Make Time for Cursive

I’m a “Digital Immigrant”…I admit it! But, to my “Digital Native” future educators, please remember that there are important “old school” processes that should not be forgotten. One of which I am passionate about is cursive handwriting! Many districts are doing away with the requirements for teaching cursive in order to make way for Common Core Standards that will be tested. Make the time! The psychologist in this particular article that I have attached conducted brain imaging tests on children who wrote cursive letters, printed letters, or pushed keyboard letters. Different centers of the brain were activated during the cursive portion of the test. Centers of the brain responsible for creative expressions, memory, and the ability to process new information not just as children, but areas that will carry through to adulthood. A few years back I asked our then 14 year old babysitter to “sign” my daughter’s homework log for the work that she did with her while I was at work. She said to me… “I don’t have a signature?”  ~sigh

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/03/science/whats-lost-as-handwriting-fades.html?_r=0