question for teachers (and parents)

[jessica31876]

I had my conference with my youngest sons teacher last night and while we were talking I asked if she was going to be teaching him cursive writing and she told me she is but that it is not a requirement in school anymore. I never knew that...honestly I remember hours upon hours of learning cursive writing. Now they normally do not teach it at all? Is this true in other states? Her reasoning was that they spend so much time on standardized test preparation they do not have time to spend on things like teaching children to learn cursive handwriting. (one more reason I hate standardized testing) She gave me a good website to help my son learn and I have to order a book from the site before we can start.

[Darcy Baldwin]

Jessica - we're about to start cursive at home - what site did she give you?

[DawnMarch]

my dd is in 3rd grade and learning cursive writing now.

[jessica31876]

my son has learning disabilities and this way of teaching is supposed to be really super easy to pick up for even younger children.

http://www.hwtears.com/

also you might be interested in

http://themathworksheetsite.com

You can print up math worksheets for free on there. I will be using that site to help my son learn his multiplication facts

[meems]

i'd love to know the site too

[Jennifer]

It's still in the SCOS (Standard Course of Study) here in NC. The learn to print in K-2 and then cursive in 3-5. Honestly, though, there's little to no time to actually teach it. It's a sad fact of testing...

[Darcy Baldwin]

ahh - we used HWT for printing and weren't terribly fond of it. My son has dysgraphia and the program is really set up for those with problems (that's why it was created), but I haven't looked into their cursive, yet. Thanks for that!

[cheltzey]

Maybe I don't get it...but what's the point of cursive writing, anyways? I NEVER write in cursive to sign my name. I guess I would rather have them spend more time on science or something useful. JMO.

[jessica31876]

the way it was described is the letters are taught starting with lower case c from c you can make several letters. a,c,d,o,q (might be more) They start connecting the letters right away and making words right away. It is not taught on a slant which makes it difficult for some students to learn and was developed by an occupational therapist. I never had a hard time with handwriting but my oldest son always did. I think partially because he is left handed. I would have loved to have had this when he was learning.

[Darcy Baldwin]

Cursive is actually easier than print for most people, especially those with motor disabilities. And before the invention of typewriters/computers, most people wrote in a form of cursive for everyday writing.

Handwriting, in general, is becoming a lost art form.

[jessica31876]

I want science taught too but I think learning to write/read in cursive is important. I mostly write in cursive if I am writing a letter. Id rather they focus a whole lot less time on the testing. They spend like three months at least prepping for a test the kids are already supposed to have the information to pass.

Originally Posted by cheltzey

Maybe I don't get it...but what's the point of cursive writing, anyways? I NEVER write in cursive to sign my name. I guess I would rather have them spend more time on science or something useful. JMO.

[cheltzey]

Originally Posted by Darcy Baldwin

Cursive is actually easier than print for most people, especially those with motor disabilities. And before the invention of typewriters/computers, most people wrote in a form of cursive for everyday writing.

Handwriting, in general, is becoming a lost art form.

I know it used to be used, but I never see it around anymore except in grandparents! I didn't know that so many people found it easier; I know it was really frustrating for me. Maybe it's a generational thing. I think it's much more important to be able to type quickly than to write in cursive.

[jessica31876]

was it just the dysgraphia that made it difficult? I want to make this easy/fun for my son to learn because he gets frustrated easily so was just wondering were there any specifics you didnt like about it?

Originally Posted by Darcy Baldwin

ahh - we used HWT for printing and weren't terribly fond of it. My son has dysgraphia and the program is really set up for those with problems (that's why it was created), but I haven't looked into their cursive, yet. Thanks for that!

[Laura_A]

Originally Posted by DawnMarch

my dd is in 3rd grade and learning cursive writing now.

Same here

[jessica31876]

so looks like it might just be a florida thing? LOL Im glad she will be working with him on it. Seems like it is a lost art. I love getting a handwritten note/letter from someone and receive compliments on my handwriting all the time.

[Darcy Baldwin]

Originally Posted by jessica31876

was it just the dysgraphia that made it difficult? I want to make this easy/fun for my son to learn because he gets frustrated easily so was just wondering were there any specifics you didnt like about it?

The dysgraphia is a problem with print, anyway. We just didn't gel wtih this particular program. We're jumping into cursive because it's supposed to be easier for kids with dysgraphia (no stop/starting the way print does). I just haven't found aprogram that I like, yet. We've just been playing around with doing connected circles and waves and peaks, etc. so far - practicing those movements.

