We all remember the struggle of learning to write “joined-up writing” or cursive in primary school.

 

It was once considered a valuable skill and teachers praised those who had perfect handwriting. So, imagine this mum’s dismay when after taking the time to teach her daughter cursive, her little girl received a reprimand from her teacher for it.

 

Seven-year-old Alyssa from Kansas received her worksheet back with a stern warning written on it in red pen. It read: “Stop writing your name in cursive, you have had several warnings.”

 

The little girl had written her name in perfectly legible cursive in the space provided on the sheet but it seems her teacher didn’t take kindly to it.

 

A friend of Alyssa’s mum shared a photo of the worksheet on Facebook, explaining that Alyssa’s mum Gail was a military veteran who had taught her daughter cursive because she hoped it would help her in school.

 

 

Gail commented on the photo saying that she’d emailed the teacher in question and the school principal as she wasn't happy about the note.

 

Cursive handwriting has been phased out in some schools in some parts of the world as computers become more commonly used in education.

 

Finland decided to phase out cursive handwriting in order to introduce skills which will be of greater benefit for children in the future, such as typing and IT skills.

 

Acknowledging the importance of IT familiarity in today's society, schools have stressed the need to teach keyboard skills, with Minna Harmanen of Finland’s National Board of Education explaining: "They don’t have time to become fast at cursive writing, so it’s not useful for them."

According to proposed plans, by next year children in Finnish schools will only be taught print handwriting - a move which, according to Minna, has garnered very little response from parents.

 

 

While parents were not particularly worried by this announcement, apparently it did ruffle feathers with some grandparents.

 

However, there are some worthy arguments in favour of continuing to teach cursive at school, for example, children who learn cursive have higher levels of reading, are better spellers and have a better ability to retain information.

 

Cursive can also be an important educational tool as some people with learning disabilities, like dyslexia, or severe brain injuries can understand cursive better than print.

 

What do you think mums? Do you think cursive should still be taught? Let us know your thoughts.

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