Teaching Your Kids to Write in Cursive

Learning cursive writing is good for the brain and enhances learning. Biba Kayewich

Imagine this!

Your family is standing inside the rotunda at the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C., looking at the original Declaration of the United States. It’s beautiful and awe-inspiring, but can your children read the elegant English Roundhand Script used by the nobility at that time?

Having the ability to read historic documents like the Declaration of Independence as well as Great Aunt Sue’s prize-winning peach pie recipe, Mom’s sewing notes, and Grandma’s letters are reason enough to teach your kids to write in cursive. But let’s also look at the physical, neurological, and academic benefits that will help your children succeed in school and in life.

For the purpose of this article, all mentions of cursive handwriting refer to cursive italics.

Cursive Is Easy to Master When You Teach Italics First

The Italics style of handwriting has an impressive history, dating back to the Italian Renaissance period. Niccolò de’ Niccoli devoted his life to copying and collating old documents and consequently, his unique slanted humanistic script was the foundation for Italics.

The easiest and most successful path to learning cursive is to start by teaching your children italic handwriting. Why? It’s simple, really. Both print and cursive letters are formed in the same way and thus look the same. So, writers only need to learn the printed letter form and then connect the letters to form words in cursive.

An excellent resource is the Getty-Dubay Italic Handwriting Series published by Handwriting Success. Visit the Handwriting Success website to look at this series written for kindergarten through sixth-grade students. If you need it, they also publish a teacher’s guide for help teaching all grades. Also, Penny Gardner offers a $10 italics handwriting package (immediate family only), which includes worksheets, guides, and video tutorials.

Cursive Writing Is Practical

Cursive handwriting is faster and more efficient because the letters connect and flow across the page. This efficiency comes in handy when your students need to take notes in a co-op class or leave a note as they dash off to practice or a part-time job.

Not all signatures can be done digitally. Throughout their lives, your kids will need this essential skill to sign legal and medical documents, to sign to accept a registered letter at the post office, to sign contracts and leases, and more.

Many people, especially older folks, write exclusively in cursive, so it’s helpful for your kids to be able to understand messages, instructions, and the inscriptions in gifted books.

Writing in Cursive Enhances Learning

Cursive italics is a simple yet beautiful script that enhances learning. The easy flow of the connected letters calms your child while also engaging areas of the brain related to thinking, language, and short-term or working memory.

The coordinated and rhythmic movements of connecting the letters help children develop muscle memory or the ability to form letters and words without consciously thinking about the process and, thus, boost reading and spelling skills. This also allows your writers to concentrate more on the content and less on the how-to, which helps them to gain a better understanding of syntax or the arrangement of words and phrases into sentences; this includes basic grammar rules, word order, etc. Ultimately, this helps your kids develop into stronger and more creative writers.

Additionally, since the simple act of writing by hand aids comprehension and retention, teaching and encouraging your kids to write in cursive is definitely a win-win!

Writing in Cursive Is Good for the Brain

Neurologically speaking, when your kids write in cursive, they are engaging multiple senses. Consequently, multiple areas of the brain are stimulated, which in turn strengthens memory.

Stimulating multiple regions in the brain also works to help strengthen your children’s cognitive development. Language and literacy skills will improve. Your children will develop stronger thinking skills and the ability to apply logic and reasoning to problem-solving. They will also solve problems more creatively.

Cursive Positively Effects Hand and Wrist Muscles

Writing in cursive strengthens children’s fine motor skills while also putting less stress and strain on your children’s fingers and wrist muscles because, unlike when your children print and continually pause to lift the pencil or pen up and down to form the letters, the cursive hand moves smoothly across the page.

The ability to write and understand cursive handwriting connects your children to the foundation of our great country by blessing them with the opportunity to travel back in time to colonial Philadelphia to read the words and signatures of our founding fathers.

And speaking of signatures, encourage your writers to experiment with adding flourishes to their names to create unique signatures.

The many benefits of learning and writing in cursive italics that work together to help your children achieve academic success will also serve them well throughout their lives.