Plus my son is a perfectionist - if he can't do it perfectly the first time, he just doesn't want to do it - and handwriting has been our BIG #1 issue since homeschooling - which also plays into why we didn't gel with this program. However, it is one of the most popular programs used by homeschoolers, and it was written, initially, to help those having problems with writing.

[jessica31876]

ok I see...from the way the teacher explained it last night it sounds almost like what you are doing now. I like the terns they use too. Like some letters they call "tow-truck letters" because the way they connect like a tow-truck would. My son will love that for sure. And it doesnt have all the fancy loopies in the letter. Really plain and simple from the samples she showed me. I could see just from the few samples how easy it would be to learn compared to how I learned when I was in school

Originally Posted by Darcy Baldwin

The dysgraphia is a problem with print, anyway. We just didn't gel wtih this particular program. We're jumping into cursive because it's supposed to be easier for kids with dysgraphia (no stop/starting the way print does). I just haven't found aprogram that I like, yet. We've just been playing around with doing connected circles and waves and peaks, etc. so far - practicing those movements.

[LeeAndra]

I am afraid that in 50 years they will not teach children how to write at all! Or maybe only teach Text-ese!!

[lizzyfizzy]

cursive is required in our school district.

[jessica31876]

LOL I can see that happening!! Really quite sad.

Originally Posted by LeeAndra

I am afraid that in 50 years they will not teach children how to write at all! Or maybe only teach Text-ese!!

[ShortCake]

Last year my kids school told me that it wasn't required to do cursive.

This year at my son's conference, they gave me three books to help him with his spring ISTEP. Umm, yeah, right. I personally think they are going overboard with the testing. They had ISTEP this fall and will take it again in the spring. It's ridiculous.

[scarletsierra]

They are mandated to focus on testing because of NCLB requirements, unfortunately. It's a necessary "evil" in education, but I think there needs to be a better balance, personally. It has become such a focus and it seems like all curriculum is essentially geared toward testing.

[sjford0419]

Here in SC students learn cursive in the 3rd grade. Unfortunately they don't spend much time on and it is not practiced in 4th or 5th grade. About 95% of my 5th graders DO NOT know how to write cursive (they use invented cursive writing!) I was told that because of computers, cursive writing will probably be obsolete one day....

[Sharon Kay]

Originally Posted by jessica31876

I had my conference with my youngest sons teacher last night and while we were talking I asked if she was going to be teaching him cursive writing and she told me she is but that it is not a requirement in school anymore. I never knew that...honestly I remember hours upon hours of learning cursive writing. Now they normally do not teach it at all? Is this true in other states? Her reasoning was that they spend so much time on standardized test preparation they do not have time to spend on things like teaching children to learn cursive handwriting. (one more reason I hate standardized testing) She gave me a good website to help my son learn and I have to order a book from the site before we can start.

I think our school teaches at 3rd grade...what grade is your child? Our school was INSISTENT by 5th grade they are writing completely in cursive.

Yes the school spends wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much time on TEACHING the State tests and doing nothing else for more than a quarter...that the kids only get grades in the subjects they are studying for the State tests!!! Art, Science, and a few other subjects have no grades on one of the report cards for a quarter because of these State tests.

[HeatherKS]

I don't know about cursive in our district since my dd is only in 1st grade, but our schools use the Handwriting Without Tears program for printing and I think it's great. My younger dd's preschool started using it this year and I'm amazed at how quickly she's picking up writing her letters with it.

[MamaK]

my dd learned it in 3/4 grade. many of their assignments require writing in cursive. LOL maybe it's the only way some teachers can read kids chickenscratch, er handwriting.

i found one of those School Zone practice books for cursive writing that I got for my kids to practice with.

[jessica31876]

My son is in a special education class which has 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. He is technically in 5th grade but is working on a beginning to middle 4th grade level.

Originally Posted by Sharon Kay

I think our school teaches at 3rd grade...what grade is your child? Our school was INSISTENT by 5th grade they are writing completely in cursive.

Yes the school spends wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much time on TEACHING the State tests and doing nothing else for more than a quarter...that the kids only get grades in the subjects they are studying for the State tests!!! Art, Science, and a few other subjects have no grades on one of the report cards for a quarter because of these State tests.

[MissKim]

It's true here. We also don't teach spelling, as it's not on the standardized tests. We live in a different district than the one where I teach, and my 3rd grade daughter does learn cursive and takes a spelling test every week.

[pewtertm]

Wow, that's bizarre to me. The elementary school I taught at taught 2nd and 3rd graders cursive. I do recall hearing of a district that was actually skipping PRINT, and going straight to cursive, which I thought was ABSOLUTELY idiotic, since we read books, etc in print. I SO wish we could get back to teaching the basics.