished, we ALL stopped using it. My writing is now fast, semi-cursive and perfectly legible to people who are not me (in case they need to type up my old school handwritten minutes).

Learning the basics of cursive and efficient letter formation - great. Being dogmatic about perfectly joined up writing - bin it. And as pp have said - touch typing is where it's really at.

Hand-writing is an obsolete skill. The only reason it's needed is to be able to write answers to question under exam conditions. We need to change exam conditions so exams on are taken on computers, then we can abolish hand-writing altogether as a life-skill.

I left high-school having barely touched a keyboard, because computers weren't yet widespread. Three years later I left university, and have hardly ever written anything by hand in the subsequent 35 years.

It took DS 3 years to start writing semi-legibly, then he was made to use cursive, 2 years later his writing is still illegible. We keep telling him to write non-cursive but he thinks he is not allowed to. It's another stupid pointless thing they have to teach them in primary school - don't get me started on fronted adverbials and all that nonsense!

It's a no from me and I used to teach early years.

Interesting mix of views here