Khaberni - Cursive writing is gradually declining, with letters previously written in one continuous line, being phased out from school curricula in many countries, replaced by keyboards and digital tasks.
However, interest in this skill has begun to return in recent years.
New Jersey has become the latest American state to mandate cursive writing instruction for students in third to fifth grade, joining about twenty other states that have passed similar legislation over the past decade. Conversely, this skill has not been removed from school curricula in countries like France, Brazil, and Russia.
Former New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy, pointed out that cursive writing might provide cognitive benefits, supported by recent scientific research which suggests that handwriting activates the brain more than typing. Neuroscientist Karen Harman James from Indiana University, who has been studying handwriting for over twenty years, indicates that many American students have lost the ability to write in cursive since 2010. Her experiments show that children who write by hand activate brain regions associated with reading, an effect not observed in those who type digitally.
Neuroscientist Audrey van der Meer from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has reached similar conclusions, finding that handwriting enhances brain regions responsible for learning and memory.
Educational researcher Virginia Berninger believes that teaching printed writing in the early grades is beneficial since most educational texts are formatted in this way; however, mastering cursive in later stages grants children greater writing speed and reduces errors by the fourth grade.
A Canadian study showed that second grade students who learned only one style of writing performed better than those who learned more than one style. Researchers confirm that, so far, there is no conclusive evidence that one writing style surpasses another, yet cursive writing contributes to improving fine motor skills and attention, as well as being part of the cultural heritage worth preserving.
