Do I REALLY have to teach my dd to write in cursive?

[Jen in SC]

My dd with a writing disability (and other LDs as well) is making great gains in several areas. And it's probably time to teach cursive, but why? So she can sign her name? So she can read a letter someone writes to her in cursive? I think it would benefit her more to teach typing.

Sigh...can I just skip this? There are SO MANY AREAS that need our attention and I'd love to just not mess with cursive. :eyes: DH kind of agrees, but I don't want to make life any harder for her down the road.

[LillianD]

Skip it! I don't even know that they are teaching cursive in schools anymore, most homeschoolers I know don't bother teaching it. My daughter takes a cursive class at our co-op, but I don't really have any plans to teach my son cursive.

[Jen in SC]

:kiss:

Maybe I will teach her to sign her name. :lol:

[Rachel Jane]

Gwen in TX has some info about why it is good for your brain to write in cursive.

At any rate, make sure she can read cursive.

[Esther-Alabama]

John Henry "knows" how to write in cursive, but it takes him a really, really, really LONG time (can I add another REALLY!), so he does not. We are focused on keyboarding skills for him now.

[Jennifer in MS]

I'm new to HS so take this with a grain of salt. My DD9 has a horrible time with handwriting. We started using Handwriting With Out Tears cursive and she is actually doing much better than she does in print. Of course we are only on the first few lessons but she isn't crying when I bring it out. Yes, I thought it was odd the first time I read someone used HWOT and the crying stopped but it really did happen at my house.

Now if I could find something like that for grammar for me.

[Lisalyn]

Jen,
My dd12 is in PS. He had one teacher that wrote everything on the board in cursive. He said most of the kids in his class struggled to read it. :lol: I know it's probably a good thing to teach-we used HWOT and my 9 yr old uses it in OT in PS-but I think the keyboard has taken over. In your shoes I might just get the HWOT cursive workbook since it is so inexpensive, and just do it casually.
ETA: Casually, as in, hand her the workbook and say, "Do one page". :lol: It really is pretty self explanatory and great for kids who struggle.

[Luisa]

A while ago I read that a homeschooling boy got to college and was asked to hand write, in cursive, a report and he had never learned how-though he was able to quickly pick it up-the mom was mortified. It's the only reason I'm teaching it:D

[Jen in SC]

Well, I do have HWOT already, so I guess it wouldn't be too painful to pull it out and just do one page at a time. I know it's a simple program but believe me, NOTHING is easy with this child :lol:

We had a tutor that was going to teach her but he never got that far and now we are with a different tutor...but just stopped the language arts stuff and moved on to math help. :crazy: So I guess it's up to me. :p

[Hollie in SC]

:group:

[Lisalyn]

Well, I do have HWOT already, so I guess it wouldn't be too painful to pull it out and just do one page at a time. I know it's a simple program but believe me, NOTHING is easy with this child :lol:



Jen, for the record....I understand. :group: My dd is dyslexic/dysgraphic. She struggled with writing anything. She still (at 19) has a funky grip when writing-she puts her pinky on her pencil! She only used cursive to sign her name-everything else is print. And it hasn't been an issue at all. I'm satisfied that I gave her a bit of exposure. :)

[Jen in SC]

Lisa, that is incredibly helpful and encouraging. I'll go for exposure unless she happens to love it. You've put me at ease. My girl has dyslexia/dysgraphia too so hearing from you that cursive isn't a huge issue just helped a bunch. :kiss:

[Jo in PRC]

Our youngest has many LDs and motor problems as a result of her brain tumor. Our education consultant recommended that we start cursive earlier for her. Guess what? She loved it...seemed easier for her than the printing. We do use penagains (http://www.penagain.com/) which make it easier for her to write without getting fatigued.

[stacy z]

obviously keyboarding is the way of the future. and all three of my dc stuggled to some degree with cursive, but i chose to teach it because it is still used in our society and it is a much more efficient/faster way to write (ie: note taking in high school or college, letter writing). i think it is important to know. so IMHO, i would give your dc enough of an exposure to cursive that they feel comfortable reading and writing it, even if they ultimately choose to print or type whatever they write in the future.

