Shunned in computer age, cursive makes a comeback in California
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[January 27, 2024]
By Daniel Trotta
FULLERTON, California (Reuters) - A generation of children who learned
to write on screens is now going old school.
Starting this year, California grade school students are required to
learn cursive handwriting, after the skill had fallen out of fashion in
the computer age.
Assembly Bill 446, sponsored by former elementary school teacher Sharon
Quirk-Silva and signed into law in October, requires handwriting
instruction for the 2.6 million Californians in grades one to six,
roughly ages 6 to 12, and cursive lessons for the "appropriate" grade
levels - generally considered to be third grade and above.
Experts say learning cursive improves cognitive development, reading
comprehension and fine motor skills, among other benefits. Some
educators also find value in teaching children to read historic
documents and family letters from generations past.
At Orangethorpe Elementary School in Fullerton, about 30 miles (50 km)
southeast of Los Angeles, fourth- to sixth-grade teacher Pamela Keller
said she was already teaching cursive before the law took effect Jan. 1.
Some kids complain about the difficulty, to which Keller has a ready
answer.
"We tell them, well, it's going to make you smarter, it's going to make
some connections in your brain, and it's going to help you move to the
next level. And then they get excited because students want to be
smarter. They want to learn," Keller said.
While teaching a cursive lesson this week, Keller dished out gentle tips
to her students such as "Lighten up a little - do it really gently ...
An eraser is our best friend ... That loop is wonderful. I love that
loop."
During a recent visit to the school library, Keller said one student
grew animated upon seeing an image of the U.S. Constitution, written in
1787, remarking, "It's cursive!"
Several of Keller's students acknowledged the subject was difficult,
especially the letter Z, but enjoyed it nonetheless.
"I love it, because I just feel it's fancier how to write, and it's fun
to learn new letters," said Sophie Guardia, a 9-year-old in the fourth
grade.
In teacher Nancy Karcher's class, the reaction from third-graders ranged
from "It's fun" and "It's pretty" to "Now I can read my mom's writing"
and "It's for my secrets."
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Upper multi-aged teacher of grades 4 to 6 at Orangethorpe Elementary
School, Pamela Keller, teaches students cursive writing at
Orangethorpe Elementary School, in Fullerton, California, U.S.
January 23, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Blake
CURSIVE COMEBACK
As computer keyboards and tablets proliferated, cursive faded. In
2010, the national Common Core education standards were published to
help prepare students for college. Cursive was left out.
"They stopped teaching kids how to form any letters at all. Teacher
colleges are not preparing teachers to teach handwriting," said
Kathleen Wright, founder of the Handwriting Collective, a nonprofit
promoting handwriting instruction.
But cursive is making a comeback. California became the 22nd state
to require cursive handwriting and the 14th to enact a cursive
instruction bill since 2014, according to Lauren Gendill of the
National Conference of State Legislatures. Five states have
introduced cursive bills so far in 2024.
Leslie Zoroya, project director for reading language arts at the Los
Angeles County Office of Education, said research has shown that
learning cursive promotes several skills that link together and
improve childhood development.
"You're using different neural networks when you're doing cursive
rather than printing. And so it's creating those pathways in your
brain. It also helps with the retention of information, how letters
are formed. As you're creating the letter, you're thinking about the
sound that letter makes and how does it connect to the next letter,"
Zoroya said.
Quirk-Silva said she was inspired to sponsor the bill after a 2016
meeting with the Jesuit-educated former Governor Jerry Brown, who,
when he learned the recently re-elected assembly member was a
teacher, immediately told her: "You need to bring back cursive
writing."
Technically, cursive was still alive. California's standards had
cursive writing goals, but Quirk-Silva said instruction was flagging
and inconsistent.
"The hope of the legislation is that by the time students leave
sixth grade, they would be able to read and write it," Quirk-Silva
said.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Donna Bryson and Sandra
Maler)
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