Dear Teachers Q & A

Latest News on Cursive Handwriting

Question:  What is the latest on cursive writing? Is it making a comeback or gone forever? All my children have been taught is how to write their names in cursive. – Love Cursive

Answer: The decision of states to drop cursive handwriting instruction from their curriculum was definitely influenced by the dropping of this skill from the Common Core standards in 2010.  However, by 2016, cursive instruction began making a comeback, especially in the South, and is continuing to do so throughout the nation.

Today, the older generation laments the passing of cursive instruction. But the younger generation questions its role in a time when both cursive and print handwriting are being replaced in schools by keyboarding on computers and typing on mobile devices.

Both advocates of teaching printing and cursive agree that each plays a major role in child development and each needs to be taught. An MRI scan study has shown that physical writing fires up a “reading circuit” in the brain that is not engaged in children when they are typing.

Currently, there is no conclusive evidence that learning cursive contributes to developmental gains in children. Research does show, however, that it can benefit children with dysgraphia (a handwriting learning disability.) Plus, cursive handwriting is typically faster than printing by hand and reduces the confusion between “b” and “d.” Most experts now say that one form of handwriting is no better than the other.

Is Child’s Reading Problem an Eye Problem?

Question:  I just read the parent letter about her second grader’s choppy reading. This sounded exactly like what my son experienced. The school reading intervention program did not result in improvements, so I took him to a pediatric ophthalmologist who determined that he had an ocular misalignment.

One of his eyes didn’t immediately focus on the word, so he had to look at each word until it came into focus. The problem was easily fixed within 90 days, at no cost, with daily vision exercises. Please get back to this parent and recommend an eye exam with a pediatric ophthalmologist (non-pediatric ophthalmologists may miss the problem). Our doctor told us that if this is not addressed at an early age, it is irreversible. – Solution Found

Answer:  Whenever a young child has a reading problem, both eyes and ears should definitely be checked out. Thanks for the good advice for our readers. However, keep in mind most reading problems are not caused by a medical problem.

Choppy reading in second grade can be caused because students did not learn their basic phonics and sufficient sight words in first grade and may also be due to a fluency problem.  Improving reading fluency is definitely a big part of the language arts learning process. Not only does fluency improve comprehension, it also makes children confident oral readers in the classroom. Plus, fluency is one skill that is relatively simple to improve in students who don’t have serious reading or communication disorders.