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The swirling lines from Linden Bateman's pen have been conscripted into a national fight to keep cursive writing in American classrooms.
Cursive. Penmanship. Handwriting.
In years gone by, it helped distinguish the literate from the illiterate.
But now, in the digital age, people are increasingly communicating by computer and smartphone. No handwritten signature necessary.
Call it a sign of the times. When the new Common Core educational standards were crafted, penmanship classes were dropped. But at least seven of the 45 states that adopted the standards are fighting to restore the cursive instruction.
THE ARGUMENT FOR CURSIVE
"Modern research indicates that more areas of the human brain are engaged when children use cursive handwriting than when they keyboard," said Bateman, who handwrites 125 ornate letters each year. "We're not thinking this through. It's beyond belief to me that states have allowed cursive to slip from the standards."
WHY WAS IT DROPPED?
State leaders who developed the Common Core — a set of preferred K-12 course offerings for public schools — omitted cursive for a host of reasons, including an increasing need for children in a digital-heavy age to master computer keyboarding and evidence that even most adults use some hybrid of classic cursive and print in everyday life.
"If you just stop and think for a second about what are the sorts of skills that people are likely to be using in the future, it's much more likely that keyboarding will help students succeed in careers and in school than it is that cursive will," said Morgan Polikoff, an assistant professor of K-12 policy and leadership at the University of Southern California.
THE MOVEMENT TO HAVE TEACHING CURSIVE RESTORED
States that adopted Common Core aren't precluded from deviating from the standards. But in the world of education, where classroom time is limited and performance stakes are high, optional offerings tend to get sidelined in favor of what's required.
That's why at least seven states — California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Utah — have moved to keep the cursive requirement. Legislation passed in North Carolina and elsewhere couples cursive with memorization of multiplication tables as twin "back to basics" mandates.
Cursive advocates cite recent brain science that indicates the fluid motion employed when writing script enhances hand-eye coordination and develops fine motor skills, in turn promoting reading, writing and cognition skills.
They further argue that scholars of the future will lose the ability to interpret valuable cultural resources — historical documents, ancestors' letters and journals, handwritten scholarship — if they can't read cursive. If they can't write it, how will they communicate from unwired settings like summer camp or the battlefield?
"The Constitution of the United States is written in cursive. Think about that," Bateman said.
More at Link
I never realized that schools had stopped teaching cursive until six years ago when I started volunteering at our elementary school. I have to say, when I write my signature it's a mix of cursive and printing.
Cursive. Penmanship. Handwriting.
In years gone by, it helped distinguish the literate from the illiterate.
But now, in the digital age, people are increasingly communicating by computer and smartphone. No handwritten signature necessary.
Call it a sign of the times. When the new Common Core educational standards were crafted, penmanship classes were dropped. But at least seven of the 45 states that adopted the standards are fighting to restore the cursive instruction.
THE ARGUMENT FOR CURSIVE
"Modern research indicates that more areas of the human brain are engaged when children use cursive handwriting than when they keyboard," said Bateman, who handwrites 125 ornate letters each year. "We're not thinking this through. It's beyond belief to me that states have allowed cursive to slip from the standards."
WHY WAS IT DROPPED?
State leaders who developed the Common Core — a set of preferred K-12 course offerings for public schools — omitted cursive for a host of reasons, including an increasing need for children in a digital-heavy age to master computer keyboarding and evidence that even most adults use some hybrid of classic cursive and print in everyday life.
"If you just stop and think for a second about what are the sorts of skills that people are likely to be using in the future, it's much more likely that keyboarding will help students succeed in careers and in school than it is that cursive will," said Morgan Polikoff, an assistant professor of K-12 policy and leadership at the University of Southern California.
THE MOVEMENT TO HAVE TEACHING CURSIVE RESTORED
States that adopted Common Core aren't precluded from deviating from the standards. But in the world of education, where classroom time is limited and performance stakes are high, optional offerings tend to get sidelined in favor of what's required.
That's why at least seven states — California, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Utah — have moved to keep the cursive requirement. Legislation passed in North Carolina and elsewhere couples cursive with memorization of multiplication tables as twin "back to basics" mandates.
Cursive advocates cite recent brain science that indicates the fluid motion employed when writing script enhances hand-eye coordination and develops fine motor skills, in turn promoting reading, writing and cognition skills.
They further argue that scholars of the future will lose the ability to interpret valuable cultural resources — historical documents, ancestors' letters and journals, handwritten scholarship — if they can't read cursive. If they can't write it, how will they communicate from unwired settings like summer camp or the battlefield?
"The Constitution of the United States is written in cursive. Think about that," Bateman said.
More at Link
I never realized that schools had stopped teaching cursive until six years ago when I started volunteering at our elementary school. I have to say, when I write my signature it's a mix of cursive and printing.
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