Importance of Penmanship - Cursive

• Recorded discoveries of scientists and inventors
• Charted the course of many explorers
• Wars have begun and ended at its wave
• Doctrines in almost all religious have been inscribed at its tip
• Recorded the genius of composure and artists alike
• More lovers have succumbed at its tip than any of cupid’s arrows
• It has been a vital part of our humanity . . .

Yet, for the first time in history, the value of this tool hangs in the balance. I thought that was a really interesting talk and a great introduction to what we are talking about here today. Cursive writing is all around us as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Examples of cursive writing in ads.

We see it everywhere. By not teaching cursive writing, we run the risk of our children not being able to read historical documents or common items as above. 

History of Handwriting

The Greeks were the first to develop paper for communication, but it was the Romans who first used writing for correspondence. We still use Roman numerals. With the fall of the Roman Empire, monks kept writing alive by transcribing Christian text. They used something called Carolingian minuscule. It was also the introduction to grammar. They started using the capitalization and lowercase letters, punctuation, and spacing. In the colonial period of the United States (1600-1800s), writing was so highly esteemed that schools were devoted to the sole purpose of teaching it as an art to professionals. At this time, bookkeeper Platt Rogers Spencer created the Spencerian method. He based this off the beauty of God, with strokes resembling flowing lines of streams and rolling clouds. This type of script encouraged whole arm movement versus just wrist and hand movements. Now, people could write all day long and not ever have writer's cramp, which I thought was interesting. The logo for the Coca Cola bottle is still in the original Spencerian method. In the late 1800s to 1930s, Austin Palmer created the Palmer method. This method dominated the schools with about 3/4 of all US children using it. It was built for speed, drilled kinesthetic memory, and used full arm movements. This was the precursor to D'Nealian. By the early 1900s, Zaner-Bloser became popular and dominated the classrooms for most of the 20th century. The Zanerian College of Handwriting was highly esteemed during this time. Still today, there are calligraphists that go back to that method in order to learn their calligraphy as an art form. At the same time, an English educator, named Marjorie Wise, brought manuscript to the United States. It exploded because it could be taught at a younger age due to its simple form and less need for developed fine motor skills. This is also the first time that reading and writing were taught simultaneously.

Technology Versus Handwriting 

In 1867, Christopher Latham Sholes invented the typewriter, but it was not until the 1980s that word processors and personal computers largely displaced typewriters in the Western world. Penmanship became devalued and ignored in elementary schools. And of course with increased technology, cursive met its doom as we all have seen. Typing and technology are fundamental in the 21st century. I think it is essential, but not at the expense of handwriting. Schools are leaning on technology, but we need to be good stewards of both. I am going to give you some reasons to advocate for that as well. Technology is not the direct enemy of cursive, but instead it is our dependence on technology. As we depend on technology, we may soon find that we have created the most technologically advanced way of creating illiteracy. Research says that there could be potential harmful effects of transitioning from print to cursive. It led some researchers to question whether the two writing styles were even essential, and in turn, they advocated manuscript because it could be taught at younger ages. Most experts agree that the students' skill and fluency is more important than the handwriting style. Currently in the United States, 41 out of 50 states no longer require any formal handwriting instruction, print or cursive. With more time being spent for standardized tests and financial cuts in education, we often see cursive as one of the first programs to go.

Benefits of Cursive Writing

There are many benefits to cursive writing that I would love for you to advocate to administrators and teachers. Fluent cursive writing predicts high-level spelling and composure skills, more than manuscript writing. Higher writing quality correlates with a greater density of brain cells, which then promotes higher ability for phonological decoding, therefore making reading and writing more meaningful. With the different tactile movements of handwriting, the brain is more engaged in more areas and information is engraved in the brain. This is not true with typing. In the first webinar in this series, I discussed a study where they took students and had them write and then type. The areas of the brain engaged during writing cursive were the same areas of the brain used for higher-level thinking in adults. When the group of students were typing, that area of the brain did not light up. Writing also boosts memory. Long hand note takers engage in more cognitive processing than laptop note takers. When you are handwriting notes, you pick out the important parts and so that you can study them more efficiently. This was a study published by the Psychological Science. 

Advocating Cursive Writing

Studies show that tests completed in cursive receive higher scores than those completed in manuscript. I thought that was really interesting. Learning cursive helps develop reading, communication, and fine motor skills. Researchers have conducted brain scans on children learning cursive, and have discovered that the different parts of the brain are the same as the adults with the higher reasoning skills. On the contrary, poor handwriting has led to lower grades in school. It can cause physical pain and mental distress, and with an inappropriate grip, cramps and decreased writing speed are evident. Another thing that I have heard in practice, but I have not confirmed in the research, is that with an inappropriate grip, you have a greater risk of obtaining arthritis as an older adult.

Teach Cursive Writing First?

Some Montessori programs in my area teach their preschoolers and kindergartners cursive first. All of this seems contrary to why manuscript came in and exploded in the first place. Yet, if we really think about it, cursive is often easier for children to learn. There is a nice flow of letters and words. And because of the flow, the word spacing is easy and more natural. There are fewer types of strokes for making letters and fewer starting points for making letters. Beginning with printing means that the students then have to transition to another system, whereas if you just start cursive first, then maybe you do not have to really learn print.

