Handwriting matters, but does cursive matter?

Research shows the fastest and most legible handwriters avoid cursive. They join only some letters, not all of them: Making the easiest joins, skipping the rest, and using print-like shapes for those letters whose cursive and printed shapes disagree.

Reading cursive still matters. This takes just 30 to 60 minutes to learn and can be taught to a 5- or 6-year-old if the child knows how to read. The value of reading cursive is therefore no justification for writing it.

Remember, too: Whatever your elementary school teacher may have been told by her elementary school teacher, cursive signatures have no special legal validity over signatures written in any other way. (Don’t take my word for this: Talk to any attorney.)

Kate Gladstone

CEO

Handwriting That Works

Albany, N.Y.