If handwriting is the foundation of written expression, cursive is the next layer of fluency. After children learn to shape letters and build the motor patterns of print, cursive offers a new pathway that emphasizes flow, rhythm, and efficiency.

Despite its disappearance from US school curriculum at the start of the 2000s, cursive is making a real comeback in many parts of the United States. This return revisits the question: Is cursive important?

Cursive didn’t emerge all at once, it evolved as a practical way to write faster and more smoothly. Over centuries, scribes refined these connected strokes into the flowing script we recognize today, shaped by everyday needs and later standardized through education. We remember hearing that cursive was important for signing your name, or that grown-ups don’t use print.

But here’s the twist: Print writing actually came after early cursive forms. It was developed because scribes needed a script that was easier to read, copy, and eventually reproduce in books. So while print isn’t “unnatural,” it is more engineered whereas cursive aligns more closely with the hand’s natural, continuous movement.

The Cursive Circuit

Both cursive and print recruit the same foundational regions involved in handwriting, including:

• Visual processing areas that help perceive letter shapes
• Motor and premotor cortex for planning and executing hand movements
• Somatosensory cortex for feedback from the hand
• Language‑related regions that support letter–sound mapping and word retrieval
• Parietal areas involved in spatial organization and attention

Cursive increases activity within the same handwriting network because the continuous, connected strokes require more complex motor sequencing. Its rhythmic flow engages timing and coordination circuits, and its integrated movement patterns can heighten parietal and central region activity. In fact, EEG studies also show that cursive primes the brain for learning by syncing brain waves and stimulating neural activity in areas that support somatosensory processing, information integration, and memory formation; conditions that help the brain retain new material more effectively.

Learning Curves

Learning cursive isn’t essential for every child, but it does offer developmental benefits that print alone doesn’t provide. And even though it’s no longer universally taught, it remains a valuable skill with meaningful reasons to keep it in a kid’s learning toolkit. Cursive:

• Strengthens motor planning and coordination. Cursive uses connected, flowing strokes. That smooth movement pattern supports shoulder and wrist stability, fine‑motor control, motor sequencing, and overall writing endurance. This is helpful for children with fine‑motor challenges as it reduces the start‑and‑stop motor load of print. If a classroom has a cursive alphabet posted, there is also the added hand-eye coordination; seeing a letter visually and accurately replicating it.
  
  
• Reduces letter reversals. The built‑in directionality of cursive, with its clear entry and exit strokes, helps anchor left‑to‑right movement. Children who reverse letters like b/d or p/q often make fewer errors because the motor pattern reinforces proper orientation.

• Supports writing fluency. Cursive encourages a natural writing rhythm. Once kids are comfortable with the flow, they often write faster, lift the pencil less, and experience less fatigue, which makes writing feel smoother and more effortless.
  
  
• Boosts whole-word processing. Because the letters connect, the brain tends to process words as whole units rather than isolated shapes. This supports spelling, reading fluency, and morphological awareness.
  
  
• Increases brain activation. Cursive’s continuous motion adds extra demands on motor planning, spacing, and sequencing. Studies show that this can increase brain efficiency, making it especially helpful for children with dysgraphia or motor‑planning challenges.
  
  
• Builds confidence and expressive identity. Mastering cursive often feels like a “big kid” milestone, and many children enjoy its personal, expressive style. That sense of ownership increases motivation and pride in their writing. Raise your hand if you wrote your name a million times as a fidget while taking notes (hopefully not with your crush’s last name).

A 2025 education review found that cursive practice can improve spelling, word recall, writing length, and legibility, and may be easier for dyslexic learners because of its distinct, connected letter forms. Cursive can also be helpful for:

• Children who struggle with print legibility
• Kids with dysgraphia or motor‑planning challenges
• Children who reverse letters
• Kids who fatigue quickly when writing
• Learners who benefit from rhythmic, patterned movement

Even if children don’t use cursive every day, they still encounter it in historical documents, family letters, signatures, older books, and the handwriting of grandparents or other adults. Being able to read cursive keeps them literate across generations.

So, if cursive is more organic than print and a more efficient form of writing (not to mention many historical documents being written in it), why did schools stop making it mandatory?

The Cursive Comeback

Cursive didn’t disappear because it stopped being useful; it faded from classrooms due to shifting priorities, time pressure, and policy changes. As schools added more early reading benchmarks, test preparation, digital literacy aka typing, and STEM content, handwriting time shrank and cursive was often the first to go.

When the 2010 Common Core standards omitted cursive and emphasized keyboarding instead, many states dropped it entirely. Some decision makers also viewed cursive as decorative rather than developmental, and as fewer teachers were trained to teach it, the pipeline weakened further.

In recent years, however, more than 20 states have reinstated cursive because research continues to show benefits for literacy, motor development, writing fluency, historical literacy, and cognitive processing. The pendulum is swinging back not out of nostalgia, but because the developmental case for cursive is stronger than people realized.

Parent Participation

Even though cursive is returning to many classrooms, that doesn’t mean it’s suddenly easier for teachers to teach or for students to learn. For instance, my 3^rd grader is learning it now and the foundational skills for cursive are noticeably underdeveloped.

Parents can make a big difference in how their child learns cursive. The key is to keep the experience light, rhythmic, and well‑supported rather than perfection driven. Kids learn cursive best when it feels like a movement pattern instead of a chore. Here are some suggestions:

• Keep practice short and playful. Five minutes a day is enough. Quick warm‑ups like loops, waves, and connected curves help kids feel the flow without pressure. Short, consistent bursts build motor memory more efficiently than long, tiring sessions.

• Use large movements first. Have your child make big cursive strokes (think loops, curves, and waves) in the air, on a whiteboard, or with sidewalk chalk. Large movements help the brain map the pattern before shrinking it down to paper. It also warms up your hand muscles.

• Focus on connections. Cursive is about rhythm and continuous motion. Encourage smooth, connected strokes rather than perfect letter shapes. This reduces frustration and supports automaticity.

•  Model it naturally. Write a quick note, label something in cursive, or sign a list. When kids see adults using cursive, it feels relevant and “grown‑up” which makes them more motivated to reach that milestone themselves.

• Let them try it IRL. On that note, have them write a birthday card, a grocery list item, or a quick note in cursive. Using it for real purposes builds fluency and confidence.
  
  
• Make it fun (and functional). Gel pens, colored pencils, chalk, textured paper, or even writing on a vertical surface can make cursive feel fun while boosting sensory feedback and motor planning.

• Keep print and cursive side‑by‑side. If they get stuck, let them write the word in print first, then rewrite it in cursive. It limits frustration and reinforces letter‑sound connections.

• Celebrate effort, not neatness. Cursive improves with repetition, so point out progress such as smoother lines, better spacing, easier connections, or increased stamina. Noticing these small gains keeps kids motivated and makes the writing experience feel emotionally safe.

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