Cursive handwriting is an art. At this moment in time, several schools are disregarding and cutting art from their syllabus. Do you think this will affect the motor development of kids? Yes, it will, this ignoring of Art is ruinous in the skill growth if kids.
It needs a different skillset and research study proves that Cursive writing enhances the creativity in the tenders. The practice of cursive writing makes hand muscles move in a beneficial way and also regular cursive writing activates a different part of the brain which neither normal writing can do nor normal reading. This activating of the brain is utmost important in the age of 7 or 8. For this reason there are many Handwriting Improvement classes are running throughout the city. Handwriting Classes in Indirapuram, Delhi and Noida are famous as the students are achieving great results.
Why Cursive Writing should be taught?
The flow of cursive handwriting makes the kid learn fast. Its pattern of joining the words in musical writing brings interest and students are engaged in keen learning of cursive. Because of the flowing words, there is not much difficulty to get introduced to words.
The design in which Cursive writing is scribbled is artistic. Making perfect letters and circles in words like o, q, d, b is a challenge and kids tend to learn more with this. However, it is a difficult task for them but this brings perfection as well.
They inculcate a habit of writing beautifully. Broken words don’t look good, whereas cursive writing gives a nice impression. Kids once learn to write well will be confident and organized regarding writing and academics.
Why Cursive?
Experts believe that cursive writing plays a crucial role in the cognitive growth and the sensorimotor part of the brain.
There’s a significant difference between cursive writing and writing letters in a different way or writing separately each letter. Since the gadget era has emerged, it is now a question that amongst mobile, laptop, tablets, will children be able to learn cursive the same way as earlier? Is cursive still holds importance or is just a diminishing name? Yes, it still is in an important position and parents do realise it. This is the reason Handwriting Improvement classes at various places have now begun.
A lecturer at an esteemed university says it is more likely that now keyboards are much helpful for better growth in a career than cursive writing. Schools also nowadays are not focusing on cursive. However, few states have made cursive mandatory in the schools. Studies say that cursive gives visual and cognitive benefits to the children.
Connection to the Brain
When we write letters using pen or pencil by hands, this process is entirely different from typing from a keyboard. While writing, hands make a connection with the curls and curves of the letter and the hand movement is mugged up in the mind. When we write we see on the page or the surface we are writing. On the other hand, while typing our eyes is on the keyboard and letter types on the screen, this makes no connection at all. There are no movements at all, just tap and tap surely isn’t going to help in any type of brain development. The regular writing through hands should be inculcated in the schedule of regular exercise.
Adding Smartness
The Memory Medic Dr, William Klemm says, cursive handwriting makes children smarter and intelligent. It is the regular practice of hands which makes the brain learn faster and keeps it active. The visual imprints bring creativity and the sharpness of memory. Dr. Klemm says that writing cursive is similar to playing an instrument. It gives you flow, consistency, rhythm, all you to do is to just feel it. It gives a lot of learning when taught right.
However, we cannot deny the importance of typing at this time. But we also cannot ignore the benefits of cursive writing for ages. Children create own world of thoughts and roam in them for hours, which is ideally good. For dyslexia, cursive plays as a treatment part and helps in hand-eye coordination. These are a few reasons why cursive Writing should be included in the syllabus and kids must learn this writing pattern. It is undoubtedly the best and beautiful style.
How to teach Cursive Writing
Too many schools not at all focus on how the students have to write cursive or handwriting improvement or whether do they have to impose a particular writing style to the students or no.
Many parents have already raised their concern after knowing this fact that schools aren’t well equipped with the resources and trained teachers to teach early cursive. For them, it is the obvious matter of disappointment.
Learning by Strokes
There are 4 basic strokes by which the lowercase letters could be formed in Cursive. Amazing methods of framing letters-the hill-valley swing, ocean wave, roller coaster, etc.
Start Big, and Teach Bigger
Keep this fact in mind that in order to make a child learn the Cursive fonts you have to write big. Be it a blackboard of a whiteboard, write the letter big. The strokes have to be large to fit in the kid’s head. Once you write a letter big, it will be transmitted easily to the brain of the student, and motor skills are developed even better.
If teaching on a book or providing homework, draw each letter with a different color. Ask the students to follow. Let them play with colors and see the creativity in them. They will learn too quickly.
For more handwriting practice ask them to use as many colors as possible.
Spend Enough Time to Teach
A kindergarten teacher Mariah says, I teach cursive writing and I make my kids learn one letter a week. We have created a sound for each letter. As I draw it on the board, kids tune out the sound of the particular letter. And this is how it goes. It is the simplest way of learning.
One week is sufficient for the kids to get the letter inside their minds. We practice every day and the drill goes for throughout the week in various fun ways. We make sure that children are introduced to a particular letter before moving to another one next week.
Sense it…
According to a trainer of Handwriting Classes in Indirapuram, “Do you feel a sense while your pencil moves in a direction to write a word? The sense is there.
It is really important that a sense has to be felt for each letter while moving the pencil. Be it the chalks, crayons, pen, sketch pens, markets, as your figure draws a letter, a vibration arises.
Using a whiteboard or a blackboard gives a different sense as your arms is moving against gravity.”
Audio…
Audio plays an important role. What we hear, stays long in our memory. Same is with the kids. Suppose, When a teacher teaches the letter “I”, she clarifies that it has a shorter sound, but she herself stretches the sound as to fit in the memory of the students. This is a trick. The starting of pronouncing the letter I will be shorter but stays long as it ends up.
Another fun activity is when students draw one letter in a whole full page. The bigger the letter is, the stronger the memory becomes.
Studies say that till the age of 8, students have already leaned the letters and now they just have to learn how to form them. So this is the best age to make them write cursive. They know the shapes, the foundations, curves, just teach them the proper way to join and finally write.
Let us sum it up with these seven points on the benefits of Cursive Writing
Benefits of Teaching Cursive Handwriting
-Cursive handwriting is easy in comparison to other styles. It needs just 3 moves to write- under the curve, over the curve and up to down. Whereas when we move to other styles oh writings, we find them more difficult for a tender to learn.
-There is no Confusion of letters in this style. When we talk about broken letters, we might get confused in the words like b,d or g,p,q or f,t. Cursive omits this doubt. Its strokes are entirely different and easier to understand.
-In cursive, hands move in a special way. This makes the memory grasp spelling patterns and styles. This way children learn spellings easily in cursive.
-There are certain movements, force and visual actions which are a bit complicated in cursive writing. It maintains a fluency. With practice, the neuron system in the brain which is accountable for arranging various info and details becomes stronger and powerful.
-Continuous flow in this writing pattern is involved. Whenever there is a continuity, possibilities or errors are less. In broken letters, the pencil is picked up several times to write every other letter, hence mistakes are often done. Vice-versa in cursive.
-When a child writes in cursive mode, the brain becomes active and creative. This brings the urge to involving other creative things. This makes a child tend to read. Another reason is cursive makes you read the word in a full stroke, this is because the word is not broken and goes in a flow. This makes a child understands better and the need to read strikes his mind.
-Unnecessary spaces are avoided. The flow of writing is so smooth in cursive, that the child knows the exact space to be left between the words. Whereas in the broken letters writing, it is hard to analyze the spaces as most of the letters are separate from one another.