Could handwriting practice be the next trend in relaxation similar to adult coloring books? I think it’s possible.
Cursive handwriting is a lost art. We should make sure our children have the opportunity to learn it and practice it. Research shows it’s good for our brains, especially increasing connections in the brain.
Writing in cursive can be relaxing, whether you slow down and pay attention to each letter or whether you quickly scribble out your bottled up feelings.
Schools have so many different standards to teach, there’s little time to practice cursive as much as they’d like. Third grade is usually when many kids are ready to begin. Kids can continue working on improving their form in 4th, 5th grade, and beyond.
If you want your child to benefit from the confidence of being able to do this skill well and the brain connections cursive promotes, you can add it to your routine at home.
First, find out how your child is doing with cursive. Ask them to write the lowercase abc’s in cursive. If they can do that and can form most capital letters without a problem, they may not need additional practice. If they struggle, you can take some time to practice at home.
Even if your child doesn’t struggle with cursive, this can still be a great activity. Intentionally writing is a similar relaxing experience to adult coloring books. And you only need a pencil or pen and paper. I suggest printing out two practice packets and doing this right alongside your child. Don’t forget about circling your best letter for each line. Did you do that when you were a kid? (=
Summer Larsen has a great freebie for practicing the uppercase and lowercase alphabet in her TPT store:
One of the TPT resources that I think is really helpful after you’ve gone over each letter is this Jokes Cursive Practice resource:
Being able to quickly scrawl out your feelings in a journal can be a very stress-relieving experience, no matter your age. Let’s not let this generation miss out on knowing how to write in cursive!
~Carrie
If you’d prefer a workbook instead of downloading and printing your practice, here are a couple of affiliate links:
Linked With:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Thanks for providing this resource. I believe teaching handwriting should be a priority in every school. It is hard for me to imagine many subjects in early elementary school are more important than proficiently and attractively writing one’s language by hand.
Hi Leslie!
Yes, hopefully it becomes more of a priority for schools in the future. I’m sure some teachers still spend a good amount of time on it, but I know some say they just don’t have the time now.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Carrie
I am a certified teacher and my Language Arts Methods professor once told me that getting her 2nd graders to practice penmanship was terrible until she came up with the idea to allow them to listen to music during that time. She asked each child to take a turn bringing in a record (old school!) and the class would sit for 5-10 minutes and listen to the music while they practiced. She said it quickly became one of the most treasured parts of the morning routine. I used this for three years in my classroom and it worked really nicely!
Nice, Jessica! I love the idea of adding music to make it even more relaxing.
Thanks!
Carrie
I taught all three of my kids cursive, and none of them wanted to keep using it. 🙁 I ended up not making them. I figured it wasn’t a homeschool hill to die on. My kids are older now (17. 14, and 11), and they still don’t like cursive. I do think it’s still an important skill to learn, though. 🙂
Hi Brandi,
At least you gave it a good shot. (= I have to admit, I use more of a combination of cursive and printing, but it’s nice to at least have been exposed to how to form the letters.
Carrie
WHY is this beautiful art being allowed to fall from use? My great nieces & nephews cannot even read it! Shameful too, in my mind, is the bastardization of the written word that has become common place now because of texting. Good lord, is it really so difficult to spell out the word instead of sending an emoji that has no universal MEANING as opposed to, actual words.
I still write in longhand & receive a few letters that way too – in the mailbox, which is also sadly falling by the wayside in today’s world – I can tell whether the letter is from my mother, or from one of my aunties just from a glimpse of their handwriting.
I hope you are correct & that cursive writing will once again become popular, even if it is only as an artform, so that this beautiful skill – available to anyone with only so much a a stick & some dirt to scratch words upon, does not die out.
I’ve found you & come to visit through the AIM link party; I hope you’ll find time to stop on by the 4Shoes one day & let me know you’ve been.
🙂
I definitely agree, Mrs. Shoes! I hope it doesn’t become a lost art!
Carrie
We called it “real writing” as children back in the 60s. It is definitely a lost art. Who knows, it could be the next relaxation trend for adults. Thank you Carrie for sharing this post at Wednesday AIM Link Party at Grammy’s Grid. I shared it on Pinterest. Hope you get lots of traffic!
Thanks for sharing, Grammy!
Carrie
I think everyone should be able to write cursive. Thanks for the resources and for sharing on the Love to Learn blog hop
Thanks!
Carrie
My kids practice cursive; I wasn’t 100% sure I was going to teach it but my middle son begged to learn and they all enjoy it. Thanks for sharing with us at Love to Learn. Pinned. (and will be our feature for August!).
Thanks for the feature on Love to Learn! It’s one of my favorite places to link up.
Carrie