Cursive writing is a type of writing in which the letters in each word are joined together in a flowing motion, rather than being written separately. The word “cursive” derives from the Latin ‘cursus’, meaning “running,” and it describes running water or any other thing that moves quickly and smoothly. At school children typically learn to write in cursive when they study languages such as French, Spanish, German, etc.
This is a difficult skill that some children seem to pick up on their own, but some don’t. But why should parents care whether their kids learn how to write using longhand or not when computers have rendered handwriting practically obsolete? Well, here are six reasons you may consider when deciding whether or not to teach your child how to properly form letters with pen on paper.
It Is A Crucial Part Of Literacy Skills
Children have noticed a noticeable decline in cursive writing and reading skills. They are always playing on their tablets and smartphones and not so much practising their penmanship as they used to. However, even though we do most of our reading on screens these days, it is still crucial for children to learn good handwriting skills. You can still make good use of their smartphones by getting fun apps or tutorials for learning cursive writing. Students even find it easier to focus on reading from a physical book rather than scrolling through pages.
Some universities such as Cambridge or Oxford even use handwritten essays as part of the application process, and it might even give your kids an edge over other applicants. When you are “literate”, not only do you know how to read, but you can write as well, so make sure your kids master both.
It Helps Children Develop Coordination
You may not realize it, but the handwriting is a complex task that involves many different muscles and joints in your hands. Many kids struggle with learning to write because their motor development isn’t quite up to snuff yet. However, when they practice writing by hand, they build the muscles around their joints, improving fine motor skills and nerve development. As the child gets older, these muscles will become strong enough for typing on a tablet or computer keyboard without too much effort, but other children need extra help developing these important muscle groups that are required for even simple tasks like using utensils while eating.
It Promotes Abstract Thought
When you are learning to form cursive letters, you are putting together two things in your brain; the abstract thought of the word and the physical act of writing it out. This is extremely important because children need cognitive skills like this for abstract reasoning, which can be applied to more complex tasks later on in life, such as programming or working with numbers, particularly algebraic equations. Plus, research has shown that even adults who have lost some degree of fine motor control due to conditions like arthritis can improve their handwriting simply by practising how to write using cursive again.
Helps Develop Concentration Skills
When children sit down and work with a pen on paper, their brain has to concentrate all its resources on forming each letter properly. This activates higher-order thinking processes such as analysis, evaluation, and coordination of movement, which are simply not used when typing or texting. The act of writing by hand, therefore, forces the child’s brain to think harder than usual, making learning easier since it stimulates all the important cognitive skills. In the long run, the child’s concentration skills will improve, which can be applied further to learning more complex subjects such as history or mathematics.
It Helps Children Develop Grammatical Skills
While many schools have abandoned teaching cursive writing in favour of typing, research has shown that cursive writing is more beneficial to a child’s development. When you write out cursive letters, you have to put the correct words together in the proper order and correctly arrange all of their parts into a complete sentence or paragraph. This kind of extensive grammar knowledge helps children immensely when it comes to formal essay writing and other important tasks that require understanding complex grammatical concepts, including spelling and punctuation.
It Makes Learning Other Skills Easier
There is a direct correlation between learning how to form cursive letters correctly and being able to learn other skills faster. For example, children with trouble handwriting tend to have difficulty with math problems requiring several steps or memorizing information for tests. This is because the same cognitive processes are used for both tasks. It might be difficult at first, but after some practice, your child’s brain will start making connections between letters he forms on paper and the numbers he sees in his head when solving math problems, thus speeding up any related processes. If you want to give your kids an edge over their peers, try teaching them how to write cursive letters!
Teaching your kids how to write in cursive is helpful for their development and can also help them excel later in life. Not only does it increase concentration skills, grammar knowledge, and fine motor coordination, but it also helps them develop abstract reasoning. In the long run, teaching your children to write cursive letters might be one of the smartest things you can insist on.
