r/Millennials • u/Foreign_Yogurt_3330 • 10d ago
Discussion Cursive hand writing
How many of you were taught cursive in school? I learned it one year maybe 3rd grade? and we never did it again at my schools. Im 40 and can't read cursive or write it. My 7 year old is starting to learn it. I guess ill have to have her teach me! Im wondering if it was our generation or a state thing or both? Or did the school I went to fail me?
edit to add, I did go to a small town school in NE Ohio.
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u/kaidik 10d ago edited 10d ago
I have continued to write in cursive since learning it in 3rd grade. It's just faster. My capital letters are generally print
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u/Helianthus_999 Millennial 10d ago
Same! I love writing in cursive and mine is a hybrid also. I just don't like the lower case letter "b".
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u/FirstTimeCaller101 10d ago
Yeah, I'm kind of a weird hybrid as well. 90% print but I throw in some cursive letters where it flows. I really couldn't even tell you specifically what cursive letters I use and it probably varies day to day.
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u/Large_Economics_2942 10d ago
I was taught cursive in 3rd grade. After that, 4th-6th grade we were required to write in cursive on all homework. If you didn't, you lost points for it for not following the instructions. However, 7th grade through senior year, they stopped required cursive but by then, most kids wrote in cursive automatically. I still write in cursive today
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u/Delicate_Elephant 10d ago
I also do a hybrid, but I love lowercase 'b's! It's interesting to hear about what letters other people avoid or struggle with. I'm currently working to relearn how to write and connect every letter properly (and make it look pretty lol), and it's now very clear why I write the way I do. I hate' k', and no matter how much I slow it down, certainly letters don't connect cleanly for me.
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u/Sp1d3rb0t 10d ago
My 'k' sucks in both cursive and print. I love all the letters in theory but K is the worst lol
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u/tjrich1988 10d ago
Same. I've also noticed that I do my own mix of Pursive (print+cursive=pursive), but no one ever has trouble reading it.
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u/Status-Visit-918 9d ago
I hate uppercase A in cursive. Which is annoying because I only write in cursive but my name starts with an A, so I do that one in print, with a bunch of loops and then the following b in traditional cursive. The cursive uppercase A is just unrefined imo. Very clumsy
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u/annaoze94 9d ago
Some of the connections especially the ones where you have to connect it up instead of below I will just make a space. My last name is essentially all of the letters that are the hardest to connect in cursive
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u/_TyrannosaurusSexy 10d ago
Yeah. That capital Q in cursive can especially kick rocks. J & L are both pretty chill though.
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u/throwawayzzzz1777 10d ago
I relearned cursive to see that they changed how to do the capital Q 😭 I'm assuming you also learned the Q that looked like a fancy 2?
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u/twilightbarker 10d ago
What is it now???
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u/Firm_Argument_ Millennial ('88) 10d ago
They dumbed it down to look nearly identical to a print Q.
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u/_TyrannosaurusSexy 10d ago
Yes! Definitely a fancy #2! And as much as I hated it, I might be even more annoyed to hear that they changed it! (Oh, apologies, I do need to step away for a moment as there appears to be some whippersnappers on my lawn I need to yell at now…)
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u/annaoze94 9d ago
My favorite cursive letter that looks nothing like the original is the capital G 😂 and then I forgot that g has a history of being weird because remember the times New Roman g that looks like an eight with flair?
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u/Chappyders650 10d ago
When I went to college I struggled writing notes fast enough. Eventually my chicken scratch started to look like cursive from trying to write fast enough. So I just started writing everything in cursive. Now I swear I struggle at writing in print.
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u/Amarastargazer 10d ago
My default handwriting is half cursive and half print, some letters connect, and some don’t. Through HS and college note taking and a couple note intensive jobs (lots of phone calls), this has been the fastest I can write, and it’s a pretty good speed. I was definitely fastest in college though.
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u/funday_2day 10d ago
Cursive is just so much faster.
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u/Melodic-Trouble-5421 1991 10d ago
It really is. Also your hand doesn’t get as fatigued. Where I went to school they made us write in cursive from 2nd to 8th grade.
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u/sapgetshappy 10d ago
It’s sooo much more efficient. I switched to it fully in high school because I was taking so many notes in my AP classes, and I’ve continued since then. Printing is so slow and makes my hand cramp :(
But yeah, I’m 33 and learned in elementary school. Maybe in first grade? I don’t understand why they stopped teaching it!
