Pens: In Our View: Learning cursive still important by Spectrum Editorial Board: The school bell has rung, and the kids are back in school learning “reading and arithmetic,” but are they still learning to write? More specifically, are they learning handwriting? Or is this low-level skill even necessary in a high-tech 21st century classroom? In this era of rapidly evolving technology, does it matter if our kids are able to form letters on paper when, instead, they can simply touch, click, select and print? For most of the last century, students were required to become multilingual by hand, with teachers focusing on legibility, neatness and strict motor control. Penmanship — especially in the earliest years of the 20th century — was considered central to their studies. More recently, however, handwriting, in many U.S. states, has been deemed unimportant — even irrelevant — to education. The basic skills of spelling and grammar have been de-emphasized, but handwriting, including practice in the classroom and as homework, is nearing the point of “cursive illiteracy.” Apple founder Steve Jobs is said to have been an accomplished calligrapher before he was a technology wizard, which might explain why many fonts are script — because he liked the look of words connected by soft strokes. European students learn cursive from the cradle, while students in the United States learn to print before they are introduced to cursive letters. Studies are inconclusive as to the strength of one course of action over another, but throw technology in the mix, and our children are rapidly becoming “handwriting handicapped.” The Utah Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy identifies the importance of writing is “to build a foundation for college and career readiness … to learn to use writing as a way of offering and supporting opinions, demonstrating understanding of the subjects they are studying, and conveying real and imagined experiences and events. Students learn to communicate clearly … and to develop the capacity to build knowledge on a subject through research projects and to respond analytically to literary and informational sources. To meet these goals, students must devote significant time and effort to writing ... .” But there’s no mention of the art of handwriting in the Core Standards. Studies show the process of learning how to form letters improves brain function and makes students think better. Research also has found writers who lack fluency in handwriting may not be able to get their ideas on the page fast enough to keep up with their thoughts — even when the page is a computer screen. Nationally, underachievement in writing has been identified as one of the leading causes of school dropout, grade retention and failure to graduate from high school or college. Elementary school children in the Washington County School District still learn cursive handwriting through a program called “Treasures,” but only on a very limited basis, and with little or no classroom time for practice. In 50 years, is it going to matter whether little Johnny can write — or even identify — a cursive a, b or c? Maybe not, unless they want to be able to research old manuscripts, handwritten personal histories, the U. S. Constitution in its original form or a love note from Grandma! For the foreseeable future, we must continue to value the ability to write in all forms. Because writing, defined as the ability to coordinate the muscles in a hand, is also an important thought process, involving research, imagination, creativity and the joy of coming up with a personal product others will read and enjoy. Is it possible handwriting might soon go the way of the dinosaurs, 8-track tapes or the Edsel? We hope not because it is an important form of art and learning. There are even several apps for that, including some for children!
Posted on: Fri, 15 Aug 2014 23:21:12 +0000
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