Cursive in Elementary School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 5th grade daughter has gorgeous handwriting. When she signs her name, it gives me such joy. Sad that most parents will never experience this.

As the parent of a teenager with a signature like a doctor's, I thank you for your sympathy. It makes me feel a tiny bit better to know that someone understands my pain.

[Anonymous]

DS is learning cursive at our Mcps elementary, so I guess some schools still do it. It doesn't appear to be graded, though.

TBH, I think it's kind of a waste of time, especially given how little time they spend on science, social studies/history, and foreign languages. It's also something that I could easily teach 1:1 at home, whereas other subjects are harder or benefit from a classroom experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it totally gone now? Reason I ask is how do kids learn to sign their name? Do they just print it now?

In MCPS, many kids learn cursive in a limited way in 3rd/4th grade. My kids' signatures are a mixture of print and cursive.

Same here.
My child studied cursive in 3rd grade, one hour per week.

[Anonymous]

How many of you all use cursive in your everyday life? I'm in my 30s and cannot remember the last time I had to write something in cursive aside from my signature on a receipt. I was in MCPS ES 20+ years ago and they made us write in cursive because "all your middle and high school teachers will expect this and you'll need it later in life." No, they didn't, and no, I didn't. MCPS has a lot of problems but I don't see this as one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many of you all use cursive in your everyday life? I'm in my 30s and cannot remember the last time I had to write something in cursive aside from my signature on a receipt. I was in MCPS ES 20+ years ago and they made us write in cursive because "all your middle and high school teachers will expect this and you'll need it later in life." No, they didn't, and no, I didn't. MCPS has a lot of problems but I don't see this as one of them.

If I need to write a sizeable amount or am concerned about speed, I write in cursive because it's so much more efficient. It's better for note-taking. Last month I went to a conference and spent two days writing in cursive. If they only use it for note-taking, I think it would still be enormously valuable (unless you prefer to teach them shorthand).

My daughter also found that by the time she got to high school, she wasn't able to finish her tests because printing the answers to essay questions took too long. While the teachers accepted printing, they certainly didn't allow extra time for it.

[Anonymous]

DS is learning cursive in 3rd grade. MCPS Woodlin ES. They’re learning to write letters, sentences and then full paragraphs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is stupid. Cursive is easier than printing. There are a number of studies linking learning with writing. The upside is that you and your spouse have a secret language. Just write things in proper cursive and your kids will be clueless.

For you. Not for everybody.

Also, printing is writing.

Also, it's not hard to read cursive, even if you were never formally taught cursive. Just as you weren't formally taught the writing the Declaration of Independence was engrossed in, but you can still read it - right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many of you all use cursive in your everyday life? I'm in my 30s and cannot remember the last time I had to write something in cursive aside from my signature on a receipt. I was in MCPS ES 20+ years ago and they made us write in cursive because "all your middle and high school teachers will expect this and you'll need it later in life." No, they didn't, and no, I didn't. MCPS has a lot of problems but I don't see this as one of them.

If I need to write a sizeable amount or am concerned about speed, I write in cursive because it's so much more efficient. It's better for note-taking. Last month I went to a conference and spent two days writing in cursive. If they only use it for note-taking, I think it would still be enormously valuable (unless you prefer to teach them shorthand).

My daughter also found that by the time she got to high school, she wasn't able to finish her tests because printing the answers to essay questions took too long. While the teachers accepted printing, they certainly didn't allow extra time for it.

+100 Unfortunately, keyboards are still not allowed during tests for the most part

[Anonymous]

My kid has been writing in cursive since 1st grade (last year) at her MoCo private. I’m fairly neutral about it, but lean toward liking it—it’s pretty but old school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 5th grade daughter has gorgeous handwriting. When she signs her name, it gives me such joy. Sad that most parents will never experience this.

My son has terrible handwriting, as do I. Every day I give thanks for modern computing which means that he won't have to spend time trying to perfect handwriting when it's not useful in the adult world.

So.....you never write personal notes? Your kid will never write a letter? Not even a note?

Huh? Not learning to write cursive doesn’t mean you don’t learn how to use a pen and paper. It just means you print your notes. But yes, except for thank you notes and shopping lists I type pretty much everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 5th grade daughter has gorgeous handwriting. When she signs her name, it gives me such joy. Sad that most parents will never experience this.

My son has terrible handwriting, as do I. Every day I give thanks for modern computing which means that he won't have to spend time trying to perfect handwriting when it's not useful in the adult world.

So.....you never write personal notes? Your kid will never write a letter? Not even a note?

Huh? Not learning to write cursive doesn’t mean you don’t learn how to use a pen and paper. It just means you print your notes. But yes, except for thank you notes and shopping lists I type pretty much everything.

Handwritten notes look nicer in cursive than print. Print seems low class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Handwritten notes look nicer in cursive than print. Print seems low class.

DP. I assure you that my handwritten notes, in print, look Executive.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's officially taught in MCPS but my daughter's third grade teacher did introduce it last year. We plan to work on it at home this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many of you all use cursive in your everyday life? I'm in my 30s and cannot remember the last time I had to write something in cursive aside from my signature on a receipt. I was in MCPS ES 20+ years ago and they made us write in cursive because "all your middle and high school teachers will expect this and you'll need it later in life." No, they didn't, and no, I didn't. MCPS has a lot of problems but I don't see this as one of them.

While I don't write as much as more (my signature degrades with each passing year), and I'm ancient (in my 40s), there is some connection between learning and using print and handwriting that isn't achieved by typing and mouse clicks. It is like how doodling whiling listening to meeting conversation can help you focus more on what is being said. I was a STEM major and work in IT/IT consulting. In 3rd grade my class learned cursive AND calligraphy in a US public school. While professionally I have not relied on writing much, I believe that there is a place for it in the learning environments, and would prefer to see more of it through middle school and high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hilarious to see these parents justifying elimination of teaching a useful skill. The public school vs private school kids will be obvious in one more way...who can properly handwrite a thank you note. Love it.

Or who can take shorthand notes when laptops not allowed at meeting or lecture, etc.