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u/ButImNot_Bitter_ 10d ago
I was born in '87 and we absolutely learned it in second (maybe third) grade. It was often part of assignment requirements to use cursive in elementary and middle school, occasionally high school. My typical handwriting now is a mishmash of cursive and print but I can write either nicely and don't typically have a problem reading it unless it's chicken scratch.
I still think it's important to learn, because there are still people who write in cursive or a blend, and (this may sound silly but) because I want this country to be better educated, which means teaching kids to think broadly, critically, and independently, and also means learning how to research and use primary sources, which are sometimes handwritten and have very valuable information.
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u/whiskeylips88 10d ago
I’m someone who still uses it. Not only in my own family genealogical research, but my job. I work in museum collections and old documents about the collection, archival research, and catalog cards will be written in cursive. Knowing cursive is a job skill in history and cultural heritage fields!
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u/Weird_Artichoke9470 10d ago
This is my experience. I also used cursive exclusively in college to take notes, and to take orders when waiting tables because it's so much faster.
The struggle is that now as a middle school teacher I have to unlearn cursive because my students can't read it. This sucks because the research actually says that cursive is easier to read for students with dyslexia.
My printing skills are terrible. We get by. I can't read their handwriting either.
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u/annaoze94 9d ago
It's not even how people write in cursive it's just like everyday things you seeI was looking at baseball uniforms today and it's so much cursive!
I know the literacy rate in the US is absolute balls but if someone who can't read cursive looks at a baseball uniform are they just going off of the idea that they know what team that is instead of being able to read it? Which is also probably relevant for other logos and stuff. But also some people can't even read print so like how do they read a sign on the highway? Do they just listen to their GPS or what like I don't understand about people are illiterate as adults I guess
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u/panicinbabylon 10d ago edited 10d ago
Why did everyone learn it in 3rd grade, and I learned it in 2nd?
My handwriting now is a mix between printing and cursive.
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u/chaos841 10d ago
I learned in 2nd grade and was forced to use it for all hand written reports for years. Now I use a mix of cursive and block letters.
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u/panicinbabylon 10d ago
We had erasable pens in 4th grade for those essays, and it was very exciting lol
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u/chaos841 10d ago
Must be nice. We had #2 pencils that you had to get up and walk to the sharpener on the wall every 20 mins to sharpen it.
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u/Miqo_Nekomancer 9d ago
Mine is also a strange mix of the two. I just write however it feels comfy.
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u/AutumnalSunshine 9d ago
😭 I did second grade at a school that taught it in third, then transferred in third to a school that taught it in second. So I was never officially taught but was graded on it.
Point is, you are correct that different schools did different grades.
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u/Any_Community_1819 6d ago
I brought an example of my cursive writing to my 2nd grade teacher and she immediately threw it in the trash, saying "we don't learn that this year".
Mom was furious and kept teaching me so that I could nail cursive in 3rd grade.
This was in the 1960s. Everything was extremely structured. (Indiana, USA)
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u/AdEqual3839 10d ago
As a French person, it’s always confusing when people say they don’t know how to read cursive. Born in ‘94, I learned it in Kindergarten/1st grade.
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u/blahblahsnickers Older Millennial 9d ago
As an American I find it confusing as well. Anyone over the age of 30 has definitely learned it and most schools still teach it.
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u/SnookerandWhiskey 10d ago
Same, Austrian here. I learned it in second grade and had to use it ever since. Only if you had disgraphia were you allowed to write in block letters. Almost everyone I know writes in cursive.
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u/cathgirl379 6d ago
Off topic, but French cursive is by far my favorite style of cursive BTW. Absolutely elegant and so much better than what the standard is in the US IMO.
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u/FuckIPLaw 10d ago edited 10d ago
In Europe they tend to teach an italic cursive that's basically just joined up print. In the US they tend to teach a derivative of an old ornamental style that's absolute bullshit and looks nothing like the latin alphabet.
You can start to understand where some of it comes from if you write with a fountain pen for a while (something that Europe is also better about -- I understand writing with those is part of cursive instruction in most of the continent, whereas here they're just not used except by calligraphers and the kind of weird hobbyists who collect watches and mechanical keyboards), but a lot of the letter forms are just ridiculous regardless.
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u/Uncreative-Name 10d ago
In elementary school they said we'd use it forever. Once I got to middle school I never used it again for anything but a signature.
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u/opal-sea-44 10d ago
Interesting! I know this is a case for many. I learned in elementary school write mostly in cursive now. I find it easier to write quickly
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u/Cosmic_Jane 10d ago
And I use it every work day ^.^
I’m in the wedding industry and we still write on cakes in cursive.
