Schools

Patch Poll: Should Children Still be Taught Cursive in School?

Educators are pointing to cursive's obsolescence; what do you think?

Illinois is one of 42 states no longer requiring elementary teachers to teach cursive writing, and in Elmhurst Unit District 205, the focus on teaching cursive will be shifted to a focus on keyboarding skills beginning in third grade.

District 205 is among many school districts that have adopted the Illinois Common Core Standards, a national program that outlines what skills students should be learning at each grade level. Within the standards is a provision for keyboard efficiency, but not one for cursive writing.

The district has not eliminated the teaching of cursive, but national trends are headed that way, according to the following announcement from District 205, which lays out its rationale for electronic keyboarding skills becoming the focus beginning in third grade:

Find out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"In recent years, the use of cursive writing in schools has dropped significantly. Fewer and fewer states put cursive writing in their required curriculum. In 2011, the writing test of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) required 8th and 11th graders to compose on computers, and 4th graders will follow suit in 2019. Schools are focusing on developing keyboard skills rather than cursive skills for several reasons, including the need to prepare students to function in a technologically advanced society, encourage elementary students to get familiar with writing using a computer keyboard and be comfortable enough using this medium to be successful in other curricular areas.

"Although emphasis will be on developing students' keyboard skills, elementary students will still receive manuscript handwriting instruction. District 205 has adopted the Zaner-Bloser Handwriting program, the most widely used penmanship program, to provide a consistent and coherent program across grade levels. Formal instruction of manuscript handwriting will be taught in kindergarten and first grades and practiced in subsequent grades through authentic writing products. Electronic keyboarding skills will be the focus in third through fifth grades.

"To assist students in recognizing and reading cursive writing, teachers will supply each student with a template of the alphabet written in cursive. Additionally, students will have cursive name plates on their desks to help them recognize their name in cursive, and will use a name template to practice writing their name."

Retired Elmhurst Principal Mary Ann Kalis has written a blog on the topic, available here.

Find out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here