Teacher on cursive: Worth its weight in gold [View all]
Susan Elson teaches third grade at the Cottonwood Elementary School in Fernley. She’s been a third grade teacher in Lyon County for eight years. She teaches cursive writing to her students for more reasons than instructing legible penmanship: she believes some students’ fine motor skills developed through cursive writing are lacking and affecting their language and speech-learning capabilities.
After reading this column’s recent remarks containing the pros and cons of teaching cursive writing in elementary school, Susan e-mailed, saying she felt compelled to comment. I believe her experience in the classroom and obvious love for children makes her viewpoint worth its weight in gold:
“There are some commonalities I see with most of my students who have poor handwriting abilities. First, as you mentioned, [there’s] poor or weak pencil grasp…I am stunned to see so many third graders who cannot cut on a line. Second, most of my students who have poor handwriting (I’m talking illegible) are also kids who have speech and language issues.”
She adds: “Talk to Speech and Hearing professionals. They will tell you how crucial fine motor is to language and speech. These professionals can give you all the technical information on how this happens.”
more . . . http://www.rgj.com/article/20120808/FERNLEY08/308080092
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