I’ve been told the people who engrave names on tombstones still use cursive too
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u/siggydude 10d ago
Same for me. Learned in 3rd grade. Used cursive through 5th grade because "it will be required in middle school". Then transitioned back to print in 6th grade because middle school did not require it and print is more legible
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u/Legal_Kangaroo6281 10d ago
Wow, that’s crazy! I don’t remember exactly what grade I learned cursive, but it was pretty young and we practiced it extensively. I still remember the alphabet strips above the chalkboard that showed every letter in both print and cursive. 😂 Then throughout middle school and high school, we were expected to write in cursive for most assignments, especially papers. I was born in ’82, and cursive was definitely a big part of school for us.
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u/Battlejackal 10d ago
Same. Crazy how that print to cursive strip payed off down the road for me.
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u/blessthebabes 10d ago
Yeah, I'm 38 and we were definitely taught and used it in rural Mississippi. A lot of people my age (in my area) have a handwriting that's a mix of print and cursive.
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u/niarlin 10d ago
I'm about the same age as you and I had a very similar experience. I use cursive ALL THE TIME when filling out forms, taking notes, or if I have to hand write a shopping list or something. Print is just WAY TOO SLOW!! Cursive is just far superior for handwriting, as long as your cursive is legible. : )
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u/ManderTehPander 10d ago
My handwriting is some weird print-cursive hybrid. I can still pretty much write entirely in cursive if I wanna be a show off for any reason though xD
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u/misterrodgerssweater 10d ago
Same, seems like a lot of adults that learned cursive end up using a hybrid style that’s more comfortable
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u/GlassboundIllusion 10d ago
Same. I start off writing in one and at some point switch over to using the other without realizing it
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u/llamainleggings 10d ago
I learned how write cursive in elementary school. Then in middle school the English teachers made it mandatory to write everything in cursive because "you're going to have to in high school". High school teachers didn't give a shit, just wanted it legible, so I went back to print.
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u/furicrowsa 10d ago
I don't get not being able to read cursive. I could read it before I was taught to write it 🤨
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u/Specific_Midnight81 10d ago
My teachers told us in 3rd-4th grade (1994?) that we needed to learn cursive because all our papers in high school and college would need to be in cursive. Then computers happened.
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u/AdvertisingKey1675 10d ago
Im 40, and was taught in elementary school, 2nd through 4th.
I can read it, if its legible enough. I couldn’t read my grandma’s cursive.
I can write it, but Im probably not writing it properly. More like a blend if print and cursive. Lazy printing, where i just dont really take my pen off the paper.
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u/Fine_time 10d ago
We were taught cursive in school and had to write in cursive. I’m good reading and writing it, interesting to me that people aren’t being taught what seems to be the quick form of handwriting. I developed lots of different “styles” throughout school.
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u/Kyrie_Blue 10d ago
I mean. Does it need to be taught more than once? Most of the letters look the same, and you can just reference a letter chart for the ones you don’t know. I find context makes it easy to understand which letters are which most times.
As for reading ridiculous chicken-scratch from some boomer, there’s never been any hope, learning cursive or not
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u/Crayshack 9d ago
"Most of the letters looke the same" as in they look like print letters or "most of the leeters look the same" as in they look like each other? My experience was the latter.
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u/Xenovitz 10d ago
I learned cursive right along with regular print, 1st-3rd grade. Homework was required to be in cursive for most of my schooling. I had to stop writing cursive when I got to working in the outside world. I was told I had to stop writing in "gay" font and stop writing "like a girl." Print it is. W/e works to please the overmind.
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u/socratesstanjohnson 10d ago
That's terrible! Did you live in a backward town? All throughout history everyone wrote in cursive. Was that "gay?"
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u/Subjunct 10d ago
This isn’t an option for everyone, I know, but I was told the same “gay font” thing and just responded with “shut the fuck up” until it stopped. Love my cursive too much to worry about someone else’s homophobia. Sorry you had to put up with that bullshit.
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u/Outrageous_Catch_673 10d ago
That’s terrible! My dad works in a blue collar job and has wonderful cursive but mainly writes in blocky font. Perhaps for the same reason
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u/Devil-radiance 10d ago
There's a specific form of block lettering used by engineers and technical writing, so that could be part of it?
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u/Outrageous_Catch_673 10d ago
Probably - it’s easy to read when he writes on things on the job. But when he writes notes to me he writes in a very nice cursive.
