Schools shouldn't teach cursive writing

[IShotTheDeputyItWasMe]

When I grew up, we'd learn to write using print ie not joined up. Then a few years later we'd have to re-learn in cursive. I remember finding relearning quite difficult eg the way "s" is written is very different. What was the point in teaching print and then expecting everyone to use cursive?

A lot of primary schools now teach cursive from the off.

But why teach it at all? Not many adults write pure cursive and sometimes cursive, particularly messy or very elaborate cursive can be really hard to read. It looks nice sometimes but what's the point in using it when print is much easier to read and most adults use it or a variation of print anyway.

I deal with old documents that are always written in cursive and they are a nightmare to read.

Personally, I mainly use print but do join some letters. But my writing is odd anyway because I also did calligraphy and have incorporated some of that too. My capital "h" is ridiculous!

I find a lot have to unlearn in order for us to be able to read their writing at secondary. Everyone writes differently, it’s not one style for everyone. I have lovely handwriting (sorry to boast) but it’s not cursive.

Someone will be along to tell you it helps with spelling.

It does not.

Children should be taught a neat, efficient way to write their numbers and letters and make sure that they are formed correctly, using a comfortable and correct pencil hold. So that they can write neatly and legibly at a good pace.

Any other requirement is pointless.

Cursive is faster.
Lots of schools now start with entrance/exit flicks so as to help the transition.

I think the whole system is outdated, teach how to write which ever way the child writes best but it does shock me how little typing practice they get.
like it not typing skills are now needed far more.

Why teach children how to write at all? They can do all of that using a keyboard, surely? They can even sign their names electronically now. Why teach them to do art, or appreciate music, or embroider? (rolls eyes)

As someone who handwrites a huge amount as part of my work, it is so much faster. I would not be able to do my job by printing. It's therefore much better for timed exams etc.

Not sure why but I find the slow decline of beautiful handwriting quite sad!

It is a nightmare.

Our school taught cursive very early, we got a new head who has massively improved everything and she’s ditched cursive as all of the children have pretty bad hand writing. They’re having to go back to basics with children who should be able to write to undo the twiddles as it’s impossible to read most of what they write.

I don’t think any one is saying that. Teaching them how to write in a specific way which is then not really used last leaving primary but not teaching them to type is a bit do a strange one

you can so both teach to write and teach them to type.

Our primary was teaching the precursive/cursive way but have now switched back to teaching print. The children’s writing is far more legible. I don’t think handwriting is as important these days in that in adult life you need to be able write legible notes, forms etc but not really long pieces of handwritten letters and essays. So the efficiency of cursive is not so important for the majority of people.

I have never written fully joined up, there are some letters that flow well that I join up but others I find easier not to.

I think they should be taught how to write by printing first and then when they can do that they can be taught cursive when they’re a lot older (maybe Yr5/6?).

Mine were taught cursive from Yr2 and it’s been a disaster because they never got a hang of different letter heights, writing in a straight line, consistent letter size etc. They’re now re-learning so you can actually read what they’ve written.

I think once they can write legibly, then they can be taught cursive. I have horrible handwriting and would love to have beautiful writing but alas, tis not to be 😞

It can be helpful for children who tend to get letters the wrong way round.

It's faster and makes all the difference when it comes to essay writing in exams further down the line.

Cursive is faster, more efficient and quite frankly less babyish. Do you do little circles over your letter "i", OP?

I completely agree. DD is now learning cursive in year 1 and her writing was starting to look good, now it's illegible again.

Ds was taught cursive from day 1. It has been a disaster as he's dyslexic and dysgraphic. His writing is completely unintelligible age 16, but he's an excellent typer now!
I was told by his KS1 teacher that cursive was great for dyslexia. It really isn't.

My DD is year 7. Shes been told by her teachers to stop using cursive as its more important to be legible. No point in knowing the answer if they can't read it.

I agree. I think children are taught so much unnecessary stuff though and not enough life skills. A lot more emphasis should be on ‘real world’ teaching - cooking, healthy lifestyle choices, budgeting, understanding mortgage rates and credit cards.

The number of people who will need simultaneous equations as adults is far less than those who will take out a mortgage!

According to the national curriculum, children can’t achieve the expected standard at the end of KS2 if they can’t demonstrate the ability to write legibly using cursive.
Children in EYFS and KS1 should be taught to print, and only when this is secure (mid Y2?) should joins be taught. It does help with spelling in my opinion as muscle memory kicks in.

Are you an expert in the area of teaching spelling? Genuinely asking, not being snarky.

The British Dyslexia Association say cursive does help with spelling, especially for whole word spellings of irregular words where we are trying to develop muscle memory.

Genuinely interested to read up on evidence to the contrary, as always looking to learn more and have a balanced viewpoint.

The NC guidance can be changed - we know why it's taught (it's a NC requirement at KS2). The point is whether it should be.

Cursive does not help with spelling.

Or dyslexia.

Much b/d confusion is down to incorrect letter formation (starting at the bottom, etc).

To be fair, I was never taught to embroider as a child, and if an emergency arose requiring me to create even a simple cross-stitch sampler, I would be stuffed.

I think this is down to teaching and practice. Everyone at my primary school learned italic handwriting with fountain pen. We almost all had really great handwriting by age 10 or so. I remember this because when we visited the local secondary schools before choosing which to apply for, you could tell who had gone to our primary school from the work on the walls! It was really distinctively better handwriting, across the board. One of my friends had shonky letters because she had a hand problem, but even then it was better than kids from other schools!

I still have decent handwriting now, and while my job is very computer based, I use a remarkable to make notes and brainstorm when I'm learning something, because there's evidence it's good for thinking.

I think it's completely possible to teach small children to write well, and it's a gift I'm glad I was given.

It is faster using cursive handwriting, for sure.
It baffles me why children are learning to write in pre-school. They should start a bit later, and nail it first time.

I must confess I would question the intellect of an adult writer if they used printed letters. I would also question how serious an adult individual was if they used flowery exaggerated curly handwriting.

You get even better muscle memory results with touch typing.

But no one - including me - is suggesting that we skip over teaching neat, consistent, legible writing. The advantage for spelling is down to forming letters properly.

Up until last year, our village still had Handwriting as one of the competitions in the Annual Show. You could tell which Primary school the children attended just based on handwriting... one of the schools did truly produce children with beautiful handwriting.