Cursive Handwriting Getting Left Behind In Some Classrooms
By: Stephen Crews
Updated: January 30, 2011
Some call it a dying craft.
Teachers say when it comes to cursive handwriting in the classrooms, laws like No Child Left Behind, don't deem it necessary.
"You just have to make it a priority," Myra Walker said.
Walker, who is a fourth grade teacher at Ashville Elementary in St. Clair County, begs to differ.
"They need to know how to write a report in cursive, in black ink and how to sign their name legibly," she said.
Walker only gets 15 minutes a day to teach one new letter to her class.
Principal Patti Johnson says it's because of the state guidelines telling teachers what they have to teach. So really...there's just not enough time in the day.
"No Child Left Behind sets those standards," she said. "It sets goals for us each year and each year those goals get higher."
Because of No Child Left Behind, schools across America are having to focus more on reading and math. This means other parts of the curriculum, like teaching cursive handwriting, tends to get swept under the rug. But luckily, teachers at Ashville Elementary say they're integrating cursive into everyday studies.
"They're learning something about the presidents, they're learning about the water cycle and they're learning math vocabulary words," Walker said. "They're learning all those things while practicing their handwriting."
Johnson says students receive a handwriting grade every nine weeks.
