Cursive Writing ... When? How?

Dear Friends in Education.

Let me first thank you all for the wonderful and thought provoking responses to my questions on our mailing Group. Most you seem to be of the opinion that cursive should be optional and should be at a later stage of pre schooling or early primary..

I feel, Dear Shalet has so beautifully extended my thoughts.

Some how I am not yet convinced that Cursive writing should be completely eliminated... Because.. Handwriting do have its importance in mental and motor development as well an important means bring about psychomotor coordination. The formation of letters (either Cursive or Print) is important aspect of writing skill to be taught at pre-school and primary school level.

As rightly said by Shalet... the manner in which is taught is painful... the undue importance given to it and torture the children are subjected to is hurting.. and the age at which it starts is alarming.

Without mentioning the details I would narrate a practice I have witnessed in a school.
Most children do not go to nursery or play group before LKG.
LKG is the first exposure of a child outside the family. The children start writing after first three months of LKG. For the first three months they learn to recognise alphabets and master their standing sleeping strokes. After that straight they start writing small letters in cursive formation.

Normally we all start teaching writing by teaching Capital letters like I, T, H, E etc then we go to slanting line line N, M, and last the curves like P and B and U, G are taught. Children start reading to letter words like GO and TO etc before they ever write their first letter.

At a school I am quoting, to my horror; children start their first experience with writing small cursive letters. They learn capital cursive much later. Print letters are not taught at all. By the time the child finishes LKG, he/she learns all 'a to z 'small cursive letters. The first letter the child learns is small cursive 'e' and second is i'', and then the other vowels. the rest of the consonants are taught later. Can you imagine a three and half or a four years old child controlling curved strokes by a pencil to write cursive 'e'? How will be his hand writing and what permanent bad effect it will have on his/her handwriting? How many times he/ she go home with his corrected strokes by teachers in red ink? Can you imagine the torture the child will undergo till he/she masters a good handwriting? Based on some the posts on my blog... it takes 20 years. At the age of 25 a respondent gets remark of kiddish handwriting because he writes cursive at 25... and probably not yet developed steady strokes


Teaching vowels first and consonants later for learning of second language for children in primary school finds some logic... why mix phonics with writing and that too cursive at LKG level?

Cant it wait for some more time? Is this the best way to do it? Can you please explain why teach small letter first and capital letters later? Does any practicing doctors or pre-schooling expert in this group have opinion on it? Is LKG not too early? Can it wait till at least the child completes 6 years where fine motor skill development is almost complete.

I really wish very strongly on this subject... having dealt with secondary and higher classes always... I do not have direct experience or real case studies. Please Help..