A friend told me her daughter and another Catholic school attendee used cursive at summer camp to write code messages because the other kids couldn't read it. At first I was shocked but realized that by Jr. High (these girls were 6th/7th grade) even kids who got a basic instruction probably forgot it if they don't use it regularly.

Another friend works in Archives and said she regularly sees school groups that cannot read the documents in her collection.

I just thought the first situation was funny. The second one is sad.

A little in 2nd, a little in 3rd and a little in 4th. Never full on instruction and always an afterthought. Only 1 teacher required it among 3 classes at the school in 4th. One of the better DCPS schools in NW. My son has not learned and it is now slowing down his notetaking in middle school.

My brother was infuriated to discover that at his Connecticut ES that the teachers don't teach it at all, but just D'Nealian printing. Most school districts are dropping it: http://abcnews.go.com/US/end-cursive/story?id=12749517

My son can't read cursive either, so I have to print any notes I leave for him.

started toward end of 2nd grade, full on teaching handwriting in 3rd grade.
Montgomery County Catholic School.

Anonymous wrote:Second grade, private school. It never went well for DS, so he has used a laptop in class since then.

I think cursive is great if your kid can do it; mine could not. Fortunately, we have other means of written communication available to us today.

That's an OT issue.

Have you child evaluated if you haven't done so already.

3rd grade
Catholic school

I am a public school teacher, and my kids can barely keep up on tests b/c they print. It's very laborious - and quite sad.

I would never allow that to happen to my children.

Montessori teacher here. At my Montessori school (Primary Classroom) we teach cursive.

Started introducing cursive 2nd grade private. 3rd grade learning it more and required to use it frequently in homework assignements. Spelling tests have been in cursive since late fall. I hear some schools won't do spelling tests in cursive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is not in school yet, but I am a little shocked to hear that it is taught so late overall, rather than the first and only way to write, since you don't need to learn to write print, if you learn cursive. You can switch to print automatically later, it appears like a double effort for the child the way they are doing it now.

Learning to print is already a challenge for many kindergarteners, and it's easier than cursive.

It's actually not easier for many children. My DD's OT says many kids who have problems printing turn out to do well with cursive. This has been true for both of my children.

Easier for the teachers too.

Anonymous wrote:My DC is not in school yet, but I am a little shocked to hear that it is taught so late overall, rather than the first and only way to write, since you don't need to learn to write print, if you learn cursive. You can switch to print automatically later, it appears like a double effort for the child the way they are doing it now.

Learning to print is already a challenge for many kindergarteners, and it's easier than cursive.

Second grade, private school. It never went well for DS, so he has used a laptop in class since then.

I think cursive is great if your kid can do it; mine could not. Fortunately, we have other means of written communication available to us today.

K, private school. Seems to work very well for the extensive amounts of writing the kids do in-class throughout elementary school. Of course many kids are doing homework, etc., on computers by middle school, but without cursive, they will be reduced to block printing all written work throughout elementary school, or until they have laptops for use at home and at school.

I was fully writing cursive in first grade, but we did a ton of the 'cursive letter drawing', in uppercase and lowercase, on these huge papers with several horizontal lines in Kindergarten. I remember it vividly, because it was fun, like painting. It felt "artistic" doing it. I never *learned* print, and like you, I adopted a mixed/blended handwriting style in High School. This was in the late 1970s also.

What worries me is that, while in my classes in elementary school I remember all kids writing cursive exclusively, several PPs indicated that their kids now are finding that only 3 in the class use it, or they are uncomfortable using it. I think it is a very important skill, the basis for writing fast and note taking.

We're not there yet, but handwriting is one of the things that I feel I'm going to have to teach my DC myself or hire someone to help with since they don't emphasize it in the public schools. Are there any classes or camps for handwriting that are recommended?

PP, out of curiosity, when did you learn cursive? I learned it in 3rd grade, sometime in the 1970s. I'm not saying that timing is "right" or "wrong" but it isn't inconsistent with many of the responses in this thread.

Beginning in high school, I adopted a half print/half cursive approach in my handwriting. I think a lot of people blend the two. I mean, who properly writes an uppercase Q in cursive?