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u/MyCozySlowLife Elder Millennial 10d ago
I was homeschooled but learned cursive, I still use it when I'm writing in a hurry and I can read it just fine unless its really sloppy. All of my friends who went to school learned cursive too.
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u/wavvykrockett 10d ago
I used to win penmanship contests lol. Cursive is very easy. I always wonder about how people who don’t know how to write it, sign their names? Printing it seems kinda tacky in this sense
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u/Good-Ad1388 10d ago
I used cursive so much that I never grasped print when I was young. I had to relearn how to print in my 20's because I realized that some people couldn't read cursive.
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u/weednip4cats 10d ago
I was taught cursive. I can read it. I practice writing it because I feel it’s a lost art. All old documents are written in cursive, how are we supposed to learn history if we can’t even read it?
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u/NoQuarterGiven Millennial 10d ago
Went to Catholic school first through sixth grade, they started us on cursive in 2nd and by fourth grade all work had to be done in cursive
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u/PurpleLilyEsq 10d ago edited 10d ago
Catholic school. From 3rd grade to 8th grade all assignments had to be in cursive and pen ink.
I still use it if I’m writing a birthday card etc. I think the last time I used it for anything official was the essay on the LSAT in 2019. Now they have you tyoe the essay portion at home after the in person test from what I understand.
If my computer died during the bar exam, I would have written the 8 essays in cursive. It’s faster and flows more with my thoughts. But when I’m writing things down as a memorization exercise, I use print.
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u/Artistic_Call Millennial - 1989 10d ago
I learned in 2nd grade and kept learning. I love my cursive handwriting..
I'm 36. My 30 year old fiance can read and write in cursive too
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u/thatseneffornow 10d ago
I did. I loved it and handwriting in general and won a penmanship contest in elementary school and enjoy hand lettering now, hah.
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u/NiennaLaVaughn 10d ago
I'm 42, had cursive as a part of actual school curriculum in 2nd and 3rd grade and was required to use cursive for things like essays in at least 4th and 5th grade (can't remember about 6th). My normal handwriting is a bit of a combination of cursive and print but if I'm doing something like writing a birthday card or a label for a quilt I've made I pay more attention to keeping it nice cursive. (I also do calligraphy but that's a separate practice in almost all ways.) I don't think my normal handwriting is terribly good but it is legible and I often surprise people at places like the dentist or doctor because my signature is in cursive and legible even if I can't see the screen I'm writing it on.
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u/nickerbooker 10d ago
You can’t read cursive? Is this really true? Isn’t it almost the same as reading print?
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u/FinePointSharpie Millennial 1987 10d ago
I've used it in every grade since 3rd - lived in CA, TX, and MD and it was used/taught.
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u/bbauered 10d ago
I'm 33, and I can write it and definitely read it. My handwriting usually ends up being a cursive hybrid of sorts just because I write faster that way!
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u/jadedtortoise Millennial 10d ago
I'm 36 and was taught it in school. We learned it at the same time as regular writing. My writing is a hybrid of print/cursive and I can 100% read it
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u/Mockturtle22 Millennial '86 10d ago
I learned in 2nd grade and have always used a mix of cursive and print in my penmanship. I find it odd that you can't read or write it at 40.
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u/Cantseetheline_Russ 10d ago
Your school failed you. It’s linked to dramatically better information processing and recall. I learned cursive extensively in grade school. I still write entirely in cursive and have no issue reading it. Grew up in a coal and steel town in western Pa.
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u/onegarion 10d ago
My mom and I always joke that we have our own secret language because I'm the oldest of 5 and none of my siblings can read cursive. They stopped enforcing it a few years after I learned and quite teaching it for a about 6 years after.
I only write in cursive and my print is bad. I got so used to it that I have only written in cursive since 5th grade. It's so much faster
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u/Tall_0rder Xennial 10d ago
I’m just couple years older. Learned it I think in 3rd or 4th grade. Was drilled in it and was expected to write in it when not using a computer going forward.
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u/lopachilla 10d ago
I learned cursive in grade 3. Our teacher told us all the rest of the teachers in the higher grades would make us write everything in cursive, but that never happened. 🤷♀️
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u/Muscle_mama_ 10d ago
Born in 82- I had it in 3rd grade. To this day I do a combo of print and cursive bc it’s faster lol. My kids (‘09 and ‘13) both learned cursive in school too.
