The lost art of cursive writing

Brody Spencer, 8, takes great effort to move his pencil on the paper. His strokes are slow and methodical. He’s not easily distracted. Who would have thought the letter L could be so mesmerizing?

Brody is a second-grader in Jeanette Scott’s classroom at Jefferson Elementary School in Princeton. The students have been working on cursive writing since late October.

Scott said the second-grade staff and administration is 100 percent in favor of continuing cursive writing in the curriculum. While she understands the art of cursive writing has been kicked to the curb at many suburban and metropolitan school districts, Scott said the Princeton Elementary educators are committed to keeping cursive writing.

“Our second-graders just love cursive. It’s something they’re so proud of,” Scott said, adding she allocates 15 minutes a day for three days each week for lessons on cursive writing. She begins teaching the lowercase letters, and then incorporates the uppercase letters into her teaching plan. Once all the letters are learned, she then integrates cursive writing into her spelling curriculum.

Scott touted some of the benefits of cursive writing, including the cognitive benefits students receive when they actually write something down versus keyboarding it.

Jefferson Princeton J.D. Orwig said the technological revolution has lessened “the demand for the formality of cursive writing,” however, the district has no plans to change their approach to it.

“I still think there’s something to be said (for cursive),” Orwig said. “It’s still an occupational and life skill that’s important.”

On the east side of Bureau County, Dalzell Grade School has discontinued teaching cursive writing to its students. Superintendent Dr. Bruce Bauer said technology has basically changed the way the school approaches things.

“Cursive writing just isn’t used anymore,” he said. “It’s out of date. Basically everything we do no longer uses paper and a pencil. It’s a skill that is no longer a life skill for kids.”

He said students do a lot of transcribing on the computer. And the district does work heavily on writing and printing.

“Schools are required to do so many things now, and basically, we have to prioritize now. It (cursive) is no one thing we emphasize,” Bauer said.

At Ohio Grade School, fourth-grade teacher Jill Thompson said cursive is initially introduced in second grade; it’s practiced in third grade, and by the last quarter of the school year, it’s used for most everything. And then the students proceed to Thompson’s fourth-grade class.

“I require it (cursive) from Day 1, except for spelling,” she said. “They write everything in cursive for me. I am a traditionalist ... I do a little handwriting practice with my students every morning. It takes five minutes.”

Thompson, who has taught for 30 years, said she’s seeing more and more articles about the benefits of writing versus keyboarding, including brain balance, recall and more.

“I’ve been at this a long time. I think it’s becoming a lost art, but it’s a way to set yourself apart. ... It’s important to have your own signature. I think it’s worth teaching,” she said.

Shelly Nauman is the curriculum director at John F. Kennedy School in Spring Valley. She said the district still teaches cursive writing in second grade, using the Zaner-Bloser curriculum — the same curriculum kindergarten students are started on for printing. She said the Spring Valley second-graders are always excited about learning to write in cursive.

Nauman said the district still teaches cursive writing for a host of reasons.

“You have books kids are reading where some of the text is actually written in cursive, and there are older people who write in cursive — (the students) need to be able to read that as well,” Nauman said. “Ultimately, they have to be able to sign their names.”

At Bureau Valley South, Principal Kristal LeRette said the district uses the D’Nealian style of handwriting to teach cursive and manuscript writing.

“I think (cursive is) important. When you have to sign a check, you use cursive. When you have to sign for a house, you have to sign in cursive. It’s your signature,” LeRette said, adding the flow of cursive writing where one rarely has to lift up his/her pencil is easier for some students versus printing.

Tom Odell, principal at the private Princeton Christian Academy, said students at the school are still taught cursive.

“We continue to teach cursive writing and work on penmanship; some of our teachers are pretty committed to that because it is an art that has been lost, unfortunately, and probably will be even more with keyboarding. We remain committed to it,” Odell said.

Of the other area schools which responded to the BCR’s question about whether or not they teach cursive writing, Ohio Grade School, Malden Grade School, Ladd Grade School, Neponset Grade School, Van Orin Grade School (LaMoille District), Dimmick Grade School, DePue Grade School and St. Louis Catholic School in Princeton all confirmed they still teach cursive writing in their districts.

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