It's a horrible trend:
Doubt about the continued worth of handwriting skill is "similar to what happened with math as calculators and computers came into vogue," said Daniel A. Domenech, the executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, which co-sponsored the gathering with Zaner-Bloser, a Columbus, Ohio, company that produces a handwriting curriculum. "People wondered whether students needed to learn how to do math. The answer in both cases is absolutely yes. Writing is not obsolete."
Proponents of teaching—in some cases, reintroducing—handwriting in the school curriculum say their concern over the fading importance of handwriting became more urgent with the advent of the Common Core State Standards. The standards, which were released in 2010 and have been adopted by all but four states, mention keyboarding but not handwriting.
"The conversation about handwriting instruction has been growing," said Kathleen Wright, the coordinator of this week's event and the national product coordinator at Zaner-Bloser.
It isn't just a matter of knowing how to sign one's name to legal documents or aesthetics, it also has to do with students being able to master fine motor skills and sharpen cognitive function. Handwriting teaches these in spades.
Unfortunately, there are teachers out there who don't even know how to write cursive, so how would they even know how to teach it?
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