Do I REALLY have to teach my dd to write in cursive?

[Jen in SC]

My dd with a writing disability (and other LDs as well) is making great gains in several areas. And it's probably time to teach cursive, but why? So she can sign her name? So she can read a letter someone writes to her in cursive? I think it would benefit her more to teach typing.

Sigh...can I just skip this? There are SO MANY AREAS that need our attention and I'd love to just not mess with cursive. DH kind of agrees, but I don't want to make life any harder for her down the road.

[LillianD]

Skip it! I don't even know that they are teaching cursive in schools anymore, most homeschoolers I know don't bother teaching it. My daughter takes a cursive class at our co-op, but I don't really have any plans to teach my son cursive.

[Jen in SC]

Maybe I will teach her to sign her name.

[Rachel Jane]

Gwen in TX has some info about why it is good for your brain to write in cursive.

At any rate, make sure she can read cursive.

[Esther-Alabama]

John Henry "knows" how to write in cursive, but it takes him a really, really, really LONG time (can I add another REALLY!), so he does not. We are focused on keyboarding skills for him now.

[Jennifer in MS]

I'm new to HS so take this with a grain of salt. My DD9 has a horrible time with handwriting. We started using Handwriting With Out Tears cursive and she is actually doing much better than she does in print. Of course we are only on the first few lessons but she isn't crying when I bring it out. Yes, I thought it was odd the first time I read someone used HWOT and the crying stopped but it really did happen at my house.

Now if I could find something like that for grammar for me.

[Nedra]

No. You don't.

I remember spending years learning correct cursive in school. Now the only thing I am able to write in cursive is my name.

I don't think it is wrong to teach any child cursive, just don't consider it important.

[Jen in OK]

I agree with the others. I would give her some exposure to it, but I wouldn't sweat it. Dh got through high school, college, and medical school and the only thing he writes in cursive is his signature. I always told my 5th graders that I wanted to see their best handwriting where I could read it and let them choose whether it was print or cursive. I'm not sure if that was my decision to make, but I made it anyway.

[Rachel Jane]

From personal experience:
J can type like the wind. His writing style is to think it all through and then write. This was a problem when he took the SATs. What he wrote for his essay was good, but he didn't have time to finish. We've been practicing timed writing. Cursive is faster than printing most of the time.