The idea was influenced by technological advancements and a focus on 21st century skills like typing and digital literacy.

“The kids we get in our handwriting class are just printing. They have no real concept of how to form cursive letters,” Chan, a former elementary school teacher, says.

Schools must and can do better, starting early. The key is not only teaching cursive, but a greater focus on all printing to cursive handwriting, spelling instruction and fine motor skills.

In Ontario this fall, Grade 3 students will be learning cursive script again, in a move that some educators are hailing as an important back-to-basics step to foundational education. The argument ...

For many, the return of mandatory cursive handwriting instruction in the Ontario curriculum, starting in Grade 3, is a welcome and long-overdue move on the part of the Ministry of Education. It is a ...

It introduces cursive handwriting instruction and includes specific lessons to use with children, from “pre-printing” activities (like colouring, tracing and connecting dots) to lined sheets ...

Cursive handwriting plays a part in developing them. Yoder said it helps stimulate the brain in a variety of ways that can have long-lasting implications in a way that typing does not.

But the curriculum doesn’t mandate assessing printing skills themselves. In Alberta’s 2018 new draft curriculum yet to be implemented, cursive is mentioned, but it’s not identified as a competency.

Cursive Handwriting Will No Longer Be Taught in Schools Because It's a Big, Old Waste of Time Seven states are fighting to continue teaching penmanship in schools ...

In 2012, handwriting teachers were surveyed at a conference hosted by Zaner-Bloser, a publisher of cursive textbooks. Only 37 percent wrote in cursive; another 8 percent printed.