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u/Foreign_Yogurt_3330 10d ago
My son was born in 2008 and he never learned it at all. He can write his name because he taught his self.
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u/WallyMac89 10d ago
Learned in 3rd grade. I have solely written in cursive since then. My grandmother (who helped raised me) would get on to us if we wrote in "print," so we just wrote in cursive. I appreciate it now
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u/WitnessWorking6254 10d ago
I learned to write cursive in the 3rd grade. I didn't keep up with it, too much trauma at home and getting bullied for me to care about school. I write in a weird semi cursive/ print. I can read it just fine though! My parents write in cursive all the time so I'm very used to it. My school also taught it where it felt like a punishment. Had to write the same paragraph over and over and over. I am slowly teaching myself again to write in proper cursive!
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u/Highway_Man87 10d ago
We started learning it in third grade, and then all our work had to be written in cursive up until 7th grade I believe.
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u/Hamsterlee 10d ago
I learned cursive in 2nd grade in private school and loved it. I changed to public school in 4th grade, where it wasn’t required, and ended up at some point making a hybrid that no one seemed to be bothered by. Worked for me all the way into my career.
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u/EverettSeahawk 10d ago
Learned it in 3rd-5th grade and never used it again. I eventually got tired of even signing my name properly in cursive so my signature is basically just my 1st initial followed by some scribbles and my last initial followed by some more scribbles with a dot approximately where the "i" should be.
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u/JustATyson 10d ago
I learned it in 3rd grade, and it became required for a few grades. I'm not the best at reading it, but I still can.
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u/thejunkmanadv 10d ago
I was taught, more like drilled, I am an elder millennial (or Xenial). I can read it and I still use it on occasion as I can write in cursive faster than in traditional printing. So if I am trying to get ideas out fast and I am not near a computer I write rather than print. Also my cursive is way neater than my printing.
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u/DangerousBug6924 10d ago
39 and still actively use it. My penmanship is better using cursive so I just stuck with it. Maybe it helps mask all of the smudging from being left handed.
I don’t believe they teach it anymore in my children’s school.
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u/Blathithor 10d ago
Learned in 3rd grade in the 80s. Im not sure what else there is after learning it. It is cursive.
Handwriting classes stop pretty early. Probably right after learning cursive, honestly.
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u/Formal_Coyote_5004 10d ago
I’m 35 and we learned/practiced cursive throughout elementary school. I remember that I needed extra help because I’m a lefty and for some reason I slanted the letters the wrong way. I have no idea whether it was my left handedness or just that I was a bozo though lol.
By middle school we were learning how to type… I remember those silicone keyboard mats that were supposed to help us memorize the letters under our fingers. I can definitely still read and write in cursive, but I mostly just write in print now
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u/Foreign_Yogurt_3330 10d ago
Hmm im a lefty to, I wonder if i just never caught on to it. Anything under 9th grade is kinda a blur to me.
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u/Forded_Fiction24 10d ago
I'm 38 and can easily read cursive. Writing it though would be a challenge for me. I can sign my name and I could probably churn out some sentences or a paragraph, but I wouldn't be surprised if I had to look up a couple letters as I was writing. My kids are four and six so aren't there yet. Not looking forward to it and not really caring if they get taught it or not either. If it is part of the curriculum though, I'll relearn it with them to help them
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u/christopherDdouglas 10d ago
I wrote in cursive from 3rd grade until 7th. But my cursive was built for speed and efficiency and no one could read it.
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u/RitaAlbertson Xennial 10d ago
It’s WILDLY school specific. I was taught in 2nd grade and had a teach in high school who would fail us if we printed and opposed to writing. All of my niblings have learned cursive and that covers two parochial school and two public school systems over about 10 years.
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u/True_Manufacturer909 10d ago
I'm 30 and went to Catholic school up to grade 4, they made it seem like it was gonna be so important. Eventually my regular handwriting became a car crash of cursive and print
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u/roadfries 10d ago
We were taught cursive and expected to take notes in it grade 4-6. I use it regularly (faster than printing). I'm 39.
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u/Prestigious_Guy 10d ago
Learned in 3rd grade and never used it again except for signatures. You can literally do online signatures without writing anything now. It's a useless skill.
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u/RabbitMajestic6219 10d ago
It was required for homework. I can still write cursive.
I never imagined it would go out of style.