Cursive and Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is a combination of fine motor difficulty, the inability to visualize letters, and the inability to remember motor patterns needed to make these forms. I have had a lot of success in moving a child with dysgraphia from manuscript that is illegible to cursive. I have also seen a child's self esteem increase because of it. There are many advantages of cursive for those with dysgraphia. One, it eliminates the necessity of picking up the pencil and deciding where to place it after each stroke. There are fewer reversed letters, which can be very problematic for those who have dysgraphia. It eliminates word spacing problems and gives words a flow and rhythm that enhances learning, and eliminates transition from manuscript to cursive. However, there are obstacles of course to cursive.

Obstacles to Cursive

Technology Advances

One obstacle to cursive writing mentioned before is technology. This is not found just in school, but also at home where there are a lot of video games and too much TV. There is not enough fine motor play needed for good handwriting, manuscript or cursive. Early on, we have preschoolers focused on reading and not enough focus or time spent on creating and using their fine motor skills. Then of course, computers and tablets are taking over the classrooms.

Environmental Challenges

A child needs good core control and good positioning in a chair to be able to write well. There is often limited outdoor play in neighborhoods. Today, there is more structured play with activities like soccer, baseball, dance, gymnastics, and piano lessons. There also may be limited playground equipment due to liability issues. I had six schools on my caseload this year and only one of them had swings. All of the rest of them had climbing equipment only. We are also seeing less and less variety of playground equipment in city parks because of the liability issues. And again, there is limited time spent in fine motor play.

Curriculum Challenges

There is less formal handwriting instruction in today's classrooms. In fact, many school do not even teach a formal cursive writing program. I see a teacher here or there that does provide it in the classroom, but often it is not a school-wide or county-wide initiative. When there is some cursive instruction, it is usually found in the third grade. Surveys conducted in elementary schools say that those that are teaching cursive are only doing it at the end of second or third grade, and even then, they are really only spending about 10 to 12 minutes teaching it per day. I am not saying that you should spend a ton of time at one sitting. However, by third grade and what I am seeing is more test prep than there is cursive writing prep. It is a disservice in my opinion. Due to spending so much time on standardized assessments, we are only giving them the knowledge to print, whereas some students may benefit from cursive handwriting as it is easier or they have dysgraphia. This may allow them to complete testing quicker and finish in time using cursive. Some of the other curriculum challenges are of course that preschool is not mandatory. There is limited fine motor engagement in the elementary classrooms. When I was in kindergarten, scissor skills, crafts, and manipulative play were what kindergarten and first grade were all about. Nowadays, increased time is spent on standardized test prep and as well as increased peer collaboration in the classroom and decreased whole group instruction. We see a lot of peer teaching peer versus teacher teaching peers. I am not sure that I want another second grader teaching my second grader how to write cursive. Finally, as discussed earlier, there are education cuts that affect handwriting programs.

Cursive Writing Programs

Here are some of the programs that I have used for cursive writing programs.

Zaner-Bloser

Zaner-Bloser cursive is the most commonly used handwriting program for manuscript writing in schools (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Zaner-Bloser overview.

It is Common Core approved, and this is the program that my county has adopted. If you want to teach a formalized handwriting program in your class, then Zaner-Bloser is what you have to use. This is what you would use for cursive as well. The lessons follow a clear three-step instructional plan; model, practice, and evaluate. This can be taught in fewer than 15 minutes a day. It is recommended for grades 2nd through 4th. There are visual boundaries, including two solid lines with a dotted middle line. I like that it includes four-color keys at the end of each page in your workbook, where it asks you to check the shape, the size, spacing, and slant of your cursive writing. It gives them their own writing rubric to go back to self-monitor and self-check their work. Figure 3 shows what it looks like.

Figure 3. Zaner-Bloser example.

This is pretty typical cursive, and the cursive that I learned as a child. The workbooks are very colorful and engaging. Figure 4 shows a page for individual letters.

Figure 4. Zaner-Bloser example of letter formation.

Here they give you an actual physical demonstration of the shape; the inner curve, the down curve, the over curve, and the slant. I thought that was neat that they gave bodily positions to learn that concept. They also give you "keys" for shape and size. As it goes along, you write more sentences, and they give you blank pages and a topic to practice writing. 

Handwriting Without Tears

Handwriting Without Tears is definitely one of my favorites (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. Handwriting Without Tears overview.

I am partial to it for print and cursive. My son, at the end of kindergarten, expressed interest in learning to write cursive. Over the summer, we worked together on a cursive handwriting workbook from Handwriting Without Tears. Although it was recommended for a 3rd grade level, he was able to direct himself and learn cursive. It is beautiful (see Figure 6).

Figure 6. Son's work with Handwriting Without Tears.

He went into second grade writing cursive. Unfortunately, the teacher did not want him to write cursive because none of the other students could read it as there is so much peer collaboration that goes on. We have had to practice it at home for him to be able to maintain it. This style is an easier transition from print to cursive because it is not as loopy and curly as Zaner-Bloser. The lesson plans incorporate letter review with words and sentences. Activity pages combine handwriting instruction with paragraph, poem, composition, and language arts activities. It is approved by Common Core for kindergarten through 5th for manuscript, and then of course 2nd-4th for the cursive. There is a technology link for lesson extensions and support. Cross-curricular connections, and ELL and support strategies are provided to reinforce a lesson.

Here are some samples of what this workbook looks like in Figure 7.

Figure 7. Handwriting Without Tears example.

It also uses two line visual boundaries. This is actually my son's workbook that he did in kindergarten. I like it too because it is left friendly. If you are a lefty, you have a sample to the right to copy from as the left side may be covered by your hand. There are also examples of writing sentences. They have additional writing workbooks that allow the student to practice in 4th and 5th grade (see Figure 8).

Figure 8. Additional resources for Handwriting Without Tears.