<\/p>\n
Most schools are abandoning cursive writing in favour of what they call “clean” and “legible” handwriting. In fact, a few school principals in Mumbai have objected to cursive writing being forced on primary students.<\/p>\n
A report in Mumbai Mirror<\/a>\u00a0says\u00a0the principals have asked the authorities to talk to schools that force students to write only in cursive. According to them, cursive causes anxiety to both parents and their wards.<\/p>\n In a letter, the principals have said:<\/p>\n “Some English medium schools have introduced cursive writing from kindergarten, and have made it compulsory for students to use it all the time. Children at this age have great difficulty in getting used to the handwriting, and are often subjected to a lot of stress both at school and in their homes.”<\/p>\n It’s clear that the people who are talking about “anxiety caused by handwriting” know nothing about anxiety and they most definitely do not know anything about handwriting.<\/p>\n Therefore, they should be stopped from expressing their uninformed opinions. They do not know that cursive handwriting is not just a alternative to print and typing; its benefits extend far beyond the act of writing.<\/p>\n For example, a note on cursive handwriting by the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation (AHAF) on www.campaignforcursive.com says:<\/p>\n Connected writing is not merely a form of communication. It unlocks potential for abstract thinking, allows the human brain to compartmentalize, and expands memory capacity. It develops individual expression. Research indicates that printing [disconnected handwriting] and keyboarding cannot achieve this in the same way.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Similarly, other studies have shown that learning cursive not only improves retention and comprehension, but also engages the brain on a deep level, as students learn to join letters in a continuous flow. Cursive writing also enhances fine motor dexterity and gives children a better idea of how words work in combination.<\/p>\n According to another note by the\u00a0AHAF, early efforts at writing and development of fine motor skills used in writing signal readiness for learning and predict later achievements in reading, writing, and math.<\/p>\n “Writing in cursive (once learned) is faster than printing, and can be produced with less difficulty with sufficient practice,” the note says.<\/p>\n Likewise, Virginia Berninger, a University of Washington professor who has co-authored studies on cursive writing, says\u00a0there is a myth that in the era of computers we don\u2019t need handwriting.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s not what our research is showing,\u201d Berninger told the Washington Post<\/a>. \u201cWhat we found was that children until about grade six were writing more words, writing faster and expressing more ideas if they could use handwriting than if they used the keyboard.\u201d<\/p>\nSignificance of cursive writing<\/h3>\n