Cursive is scrawling its way back into Central Maryland schools

The first day of school in Baltimore and Harford counties marks the return of cursive to all second- and third-grade classrooms in the two districts.

The counties join schools in neighboring Baltimore City, Howard County and Anne Arundel County that teach the handwriting style, which is seeing a resurgence across the country. Educators and researchers who embrace cursive say the skill can help students’ motor skills, improve their writing’s legibility and even help them better retain what they’re learning. It also marks a commitment to analog writing as a growing number of parents push to limit the time their children spend in front of screens.

Cursive began fading out of schools nationwide in the early 2010s, as educators adjusted to Common Core standards, which did not specifically include handwriting. In Maryland, cursive has been part of the state’s English curriculum guidelines since 2013, said Cherie Duvall-Jones, a spokesperson for the Maryland State Department of Education.

But “with any curriculum, teachers have to make choices. Things take priority from year to year,” said Allison Brook, a specialist in Baltimore County’s English department.

Now, cursive is back in the forefront.

Baltimore County piloted cursive at 24 schools last year for second, third and fourth grade students. Parents at Seventh District Elementary loved it, according to Principal Heather Denmyer.

Brittany Ferrari, a fourth grade teacher at the school, said she’s heard parents complain that it’s hard to read their kids’ writing, but cursive forces them to slow down. ”They have to take the time to really think about how they’re forming those letters,” she said.

In a demonstration of cursive instruction the week before school began, Ferrari slowly glided her stylus across a smart board to show six students how to write the lowercase letters “c” and “a.”

“We want one smooth motion. Come around, touch the bottom,” she said as 6-year-old Annie Sager practiced writing on lined paper.

Treasure Zimmerman, a specialist in the district’s English Language Arts office, said cursive instruction will start around February. Second graders will get an introduction to the letters, then progress to words. Third grade will look similar, since most schools have not taught cursive in second grade.

Oliver Goodwin, 9, learned cursive last year in third grade as part of the pilot.

“It was kind of hard,” back then, he said. But he likes it better than writing in manuscript, the print writing style all kids learn.

Learning cursive “supports students’ fine motor development, letter formation, writing fluency, and overall confidence as writers,” the school system’s web page states. “When students can write more automatically, they can focus more attention on generating ideas, organizing thoughts, and communicating clearly.”

It also helps students to read historical documents, family letters, signatures and more, the school district stated.

And since it activates different parts of the brain, cursive is a lot better for students with dysgraphia, a neurological condition that makes it hard to turn thoughts into words, and dyslexia, a learning disability that makes it hard to read, write and spell, Ferrari said.

In Harford County, education officials believe that cursive has the potential to improve reading achievement, fluency and spelling, said Jillian Lader, a spokesperson for the school district. It will also help students sign their names on documents, she said.

The district is using free resources from the Iowa Reading Research Center for its cursive instruction, along with in-house English materials to create a teacher manual and student practice book. It will cost the district $3,000.

Once students get to fourth and fifth grades, they’ll be expected to have neat and legible cursive writing “when handwriting is preferable or technology is unavailable,” Lader said.

The cursive resurgence is being celebrated among a growing number of families who want less technology in classrooms.

Amanda Garratt, a parent who runs Baltimore County’s Schools Beyond Screens chapter, said she’s excited for cursive to be part of the curriculum. She and other parents have been pushing back against the time students are spending on laptops in classrooms.

Devices distract kids from learning, she and other Schools Beyond Screens members have said. But cursive is “better for reading and memory skills,” said Garratt.

A state bill to address laptops in classrooms is in the works, and Garratt said advocates want it to mandate cursive writing.

The National Education Association, the nation’s teachers union, stated in March that 27 states have laws that mandate or encourage cursive instruction. That’s nearly double the number of states a decade ago.

Kelsey Voltz-Poremba, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said she noticed the cursive comeback after the pandemic, when all students’ work took place on computers.

“We’re seeing that kids are really struggling because they’re not given these opportunities to write and practice cursive,” she said.

The way the brain works when typing is different from writing, Votz-Poremba said. Writing helps with motor skills as the brain and body work together while a student picks up and puts down a pencil to start a new word.

Any type of writing is going to help with fine motor skills, but the fluid motion of cursive made writing easier for kids she’s worked with, she said. Letters they often mixed up in print, like a lowercase “b” and “p,” are much more distinct in cursive.

“I think having the option between print, cursive, typing, is more beneficial than just forcing kids one way or another,” she said.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.