Betty,
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Do you write in cursive very much? I do — almost every day. I’ve read we’re more apt to remember things if we write them rather than type them, and it seems to work for me.
Do you think kids should be forced to learn cursive? I remember the hours of handwriting practice when I was a kid, so I understand the argument that school time is better spent on other things. But I like the idea of thinking of cursive as a secret code, so it might be fun to turn learning it into a game. Give out the clue sheet, of course.
I keep thinking of Charlemange, who was highly educated, learned to read, and kept writing tablets and notebooks under his pillow so that he could practice whenever he had spare time. Apparently he never really mastered the writing part.
So I think it’s not a bad idea to expose kids to cursive and to give them the tools they need if they want to learn to write it. What do you think?
August 19, 2026
I do write cursive. I’ve often wondered when writing something if there would be someone who wouldn’t be able to red it. When I sent a card to a young person not too long go I started to write in cursive but realized she might not be able to read it so I printed it instead
🙂
I do write cursive. And I have mostly gone paperless (my penmanship has gone to crap), but my important work to dos are written. True that I remember them better that way!
🙂
…my printing is awful and my cursive is even worse.
I had a friend in college who had to borrow our notes because he couldn’t read his own handwriting. 🙂
Well, it is unbelievable to me that a lot of states do not teach cursive!! How do people write anything when no computer is around? Just printing takes so much longer. Seems kids are learning keyboards in place of cursive. Yes, I write a lot of lists and notes. And cursive makes them go fast. It is true that we remember things better when we write them because of osmosis.
I looked it up. Apparently 26 states have been going back to teaching cursive. I hope they don’t grade on penmanship any more! As long as it’s legible.
100% agree! All the same, these days the essential tremor in my writing hand is so bad, I usually print.
Sometimes — even in Bible study — I’ll write “code” to myself in the form of Gregg shorthand. Remember that?
I never took a course in shorthand, but I taught myself a little from a book. It seems that would be a good thing to know.
All I know is that we get thank you notes from kids in the family and you would think they are in grade school, not graduated from college. Yes, I do think they should be taught cursive.
I think it’s a good skill to have, as long as they grade on understanding and legibility, not penmanship.
I feel lucky to have learned cursive.
Same here. 🙂
I’m trying to remember the last time I hand wrote anything that was not just my signature. Do people who don’t learn cursive not have signatures? Some forms ask you to print then write your name.
I was wondering about that. I have more trouble with having to print my name than write my signature.