OK... how much does handwriting matter?
I can't believe I'm saying that, given the fact that I'm a writer by profession, still love to get handwritten letters and think good cursive handwriting is beautiful. But I'm also having a bit of trouble getting TOO worked up when my 8-year-old's teachers say he needs to work on his handwriting. Granted, he really does... his letters can be huge and sloppy and without lined paper, his sentences inevitably curve downward. We will keep working on it. At the same time, the kid is already a master on the computer. He can open documents, type, save his work and print it. As I write this, he's on our other computer immersed in his school report on tigers. I can say without a doubt that he's much more into this assignment than he would be if he had to write it out by hand. What do others think? How hard should teachers and parents be on kids who are lousy pen-wielders, and how much time should they devote to the problem? Note that I'm not talking about the ability to use correct grammar, write complete sentences and express an opinion well... just the physical act of writing.
new style of printing confusing for little ones
i think that cursive should be taught, though being graded on handwriting is silly. one of the comments above mentions the "curvy" style of printing that they're teaching now. my son really struggled having to relearn the letters during kndergarten. i taught him the printed alphabet, but the style the schools teach now is much more like cursive. the letters are completely different than anything you ever see printed in a book, and even now as a first grader, my son still has problems telling the difference between "h" and "k" when he reads. i know the idea is that it will make it easier to learn cursive later on, but shouldn't we be more focussed on learning to read than learning to write pretty?
does style matter?
I think legible handwriting is important, no matter how much we text and type, and it should be worked on with children (and some adults!). But I don't think the style matters so much - cursive, capitals, italics, straight or curvy. My daughters learned to print in one manner when they went to elementary school and my son, a few years later, is now learning a totally different style, kind of curvy, to prepare him for cursive. What? He's 4, and even I don't use proper cursive. My handwriting, while very legible, thank you, is a mixture of cursive and printing, but I couldn't recall how to write a proper cursive "G" if you paid me.
It's like the "new math" a different style, new way of working the problem, different terminology ... my daughter, exasperated, tells me I'm doing it wrong, when I try to help her. But we get the same exact answer and isn't that what matters?
I say as long as his handwriting is neat and legible, then it shouldn't be graded, the content is what counts.
Michelle Galvez
Community Editor
I think that cursive should
I think that cursive should be taught through 5th grade every school, but with that said, I think that children who have a writing issue (like one of mine), need to be excused from worrying about getting graded on their work based on handwriting. Computers have certainly changed how we write, and I am a believer in spell-check! Glad you are not too concerned about your son's handwriting.