Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Handwriting

30 Day Blogging Challenge

PROMPT January 24
Yesterday celebrated National Handwriting Day in the USA. How often do you still hand write anything substantial? Do you think the decline in children learning cursive writing will be a hindrance to their generation?

I will handwrite when I am stuck on a story idea. The connection of pen to paper creates a different feeling than merely typing on a computer. I also write by hand when I go to writing workshops. It is far easier to just carry a notebook and pen than it is to lug out my laptop and I can write faster than I type.

I still print if I want to be able to read my writing later.

As for learning to write cursive.... I don't think it will be a hindrance for children's future. Not much stuff gets handwritten anymore, but it is something worth knowing. Like a secret code!

When I team taught in a grade 3 / 4 class, my teaching partner did not want to teach cursive. There is so much curriculum to cover and being in a split grade made getting to everything overwhelming. I had one parent wanting her child to learn so I printed out workbook pages and sent them home for all my students to work on along with a note asking for their help in this area. The workbook pages were quite explicit in their demonstration of each letter formation. I did do a quick modeling at school on occasion for the more tricky letters, but for the most part I left it up to the parents - who are partners in their child's education to practice at home.