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The new Common Core curriculum that Ohio has adopted doesn’t require schools to teach cursive writing.
The age-old writing method is replaced by the more modern keyboarding to get elementary students familiar with writing on a computer keyboard.
Ohio Department of Education spokesman Patrick Gallaway said the decision of whether to continue teaching cursive writing to elementary school children falls to the individual school districts.
“It’s up to them, but it is not required now,” he said, acknowledging the issue has generated a bit of controversy because many adults still view handwriting as an important skill that should be taught.
Ana Leibecke, 33, of Centerville, is one of them. Her 4-year-old son, Tristan, is in preschool and she’d like for him to learn cursive writing like she did. She thinks removing it from the Common Core curriculum, which will be implemented in all grades statewide by 2013-14, is a mistake.
“It’s quite disappointing,” said Leikbecke, who thinks handwriting helps children hone fine motor skills, but also is a way for them to express themselves in a personal way.
“It’s an art that’s going to be lost,” she said.
Added Brookville retiree Bonnie Tolson: “If they cut it out, I think that’s wrong. Totally wrong.”
School officials in some area districts, including Northmont, Huber Heights, Miamisburg, Brookville and Tipp City, said cursive writing will still be part of their curriculum.
“I do think we would be doing our students a disservice if we did not expose them to some sort of framework or expectation for handwriting because there will be occasions where they will be expected to give their signature,” said Kathy Demers, Huber Heights’ assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction.
The issue is still under review in some other districts, including Kettering City Schools.
“This year we still have cursive writing at the second-grade level in Kettering. Whether or not that will change next year will be a decision of my committee and our work,” said Michele Massa, who taught second-graders cursive writing for 10 years before becoming a district elementary curriculum leader for language arts and social studies. She expects her committee will be ready to make a recommendation for the language arts curriculum by next spring. Eventually, it’s up to the school board.
“The Common Core doesn’t say anything about cursive,” Massa noted, “but it does say you have to be able to write opinions and write stories ... in addition to keyboarding.”
Massa said she personally believes it’s important kids “know cursive and can recognize it when they see it,” but the committee will decide “if that is the best use of our kids’ time.”
Brookville Superintendent Tim Hopkins said his district introduces cursive writing to students in third grade and it intends to continue that. “We believe there is still merit in learning how to write, and possibly just as important — how to read cursive letters,” Hopkins said in an email.
Tipp City Exempted Village Schools’ curriculum committee determined in May that handwriting still needs to be addressed in the district’s classrooms. Superintendent John Kronour said its curriculum includes second-grade transition to cursive mid-year, refinement of cursive in third grade and “moving cursive to common use” in fourth and fifth grades. Keyboarding also is taught there.
Brookville students are introduced to a computer keyboard in the first grade. “We teach keyboarding as a skill in grades four, five and six,” Hopkins said. “We have been doing this for several years and have no plans to change the emphasis given to instruction in this area.”
West Carrollton Superintendent Rusty Clifford said he understands why this issue has struck a nerve with some people.
“It’s generational, there is absolutely no question,” he said. “It’s a real strong memory for us.”
He recalled being a second-grade teacher in Kettering in the 1980s and how his students were excited to learn to write in cursive, adding tails to letters and learning to write like their parents.
“It was like a rite of passage,” he said. “But the reality of it is, once they get it, that excitement doesn’t last nearly as long as it used to.” For many, it seems laborious compared to texting, he said.
Still, Clifford believes the focus should be on “communicating the written word legibly” regardless of what communication tool is used.
“It needs to be clear, concise and to the point. That’s where we are spending our time versus the mechanics of making a letter,” he said. “Technology has helped us make that transition.”
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