Texas students are included to a new educational program which involves learning how to write cursive

Handwriting has had an important impact on the existence of our culture and civilization. However, advanced technology puts it in danger, and future generations may not even get a chance to put a pen in their hands.

There’s almost no need for handwritten communication in these digital times. Schoolchildren don’t pay too much attention to writing in cursive.

Anne Trubek’s essays explain that we will probably eliminate handwriting from everyday life in the near future. This marks the beginning of the next stage in the evolution of communication.

Cursive writing

The Memoria Press has released 10 best reasons to write in cursive:

1. Better neural connections, and stimulation of the brain (typing can’t provide the same stimuli)
2. Better ability to read cursive
3. Increased speed of writing
4. Improved fine motor and sensory skills
5. Better retention and understanding (transcribing a paragraph in cursive helps students learn better)
6. Easy learning
7. Better legibility and spelling
8. Self-discipline
9. Better signature
10. Self-respect

Texas students learn cursive

Most adults in the US last wrote cursive in elementary school. The formal American cursive system first appeared in the mid-1800s. People’s writing depended on their social status, gender, and profession.

Abolitionist Platt Rogers Spencer created Cursive handwriting. The main purpose was to provide an equal handwriting playing field for everyone. Spencer’s method was learned through textbooks, and it was implemented by many schools and companies.

The situation is totally different these days. A lot of students don’t even write cursive. Texas promised to introduce a change and that’s exactly what they did. In 2019, the state adopted new requirements for students to learn cursive.

Diane Schallert, a professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, explains that learning cursive is like learning a new language. She studies how language and learning coincide and believes the program will help students improve their comprehension skills.

“With language comprehension, there’s this reciprocity between producing and comprehending,” Schallert said. “By seeing the letter being formed slowly at your control, you’re considering its sound-symbol correspondence.”

In 2017, Lone Star State made some changes in the arts and reading of English. Elementary school students had to learn cursives, and the changes were added to the programs of students 2-4 grade.

Second-graders are expected to format short letters using strokes and connecting letters. This will help them learn how to write cursive easily. Third-graders are expected to read words, thoughts, and answers without a problem. Fourth-graders will have to write a short text in cursive.

Recent trends

Many states have marked a decline in cursive learning in the past decade. However, these learning programs still thrive in 18 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, California, Virginia, Florida, and North Carolina.

Source: www.foxnews.com