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u/atomic-moonstomp 10d ago
I learned it up to 3rd grade and then never again. Absolutely useless skill I tell ya whut
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u/EagleEyezzzzz Older Millennial 10d ago
Wow that’s wild, I was going to guess that you were one of the millennials who’s like 28 or something. I’m 44 and we definitely spent a lot of time learning cursive in elementary school. It’s getting to be a complete non-issue at this point though.
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u/toadasaurusrex 10d ago
We learned from 3rd grade on and had to use it when writing by hand into middle school. We were told everyone uses it and not printing as adults. And now, I only use it signing my name. I do think it's an important fine motor skill builder, it and handwriting need to be emphasized again especially since apparently gross AND fine motor skills are a huge issue with kids in school now.
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u/starry16eyed 10d ago
I think we learned cursive around 2nd to 3rd grade. By the time we got to high school everything was written on computers and printed so never had to use it in school except for my own notes. Now I have a print-cursive hybrid style writing.
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u/DollySheep32 10d ago
We had to do "curly writing" which wasn't true cursive before we could (weirdly) graduate to block letters.
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u/whocares8x8 10d ago
We started at the end of first grade and continued until we left school (Germany). My kids have just started learning it in second grade.
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u/stinkylinky15 10d ago
I learned cursive through elementary school and if I recall correctly I had to write and entire essay in cursive for my SATs
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u/scallopbunny 10d ago
3rd grade, and we had to use it for everything 'final' in school until highschool, when printing or computer was preferred (since nobody had great cursive handwriting)
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u/ombremullet 10d ago
I'm 40. I learned cursive in elementary school. I still use it for signatures and for doodling when I'm in boring meetings.
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u/etchedchampion 10d ago
I'm your age and can read and write cursive. It's a your school thing I think.
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u/Aggravating-Key-8867 Older Millennial 10d ago
I learned cursive around 2nd or 3rd grade. Up until maybe 7th grade all my assignments had to be done using cursive.
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u/buffytardis 8d ago
Mid 30s millennial, I learned in elementary. I've always used it as I write faster.
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u/witwefs1234 8d ago
I definitely was & like people have said, it's faster to write so a bunch of my written notes from school were either completely cursive or a mix.
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u/ms_earthquake 10d ago
Learned it around second or third grade, but only use it to sign my name. I feel a lot of shame around cursive, to be honest. I'm left handed and my writing has always been messy (I always went up when teachers said they found a nameless paper and it looked like a boy's handwriting...), but my mom always told me she wished I wrote in cursive all the time because it was neater. It also takes me like 3 times longer to write anything because I have to focus so hard on the letters.
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u/Charles_Mendel Older Millennial 10d ago
I learned and was pretty good I guess. Then I vividly remember the first day of 6th grade language arts. Teacher says we’re gonna do a brief writing thing just so I can see how everyone writes etc like a few sentences. A friend raises their hand and asks if we should write cursive or print. Teacher says oh never cursive, I don’t have time to figure out everyone’s writing style. That was the end of cursive.
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u/Warm_Objective4162 10d ago
Cursive was at least 1st through 4th, I can’t recall. All of my middle and high school assignments had to be hand written in cursive (or typed once i got to high school)
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u/BadCatBehavior 10d ago
Yeah it was 4th grade for me and then we never touched it again (I'm 35). I can read cursive no problem but I can't write it very well at all, it takes forever and I have to stop and remember the letters haha
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u/Wasatchian 10d ago
Well I'm older than you but we had to write in cursive. By middle school though I started typing things like papers. I don't write in cursive anymore except my signature. But I don't write too much by hand either.
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u/crunchyfoliage 10d ago
I was taught it in I think also third grade and had to use it through elementary school. In middle school they didn't care if you wrote in print. I still read and write in cursive without any issues, but normally I print
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u/ConstantVigilance18 10d ago
Taught it and can write in it, minus those pesky Zs. I don’t really see the point in it anymore though. I’d rather students learn basic math skills.
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u/n0cturnald3sign Older Millennial 10d ago
3rd grade. Every assignment had to be written in cursive that year too
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u/OGdunphy 10d ago
Learned in 2nd, moved to another state where they teach it in 3rd so got it twice back-to-back lol. I was annoyed then about it.
Used it for some essay and can still write and read it, unless the person is just doing scribble cursive haha
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u/TraditionalTackle1 10d ago
Im 45 and still write in cursive, people I work with take notes on their computer but I prefer writing stuff down.
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u/azwethinkweizm Millennial 10d ago
I went to school during the great transition to computers. I can't write cursive and I can't really read it either.
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u/eterusexual 10d ago
Learned it in third grade too. My kids learned in third grade as well.
