States are beginning to reject the idea that kids can do without learning cursive handwriting.
Most importantly from our perspective is many historical documents like the Constitution and Declaration of Independence are written in cursive. If future citizens can’t read cursive they can’t read the Constitution in it’s original form and will be forced to rely on “translations.”
CTV News reports:
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
Bateman, a 72-year-old state representative from Idaho, says cursive conveys intelligence and grace, engages creativity and builds brain cells.
“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.”
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 favour 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.
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