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

[MarieD]

Definitely teacher it to her so she can read it. I have been to see museum exhibits that have had the signs entirely in cursive! There are some books that have cursive in them as well (Nate the Great comes to mind).

I taught my oldest cursive, had her work on it for the year, and let her know that as long as her wring was legible, I didn't care if she printed, wrote in cursive or a combination of the two. I am confident she can read it, and that is all that truly matters to me.

[Chris-AL]

Actually, for dyslexic students, cursive is much better for them to use. All the lower case cursive letters start at base line, so they don't have to think for EVERY single letter of a word, where to start. Our dyslexia Orton-Gillingham tester/tutor, and a well known dyslexia specialist at a conference, and the dyslexia school where my son is attending "summer reading camp" all agree. The school ONLY teaches cursive and keyboarding, no print.
I was instructed to use "Preventing Academic Failure Right Handed Cursive". This curriculum teaches all the lower cases with 5 different strokes and uses verbal prompts that you say when introducing the letters. My son has done really well with cursive. His cursive is beautiful and better than the print that he spent K-2 working on. Cursive also virtually eliminates letter reversals.
The continuity of writing words in cursive also helps them remember how to spell them.
I believe Diana King also has a cursive program especially for dyslexic students along the same lines.
www.epsbooks.com should sell both the PAF and Diana Kings writing programs.
Hope that helps.

[Chris-AL]

Trying to post a direct link:
http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/produ...riesonly=5125M
http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/produ...riesonly=5125M

Both programs are not expensive. Be sure to get the instruction booklet if you go with PAF, as that gives all the verbal prompts.

[April Marie]

it's required on one section of the SAT!
(i think this is very strange, but true)

my son said one boy in his classroom had no idea how to write in cursive
so the proctor just told him to print and "join" the letters together

[KristenS]

I do mildly regret not using cursive more once it stopped being required, because once I got married I had to learn all over again, to sign my new name. I still can't get it down pat ... way too many loops for one name.

(We've all done the initial tests for our baby names, and the bad-nickname tests ... anyone ever think to do a cursive test? LOL.)

I loved the story Muggie Maggie by Beverly Cleary ... she refuses to learn after a bad first day ... but her teachers help/trick her into learning to read it, at least. A bit high-handed, but still a fun read (for me as an adult) because I hated cursive too.

Now I get to learn it all over again for my kiddo ... I promised him I'd practice it too, to keep him company. Sigh.