A few weeks ago I was reading a post from Daria and couldn’t help but notice that her daughter (Grade 2) has far neater printing than my son (Grade 5).
Indy went through the exact same primary program, with the exact same teacher as Belle, and yet…let’s just say handwriting isn’t exactly his top priority. Interestingly, he does show interest in cursive and even seems to write more neatly when using it. It’s not something schools actively teach anymore, but I could (and probably should) start filling in those gaps at home.
Part of me wonders if it even matters anymore. With so much of life happening through typing, texting, and voice-to-text, does neat handwriting still have a place?
For the record, my own printing and cursive are both legible. But maybe this is one of those skills that’s quietly slipping into the “nice to have” category?
Your turn.
- Do you think neat handwriting still matters in today’s world?
- When was the last time you used cursive?
- What’s one skill you think is completely useless in today’s modern age?
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My handwriting isn’t that neat, but it is definitely legible. I’m going to blame being left-handed. My mum re-taught me to write cursive the old-fashioned way because she said the new, more upright way of doing cursive didn’t work for left-handers. The only full cursive I do now is my signature, but when I print, I do join some letters together for a bit of a mash-up. I mjch prefer to hand write lists and notes for myself, rather than typing.
Our son had a lot of problems with handwriting, and his writing still resembles that of a primary school student. Before he went into year 11 he was assessed by an OT and found to have the fine-motor skills of a 6 y.o. which meant he qualified for special consideration in exams and could use a computer. That really helped him in English and sound production, but his other subjects were maths, chemistry and physics, which he still needed to handwrite because it was just easier for those subjects. I doubt he handwrites much of anything now.
There is something so “grounding” to me about putting pen to paper. I often do a mash up of printing and writing, especially if I’m writing quickly.
I love your handwriting!
I mostly write by hand in my journal or for shopping and packing lists, but otherwise it’s all typing.
Reading “Gone with the Wind” (yes, I keep bringing it up!) made me realize how many once-essential skills – riding, sewing, even hunting – have quietly slipped in the “nice-to-have” category. It’s mind-boggling how much life has changed in just 150 years!
Sewing – now that is something I’m helpless at (also hunting and riding horses); sewing feels like a very handy skill but I don’t have it 🙁
Thanks for such a sweet compliment <3
I’m definitely in the handwriting matters camp! Your brain processes information via physically writing better than typing. In particular, taking notes by hand during a lecture and then rewriting them (organizing as needed as you go) afterwards is known to be an incredible study skill. Obviously there are people with physical issues with writing and for them typing is a huge lifesaver, but I’m definitely of the belief that writing things out ourselves is better for most people.
Your handwriting is lovely! Mine is meh. I had to practice it a lot as a kid but I just never put enough careful effort in to make it really nice.
That is EXACTLY how I handled taking notes when I was in university. I didn’t retain much from actual lectures, so always focused on taking good notes by hand. And then I would condense and re-write them by hand as I studied for exams.
My handwriting can be very neat, but I often write quickly and…well…the legibility does suffer a bit 😉
This is fascinating to me. I wrote in cursing, always have, and always will be. For my students, it can be hard, because I have gotten comments like: “what does this say?” I have noticed that students from other countries write in cursive: I had a Dutch student who did that and now I have a Brazilian student who does that, too.
I personally love but it’s not taught in schools. My daughter sees me do it and she tries to do it, too. Maybe one day she can learn.
My husband’s handwriting is atrocious- it’s messy AND it’s barely legible. lol but then again I find weird pleasure in writing by hand. He doesn’t.
When Birchie was here she was laughing about how she had to translate something in a movie that was written in cursive (I think for one of her stepsons) because the cursive wasn’t legible to this current generation.
Like you, I love writing things by hand.
Writing by hand helps me learn better- I don’t learn well if all I do is listen. My writing is messy, and a mix of print and cursive, but it works. I have to be thoughtful about writing on the board in class, but I print off a typed outline for the students to make things go more easily.
My kids all learned cursive in elementary, and at least 2 of my boys have better cursive than printing. The D’Nealian style was really good at prepping them for learning cursive.
This is me exactly. It’s why I always take notes at church. It really helps me concentrate and focus and process.
I’m a high school English teacher and I think that as long as writing us legible, it’s fine! I’ve moved to having my students hand write most of their work because they remember things better and it noticeably is soothing/focusing for them.
This is very reassuring. I will say his writing is legible for sure!
My kids school really emphasizes neat handwriting, and they teach cursive starting in second grade. I appreciate that they do that!
I still love handwriting certain things. It does have a different effect.
My kids had a teacher in Grade 2 that let kids work on cursive if they were interested (it’s not part of the official curriculum). Belle is fairly good and can read cursive, and Indy is interested, so that’s on me to move the needle on that skill!
Yes to handwriting. I have very poor writing, and when I was in my early 20s I learned to write in italic script, which helped a lot. As I’ve gotten older I write less, and my writing has gotten bad again. I’ve started practicing a bit, because it seems like a skill worth keeping up.
