I haven’t written about cursive handwriting in a while so here’s some red meat for those, like me, who hope to see its elimination from the curriculum. Vox.com posted an article with the provocative title Cursive handwriting is useless, but politicians want students to learn it anyway.
The title tells you the tenor of their argument: cursive is well past its expiration date and is only holding on because some politicians have chosen to make it a beachhead in the culture wars. Sadly, some state legislatures are passing laws mandating that cursive be taught. Vox concludes that these laws will delay but not prevent the demise of cursive.
Vox concludes that the arguments in favor of cursive—fine motor control and enabling students to read the constitution and Declaration of Indenpence—are pretty weak and ultimately unpersuasive. The other major argument is that “well, I had to learn it so…”
The Vox article has an interesting history of the teaching of handwriting that you might enjoy. I’m hoping that it won’t be too long before posts like this are beside the point.