Homeschool World Forum

We're in A Beka 2nd grade and working on cursive writing. He's really doing well, but I fear he's never going to be neat as a pin with it. His brother can't, at 16 read nor write cursive writing and his father just barely can, as well as his grandmother (paternal) is just barely able to write/read it. When I leave notes for any of them it has to be in printing or they can't get it all.

OK as always I digress, but should I be working on him really hard? Is cursive handwriting a dying art form? Does anyone use it in their workplace anymore, or is everything typewritten.

I am teaching it. I make my kids us it for their work too. I don't care what they write in outside of school but in school it must be cursive and it must be neat or they write it again. As far as it being a dying art form...well in the schools where I am they don't even teach it anymore. I know a lot of parents who weren't aware of this and were actually very upset when they realized it.

When I say neat though I don't in any way think that it will be perfect, but it should be legible and the letters formed properly.

I wrote in cursive every day when I worked.

Your dc will not always have access to a computer. He needs to be able to write fluently.

Typing skills are infinitely more useful in today's world of computers, and anything you can't type, you can print. I don't think I've ever used cursive in real life outside of signing my name, there's just not much point to voluntarily making my writing less legible.

My view - push typing practice instead, forget cursive.

I taught cursive, but didn't dwell on it. They can do it, but rarely do.
I don't focus on handwriting much anyway. If they want to write neatly they do, I'm more concerned with the content.
Best wishes.

I'm teaching cursive, even though Aric and Allie are 9 and 10 and pass the normal cursive learning age I think it is important.....Aric's teacher told him before we took him out of ps that his cursive was horrid...how can you tell a kid that....anyways we are practicing it every day as part of our ELA and I also have them do a great typing program called spongebob typing....they love it and are learning great typing skills too...