Should You Add Cursive Handwriting to Your Homeschool?

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When I was a child, cursive handwriting was one of my favorite subjects. As someone who loves order and step-by-step instructions, it was the perfect way to practice art and order all in one.

However, in today’s world of digital…well, everything it seems, one can be forgiven for wondering if there’s still value in teaching our children cursive handwriting.

Isn’t it just a pretty way of writing?

Well, there’s a little more to it than that and so we’re going to go into the reasons as to why cursive is still relevant and then a great handwriting program that you can use to teach it!

Why Cursive Handwriting is Still Important

Even I thought that cursive was just a pretty alternative to print but there are actually some really valid reasons as to why it is immensely beneficial for children to learn.

So, let’s talk about why you may want to reconsider skipping cursive handwriting in your homeschool.

#1 Faster Writing

Cursive writing is actually faster than writing in print. This makes sense when you think about the fact that the letters are connected. The student does not need to stop after every letter but instead has a smooth flow of writing.

If you have a child who is not the biggest fan of writing because of the mechanics of it, this may be a great way to encourage them.

#2 Easier to Learn

I always thought that cursive would be more difficult to learn but the opposite is in fact true. You’ll even find curriculums like Abeka with cursive taught right from Kindergarten!

There are a couple of reasons that cursive is easier to learn. The first is because of the continuation of the letters. There’s not nearly as much stopping and starting as there is with printing.

Secondly, cursive letters don’t tend to have the same issue as printed letters do where certain letters look incredibly similar. There are more differences which makes it easier for beginners to differentiate the letters of the alphabet. (memoriapress.com)

#3 Better Fine Motor Skills

Cursive handwriting improves fine motor skills differently from that of regular printing. It also increases neural connections and exercises the brain in a different way from that of printing.

Basically, cursive not only looks different to print but when you write in cursive your muscles and brain both respond differently. (resilienteducator.com)

#4 Better for Those With Learning Disabilities

There are a number of disabilities that result in children struggling to note the differences between letters.

Because cursive looks very different from print it gives students another option for learning and growing their confidence.

#5 Connects Students with History

Once upon a time cursive was the standard for writing. There are hundreds and thousands of historic documents that are all written in cursive.

If our children are not taught to read and write cursive then we will begin to lose the link between the past and present.

We will no longer be able to easily interpret the writings of long ago and will inevitably lose our ability to read what happened.

This seems a really important reason on its own to continue teaching the art of cursive.

How to Add Cursive Handwriting to Your Homeschool

Are you convinced yet?

Cursive handwriting obviously has some great benefits for your child. However, you may be wondering how on earth to get started with it.

What is a good way to teach cursive?

Here are my suggestions…

Choose a curriculum

To begin, I recommend choosing a curriculum. There are many that offer great programs but I’ve listed one below that is an excellent and versatile option.

Getty Dubay

Getty Dubay is a wonderful handwriting curriculum that offers many great options for teaching your child great handwriting.

One thing that I personally really appreciate is that they offer both a digital and physical option.

Tablets and styluses have made digital cursive and art, in general, a very real option for many students.

Getty Dubay offers a vast array of cursive handwriting levels so that you can choose one that will truly suit your child.

However, if you’re wanting a physical option only, they also have those available to order from their site.

The digital option is available via an app. The app is for both android and apple users so there’s no limitation there.

If you have a tablet and compatible stylus then you can try it out for free before committing to a purchase.

Getty Dubay really wanted to be sure that the option of learning cursive for students in k-6 is as simple as opening an app.

Things to Note

Getty Dubay is not a new program. This is a writing curriculum that has been popular amongst homeschoolers for years. In fact, many of the original students now use this program with their own children.

Another thing to be aware of is that the cursive taught is different from the traditional looped way of cursive writing.

Instead of your student having to relearn the entire alphabet, they are instead taught to link traditional printed letters so that they flow together. They refer to it as cursive italic.

Take at look at their program here.