Effective Fall 2024, CSDR students in grades 3 through 10 are now learning cursive writing. The California legislature and the governor enacted a law in 2023 to require all public schools to reinstate cursive writing in the school curriculum after a 14-year lapse.
Older alumni remember practicing cursive writing and maintaining their skills through high school. CSDR teachers had always included the art of writing in classwork from the 1950s to 2010. The State Department of Education phased out the handwriting drill in 2010. CSDR followed suit.
The following reasons point to the decline of handwriting in the 2000s: 1) the widespread use of computers; 2) Common Core Standards did not include mandatory cursive instruction, leading many schools to phase it out; 3) the lack of class time for the drill; and 4) the school's perception of handwriting as outdated in the digital age.
There is a growing resurgence of recognition of the cognitive benefits of handwriting, including improved students’ fine motor skills, enhanced cognitive relations between the brain’s right and left sides, writing speed and retained material absorbed. Cursive handwriting is complex and takes years of practice.
I remember my grade school at Vandenberg Air Force Base in the 1960s with lots of handwriting practice in the classroom and at home. I am grateful that my handwriting has looked good for the past 50 years.
Cursive writing is here to stay at CSDR for generations to come.
Kevin Struxness, ‘76, MA
Editor, CSDR Old Times
26 November 2024
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