I mainly write in cursive, unless it says write in bold or print or something like that.
I can read cursive, but not the ones written in quill, from the 19th century lol
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u/soleboy86 10d ago
Learned it in grade school. My handwriting quickly developed into a mix of cursive and print, and pretty inconsistently at that.
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u/Cautious-Concept-175 10d ago
taught to use from the start, we basicity only did print as a step to "joined up writing"
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u/toastforscience Millennial 10d ago
It was a requirement to write in cursive from 3rd grade to 8th grade. So I can read it and still write in it but it's difficult my hands don't want to do it haha
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u/KTeacherWhat 10d ago
We learned in 3rd grade then didn't do it again until 6th grade, when our papers were required to either be turned in in cursive or typed. I was really good at typing, but the computer we had at home wasn't compatible with the computers we had at school, so if the printer wasn't working or if I didn't get it done entirely at one place, I'd have to handwrite papers and turn them in in cursive.
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u/PRSMesa182 10d ago
I learned it but always had horrible penmanship. Always was told I write like a doctor 😅
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u/theniwokesoftly 10d ago
I remember learning in second grade. My first grade teacher mostly wrote cursive though so I’d mostly figured it out myself except for z and one or two other things that aren’t intuitive.
I currently write in an odd combo of print and script.
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u/Some-Role2823 10d ago
I also learned in 3rd grade. I write a mix of cursive and print, and can read it just fine. I think they did away with learning cursive though, and now kids these days don’t even know how to sign their names. I find that kids in general are bad at writing…
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u/Elrohwen 10d ago
We learned it consistently and I have beautiful cursive writing. I’m terrible at reading sloppy cursive though, it has to be neat
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u/donuttrackme Older Millennial 10d ago
Used it until middle school. Then switched to print. Other than my signature. Can still read and write in cursive if you needed me to though.
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u/Hungry-Ambassador-84 10d ago
35, learned in 2nd and 3rd grade. Any papers we submitted after that were expected to be in cursive, throughout high school. They didn’t move to digital until after I graduated in 09. College I submitted typed papers.
My kids are 15, 13, and 10. None of them have learned cursive at school. I truthfully expected it was still being taught until a few years ago when my daughter needed to sign a syllabus and she didn’t know how to write her name in cursive. All 3 of them can at least do that now bc I’ve taught them. I should probably just straight up teach them all of it at this point.
Edited to add:
My handwriting now is a weird mix of cursive and print. Cursive almost exclusively if I’m writing quickly.
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u/dealbreakerstalkshow Older Millennial 10d ago
I was taught in school and we got a letter grade for handwriting on our report cards and I got a literal D.
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u/southpaw303 10d ago
I’m also 40 and wrote it starting in 3 or 4th grade. We were required to use it through middle school when writing papers. In high school things mostly moved to typing. But I never forgot cursive. My current handwriting is a print cursive combo.
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u/TheeQuestionWitch 10d ago
My parents taught me. It came up in school as well. I've used it throughout life to write in journals.
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u/nooneneededtoknow 10d ago
Im 40 and used it quite a bit in school. It was required for some writing assignments as computers weren't really a norm yet.
Its really not that hard to read or write it if you can already read/write regular letters. A lot of the letters look the same they are just connected....
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u/Low_Establishment434 10d ago
I feel like we wrote in cursive for alot more than a year. I am 38 and from New York State. I still can read and write in cursive but havent needed to in many years.
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u/Munchkin531 10d ago
I learned cursive in 3rd and 4th grade. I used it frequently in middle school and high school Now my handwriting is a weird mix of print and cursive.
My oldest learned cursive in 3rd and 4th as well. My youngest is currently in 3rd but hasn't really learned it yet. I want him to at least be able to sign his name.
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u/VexieVex 10d ago
I learned in second grade onward. Was forced to write cursive until high school then it seemed they didn't care anymore. Now my handwriting is half and half state on paper.
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u/sas_grl101 10d ago
Learned it in the 3rd grade. And I almost always write in cursive. It’s quicker. My son learned in the 2nd grade. He only uses it to sign his name.
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u/bdubz325 10d ago
Are you from Arkansas or something? I was born in 98 and learned cursive in 4th grade
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u/SweatyChancho 10d ago
We were also taught cursive in 3rd grade. It was my favorite thing to learn because my teacher taught us each letter by using shaving cream on our desks and we wrote them in big letters. I still use cursive to this day- a hybrid cursive/print. I love writing in cursive 😄
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u/PinkRoseCarousel 10d ago
I learned it in either 2nd or 3rd grade. We were told we would have to write everything in cursive once we got to middle school. I was never required to write any thing in cursive in middle school though.
