Each week, third-graders at Chicago City Day School practice a skill that some consider a lost art — cursive writing.
Third-graders learn how to write each letter of the alphabet in cursive and then combine them into words and sentences that show proper spacing and slant. The students are now at the "learner's permit" stage of their studies, working toward receiving their cursive writing "driver's license."
Cursive writing is not done nearly as often as in the past, of course. Keyboards and touchscreens have replaced pencil and paper in many instances. City Day teachers point out, however, that it remains important for people to be able to read and write cursive, even in tech-heavy times. And they say developing cursive skills has other benefits, as well.
"It helps improve fine-motor skills," said Rachel Lucas, City Day's grade 3 teacher. "And I find that when the students work on their handwriting, they tend to slow down and really focus on things like word choice and sentence structure. It's a way of improving their writing skills in general."
City Day educators add that the act of learning cursive also builds recall and reading comprehension skills in students.
And in addition, they said, students respond positively to the physical act of cursive, which Mrs. Lucas has called the "yoga of writing."
"There's a real art to it," she said.
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