Are We Still Teaching Cursive?

I remember pages and pages of drill exercises when I was in first through 3rd or 4th grade. Scratchy lines, long coils, curvy lines, and more. All so I could learn to write cursive.

Now, ask me when was the last time I used cursive. Probably 3rd or 4th grade, and it was most likely an assignment for the cursive lessons.

So when do we actually use it today?

Heck, I even have some letters from my late grandmother that I can't really read easily. She wrote cursive, and she taught me, and I can't even read it!

As I've been designing the homeschool curriculum, I came across writing lessons in one of the sections. And one of them branches into cursive.

I think I'm going to skip this altogether and maybe I'll even ask you to follow me on this. I mean, why are we teaching kids to write in cursive?

Penmanship?

Does it develop any part of the brain that can't be developed with more artistic focused productive activities?

Maybe I should read up about this to find the answers, but in reality, today I just want to rant and write about this. Let's just get rid of cursive, no?

If it was penmanship, then I would argue that we should get rid of that as well. I have a feeling that my kids won't be writing much if at all when they're over 20 years old. I hardly ever need to write anything on paper.

I think soon we'll have something even beyond typing that will replace most methods of written communication. I mean Elon is moving forward with Neuralink, I think in our lifetime we'll be able to “just send thoughts” to each other. Wouldn't that be something?