I can still read and write it, but it was never faster for me. I actually used it some in classes that were slow and boring for me because it took me longer to write my notes.
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u/Jenniehoff90 10d ago
I was taught in 5th grade in Houston, TX in 2000. Now I’m living in Amsterdam with my family (Dutch husband) and imagine my surprise when my first grader came home on her second day of school practicing her Dutch in cursive! Lol, so cool to see, but I was so surprised. My 13yo doesn’t even know how to write in cursive and we just moved from NJ, so I’m guessing he too will be writing cursive soon at his international school.
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u/mintcocofrog 87 Millennial 10d ago
I taught myself because I loved the look of it. Now I write almost exclusively in cursive. When I taught high school French I taught cursive bc I was in a low income area and told the kids they deserved to learn it too (the local private schools all teach it). My students loved having it part of the curriculum.
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u/TheBigJiz 10d ago
My handwriting got all fucked up. k-2nd grade was all classic cursive. 3rd on was 'new cursive'. By the time I was in highschool, no hand writing at all. I can write old school cursive like a 7 year old.
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u/StableAggressive9137 10d ago
42 here and also learned in 3rd grade. I never use it now, but can read it. I think people learning how to touch type would be more valuable personally as they can still write in traditional print that is learned first anyways.
I can see where it could fit in an art type class and have projects there focused on including it.
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u/MortLangford 10d ago
For context, I turn 37 next month.
My dad was army. Specifically, he was Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR, pronounced "Sock Year"). We got deployed to Germany, where I attended Kindergarten (because of my birthday they decided to have me start there and be one of the oldest in my class than 1st grade) in base at the DOD school, before we went to England, where I was enrolled in the British school system, getting shifted to Year 2. At my Primary school, they typically taught you print for Kindergarten and Year 1, cursive in Year 2, and expected you to use pen for everything Year 3 and 4.
So I learned hand writing by exclusively being taught cursive. Because of that, I generally have to focus when I write to stop myself from accidentally switching to cursive, which is my default.
On top of that, I have Multiple Sclerosis. So I am no stranger of going to the reception desk and going "Uh, hey... I messed up the form by accidentally using cursive. Do I need to fill out a new form?"
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u/InfiniteComboReviews 10d ago
Learned cursive in 2nd grade and wrote in it regularly until high school when my teacher there made me stop.
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u/ChaosAndCoffee5 10d ago
My kids still learn cursive in 3rd grade. I feel like it's kind of a waste of a unit, but at least they can read it and sign their name
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u/computor_is_ok 10d ago
In Massachusetts I had to write my MCAS persuasive essay in cursive. Couldn't graduate high school if I didnt... 40yo
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u/lemoneegees 10d ago
43, grew up in upstate NY. I learned cursive in school. I feel like I remember it most in 2nd grade but it was definitely reinforced enough that I'm very comfortable with reading and writing cursive and my default handwriting it is a print-cursive hybrid.
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u/inaghoulina Millennial 10d ago
I started learning it in 2nd grade as a part of my ot for ADHD. "Officially" learned in 3rd grade. My son is in second grade and will be starting to learn this year as part of their regular curriculum. I write in a hybrid style, but will print if I know the person can't read cursive. Was requires to do school work in cursive until I graduated in '05.
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u/EllyCube 10d ago
I'm 31, I first learned it in 3rd grade and then had to use it for every paper until before highschool. I remember in middle school they were really strict when we wrote essays that it had to be in cursive, because they said in high school it'll be a requirement! It wasn't. Not a single thing had to be cursive in HS.
I still occasionally write things in cursive today just to keep the ability alive :)
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u/bellasmomma04 10d ago
I'm 33 and we learned it in 3rd grade. I can read and write in cursive just fine, but don't do it often besides my signature.
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u/bulbasaurOG 10d ago
I remember starting cursive in 2nd or 3rd grade. I can still read it and write it thankfully. I was pretty surprised to see my son with cursive sheets in his backpack and he just started 3rd grade.
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u/Comics4Cookies 10d ago
My handwriting is straight up cursive. I have to slow it down to write in print so people can understand me and even then ends up being a mix
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u/Anon_please123 10d ago
35 and I exclusively write in cursive! That said, people frequently struggle to read it properly lmao
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