[Nedra]

No. You don't.

I remember spending years learning correct cursive in school. Now the only thing I am able to write in cursive is my name.

I don't think it is wrong to teach any child cursive, just don't consider it important.

[Jen in OK]

I agree with the others. I would give her some exposure to it, but I wouldn't sweat it. Dh got through high school, college, and medical school and the only thing he writes in cursive is his signature. I always told my 5th graders that I wanted to see their best handwriting where I could read it and let them choose whether it was print or cursive. I'm not sure if that was my decision to make, but I made it anyway.:D

[Rachel Jane]

From personal experience:
J can type like the wind. His writing style is to think it all through and then write. This was a problem when he took the SATs. What he wrote for his essay was good, but he didn't have time to finish. We've been practicing timed writing. Cursive is faster than printing most of the time.

[Susan A]

I taught college English for 11 years and definitely DID NOT want students to write in cursive!!!! Printing only or computer...that's it! Cursive is way too hard to read and grade!!!

Skip it...my 19 y/o son is in college and only writes his name in cursive.....no problemo!!

[katied]

Another vote for HWOT cursive here...my 8-year-old has PDD/Asperger and had a really tough time with learning manuscript...however, he is flying right through the cursive lessons. HWOT cursive really is VERY easy to read and very easy to teach. I found the teacher's manual to be extremely helpful for teaching cursive- I think it's around $6 or $7.

[Melissa C]

Is it now or never? I'd teach her to read it and let her learn to write her name, but you can always teach it to her later. Nothing says it has to be when she's 10 or whatever any more than anything else we teach!

[MarieD]

Definitely teacher it to her so she can read it. I have been to see museum exhibits that have had the signs entirely in cursive! There are some books that have cursive in them as well (Nate the Great comes to mind).

I taught my oldest cursive, had her work on it for the year, and let her know that as long as her wring was legible, I didn't care if she printed, wrote in cursive or a combination of the two. I am confident she can read it, and that is all that truly matters to me.

[Chris-AL]

Actually, for dyslexic students, cursive is much better for them to use. All the lower case cursive letters start at base line, so they don't have to think for EVERY single letter of a word, where to start. Our dyslexia Orton-Gillingham tester/tutor, and a well known dyslexia specialist at a conference, and the dyslexia school where my son is attending "summer reading camp" all agree. The school ONLY teaches cursive and keyboarding, no print.
I was instructed to use "Preventing Academic Failure Right Handed Cursive". This curriculum teaches all the lower cases with 5 different strokes and uses verbal prompts that you say when introducing the letters. My son has done really well with cursive. His cursive is beautiful and better than the print that he spent K-2 working on. Cursive also virtually eliminates letter reversals.
The continuity of writing words in cursive also helps them remember how to spell them.
I believe Diana King also has a cursive program especially for dyslexic students along the same lines.
www.epsbooks.com should sell both the PAF and Diana Kings writing programs.
Hope that helps.

[Chris-AL]

Trying to post a direct link:
http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?seriesonly=5125M
http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/products/details.cfm?seriesonly=5125M

Both programs are not expensive. Be sure to get the instruction booklet if you go with PAF, as that gives all the verbal prompts.

[April Marie]

it's required on one section of the SAT!
(i think this is very strange, but true)

my son said one boy in his classroom had no idea how to write in cursive
so the proctor just told him to print and "join" the letters together

[KristenS]

I do mildly regret not using cursive more once it stopped being required, because once I got married I had to learn all over again, to sign my new name. :) I still can't get it down pat ... way too many loops for one name.

(We've all done the initial tests for our baby names, and the bad-nickname tests ... anyone ever think to do a cursive test? LOL.)

I loved the story Muggie Maggie by Beverly Cleary ... she refuses to learn after a bad first day ... but her teachers help/trick her into learning to read it, at least. A bit high-handed, but still a fun read (for me as an adult) because I hated cursive too.

Now I get to learn it all over again for my kiddo ... I promised him I'd practice it too, to keep him company. Sigh.