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.
I agree short form and other note-taking methods, typing, etc should be rolled into a single course. I don’t think it should be elective, but that’s just me.
I appreciate having learned cursive to open up historical documents, published diaries, and the like. Plus, I could read the letters and cards my grandmother sent me.
But, I never had any issue learning to read or write cursive. A lot of people talk about those lessons being difficult or grueling in school, and that wasn’t my experience at all. It was just a nifty skill I learned alongside plenty of other skills that may or may not have use in every day life as an adult.