Bill Passes Asking Schools To Teach Cursive Writing

By Kayla Kunkel June 21, 2018 at 4:19pm

I vividly remember being so excited to learn how to write in cursive when I was in school. It was difficult at times, but I thoroughly enjoyed learning how to write letters that I already knew how to print in a different way.

While I don’t use that skill much now outside of signing my name, I have never looked back on my early education and thought, “Wow, what a waste of time!” In fact, I’ve tried to re-teach myself multiple times over the years.

Since my time in school, this skill has been removed from the curriculum in most elementary schools and since then, people have been fighting against the change.

Cursive writing can help develop motor skills for children who are around 7-8 years old by activating a different part of the brain than writing in regular print. It even helps children with learning disabilities like dyslexia because, unlike print writing, each letter looks vastly different than the others.

It also helps children be able to approach legal documents with confidence by equipping them with the tools needed to sign their name.

The Ohio House recognizes these benefits and more of cursive writing and passed a bill that will require the public school system to create a cursive handwriting curriculum that can be used going forward.

“The state board of education shall adopt a model curriculum for instruction in cursive handwriting in grades kindergarten through five to ensure that students develop the ability to print letters and words legibly by grade three and to create readable documents using legible cursive handwriting by the end of grade five,” the bill reads.

While this bill doesn’t require that the cursive writing curriculum be taught, it does require that it is an option for schools to choose to implement.

The bill was passed on Jun 20, 2018, with 87 for and 4 against. This bill follows similar bills passed in other states like Indiana and New York.

Now the bill will be sent to the Ohio Senate to be voted on before Governor John Kasich sees it.

State Representative Andrew Brenner, one of the primary sponsors, is excited that the bill passed. “Cursive writing is so much more than just learning how to sign your name to a check,” he said.

“For example, studies have shown that learning how to write in cursive helps student learn how to spell and read, especially children with dyslexia,” Brenner continued. “I’m honored that my colleagues agree that cursive is an important and invaluable skill on multiple levels and should be made available to Ohio’s students.”

Do you think other states should follow the Ohio House’s decision?

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