I can understand some of the points being made. Times are definitely changing and you are pretty much required to type all assignments now, yet I love cursive. I'm glad I taught my girls how to write in cursive. In my own humble opinion I don't think it should be removed from schools, but in todays world, there is no telling what will be.

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“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”
― Mother Teresa

I have been trying to teach dd cursive first. I even bought the Cursive First curriculum and everything, but dd has struggled with it the whole time and hates it. Meanwhile, she has taught herself to write in print, including her name, from just copying things she sees around her. I had been trying to teach her to write her name in cursive and one day she just sat down and wrote her name in print! She flat out said she does not want to write in cursive. Ds has been doing cursive here and there, but he doesn't write it enough to really remember it. Kind of like learning a language and then forgetting it from lack of use. I am asking myself, how important is it for them to learn it when they're not interested in it and print is all around them? I know they need to be able to read cursive and sign their name, but beyond that? I myself, am bad at cursive and I survive in the world. My signature is a scribble and I am able to read cursive, which I rarely have to do.

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Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).

As long as they can read the Coca-Cola logo, and the Budweiser logo - all the rest is optional ; )

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

Anna, I'm SHOCKED!

Truly, cursive is a lost art. But, that's just it. It's artistic. Maybe if you taught it more as a "secret code" or a foundation for an art project here and there, the result would be the same?

I am known in our small circle as having nice handwriting. I've even had checkers comment on my checks. But, I didn't learn to write nicely until jr hi and that was because I decided to work at it. The cursive writing from a century ago began with slanted lines. First you made slanted lines that all went the same direction and were the same size. / / / / Then you did loops the same way, etc. It's called Spencerian writing, I think. It's an art.

I had a friend that used to make art work out of your name in cursive. He'd write the name and then make loops and squiggles and things all around it on the page until you couldn't quite make out the name unless you "found" it.

Just some ideas.

My son is a lefty. We tried to help him improve his cursive with generic-OTC workbooks at home (he went to public school until high school). They didnt help, he even prints his signature today.

My oldest dd wasnt getting anywhere with those workbooks, either. What helped her was a calligraphy set. When she wants to she has a beautiful hand, she loves to create cards with her calligraphy.

I was determined to give my youngest a good start at beautiful cursive. I bought those Mott Media Spencerian workbooks http://www.mottmedia.com/pages/publicat ... ub=spencer and she diligently worked through them from 2nd-5th grade, a couple of lines everyday. When she went to private school for 7th grade they said she was the only one who could write beautifully. Now a sophomore, she still writes beautifully. They were a great investment.

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"...with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

Thanks for a nice link, Briva! The price is pretty reasonable, too. I think that's the method my Mom learned (I think I learned by Palmer - which I found inferior)

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http://stuffedveggies.blogspot.com/

I got handwriting without tears, and it had several ways to do cursive and dd learned it very quickly, like 3rd grade. she writes small like her dad, but she could do it very well back then.
Most banks will not take a signature unless it is in cursive and same with lawyers with any kind of legal document.

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Linda, it's not true about legal documents. You can sign an X with witnesses and it is good. My son writes his signature in print (he doesn't use cursive at all) and nobody has a problem with it.

My dh prints his signature, too.

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Mom to Christian (13), Saphira (10), Xavier (5), and Adrian (2).