My current college junior did learn cursive in 3rd grade. My current HS junior did not. My understanding at the time was that it was teacher dependent, based on what they could fit in, and DC#2s teacher was incredibly disorganized and didn't even finish the math curriculum so not having time for cursive was no surprise. This is in FCPS.

Anonymous wrote:did your kids learn cursive?

Kids got a "cursive license" after working through a designated book/activity curriculum in ES. But it was never reinforced. So my child -now in HS- can eek out a few words, or a signature, but that's about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Why would they? Maybe to sign their names? Docusign baby.

So they can read cursive.

When will they need this in their every day life? Besides for reading Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas from grandpa and grandpa?

They fill out social studies packets in writing. They complete unit tests in writing. They have nightly math homework sheets that require sentence explanations. They have science packets that they write in. They have weekly spelling tests and Greek stem tests which are in writing. All of their definitions and sentences using the weekly vocabulary is in writing. Not everything is on the computer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Why would they? Maybe to sign their names? Docusign baby.

So they can read cursive.

When will they need this in their every day life? Besides for reading Happy Birthday or Merry Christmas from grandpa and grandpa?

Ish?

Older kid did a lot on her own but probably would have learned via the school's Zaner Bloser workbooks even if she hadn't.

Middle kid claims she got through the alphabet to W and doesn't know X, Y, or Z.

Youngest is TBD.

My Sophomore has a 3.4 GPA (unweighted) and doesn't know how to read or write it.

Not in school, but I taught them myself at home. Also calligraphy and basic drawing/painting.

Anonymous wrote:In FCPS - no. They did some worksheets of individual letters in 4th but that didn’t teach them cursive. I taught them at home with Learning Without Tears (used to be Handwriting without Tears).

Based on other comments like this one, it seems school, even teacher, specific. My older DS didn't, but my younger DS did. My older one is in HS now and the only time it has ever been an issue is when he went to sign his for his learner's permit at the DMV. Looks like a 4th grader imposter since he's never had the best handwriting. We decided he's going to learn to write his name in cursive so he can have a proper signature. Other than that, they type or text everything.

My now-12th grader learned in 3rd.
My now-9th grader and now-7th grader never learned. All went to the same ES.

Did a memo go out telling schools not to bother?

In FCPS - no. They did some worksheets of individual letters in 4th but that didn’t teach them cursive. I taught them at home with Learning Without Tears (used to be Handwriting without Tears).

My kids learned cursive in Montessori school, not FCPS, but my son forgot his and his signature is a print scrawl that looks like a 3 year old writing their name for the 1st time. He is in high school. Daughter has perfect, neat handwriting. I wonder how many boys out there have neat handwriting.

Cursive is not currently required in Virginia. But more states like California are making it mandatory again.

So who knows if cursive instruction will become prioritized in the future. While most parents in this day and age feel that penmanship is not at all important, the latest science, backed by those in tech (Silicon Valley) interestingly, supports cursive instruction to develop necessary cognitive skills.

Yes, my kids practiced cursive quite a bit in 3rd grade at Greenbriar East elementary school. Of course, that was over 5 years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Why would they? Maybe to sign their names? Docusign baby.

So they can read cursive.

+1. My 4th grader’s writing teacher leaves comments in cursive and he can’t read any of them. I have translate them.

Anonymous wrote:No. Why would they? Maybe to sign their names? Docusign baby.

So they can read cursive.