It is definitely a skill and something that one could conceivably get away without doing much at all these days. Past generations would be amazed at how infrequently some people put pen to paper!
My kids go to a French government school and can only write in cursive- they don’t teach printing. When we were thinking of moving and I was looking at alternate school systems in North America several told me they wouldn’t be able to accept my kids until they learned to print as the younger teachers (those under 30) can’t read it!! So seems like it’s been a dying art for a while.
This is fascinating!!
I love to read beautiful handwriting like yours. There’s so much personality in people’s handwriting. Mine has morphed into a combination of printing and cursive. I use cursive primarily when I need to take notes quickly. But if I’m making a list, it’s always printing.
Not too long ago I saw something online about people being recruited who could read cursive writing in order to ‘translate’ older documents. That cracked me up!
That’s hilarious! I will admit that sometimes I see cursive from a loooong time again and find it VERY hard to read. It’s so loopy and fancy. Mine is…not.
I also do a combo of print + cursive. I don’t really think about it, but I do it quickly and some letters it seems easier to lift my hand.
I use cursive a lot:
– in my journal
– when I write a card to someone
My handwriting isn’t great, especially when I’m scratching down a quick to do list or grocery list. But when writing a note to someone, I feel.like my handwriting looks nicer in cursive.
I use cursive for most things, even grocery lists. I think I’m always aiming for efficiency and I’m most efficient when I’m using cursive (or a fluid combo of cursive + printing).
My 11 year old has not great handwriting, enough that sometimes it’s a struggle to figure out what he’s writing! He forms some of his letters incorrectly (like writing a lowercase “a” clockwise instead of counter clockwise) which makes it worse I think. I noticed when he started writing in Kindergarten but I left it to his teachers thinking they would correct it if it was a problem (I don’t want to micromanage!) and nothing has ever been said and now I wish I had said something and worked on proper letter formation with him. I think it might be too late now!
Has anyone ever “changed” their handwriting? I’ve had phases over the years (especially in school) where I would use circles to dot “i” or made “a” like a Times New Roman font. I love fonts and pens and usually write in a mix of cursive and print. I’ve noticed the writing conditions (paper and pen/pencil) can dictate my print vs cursive proportions! If you enjoy fonts, the book “Just My Type” by Simon Garfield has lots of fun backstory on how different fonts came to be and their juicy stories.
YES! This is almost exactly what happened with Indy. Letter formation is all off (d, g, b, a) are all wonky. I KNOW his teacher taught them very specifically, but I didn’t want to micromanage, either. And Belle learned from the same teacher and does it “properly.” Like you, I feel like it may be very hard for him to “unlearn” this now. Oh well??
The one thing I have changed is how I make my 7. I ALWAYS put a line through them now. Not sure when I started that, but definitely didn’t do it in my younger years. Maybe in university?
Like another commenter, at my kids (French) elementary school, they only teach cursive. None of my kids know how to print, which is kinda funny. Looking at a sampling of writing from my kids and nieces/nephews, I really think there is a gender divide on “neatness” of the handwriting. I was taught both and use a hybrid in my everyday writing.
This is fascinating!
And I DO think female handwriting definitely tends toward being neater. I think Indy can’t be bothered to worry about it…he’d rather expend any extra energy being the first kid on the soccer court at recess 😉
Great questions! I never use cursive anymore. It’s not taught in schools here and my kids can’t read it. I wish I had nice, elegant hand writing (like you do, Elisabeth!) but even my printing is pretty messy. My son has messy handwriting (but we’ll blame that on the fact that he’s a lefty?) and my daughter’s printing is really weird. Like- for lower case y’s and g’s, the tail- instead of hanging below the line- is on the same line as the other letters ( if that makes any sense? So the main part of the letter looks like it’s floating above the other letters?) I guess somewhere along the way, her teachers just said “Oh well, it doesn’t really matter.” I think everyone should try to have legible handwriting, but in the end it doesn’t matter too much. And I hate to say it, but I think cursive is a dying art. Even to my eyes it looks old fashioned now, and I grew up with it.
I do think cursive is definitely a dying art. And it feels like it will die suddenly? Like if the next generation doesn’t learn then it will mostly disappear. That said, I feel like some “vintage” things are coming back in fashion. Vinyl records, for example. So maybe it will be “hip” to learn cursive soon?
Handwriting is a critical skill; pretty handwriting is “nice to know/have”. Cursive is faster to write. Mine is decent when I am being careful. IF YOUR POST OFFICE WOULD WAKE UP/SHAPE UP, you’d receive the letter I handwrote to you and then you could see if mine is legible. 😉
Gah. I am so sad about the postal strike. Harumph. Can’t wait to receive that letter…eventually.
oh i love hand writing things SO MUCH! obviously to each their own, but I think there is a certain satisfaction many people get from working things out by hand (men like my husband included – he loves his meticulously filled out in pencil running log).
I rarely write cursive though. I don’t know that cursive vs print matters much! (My kids DID learn cursive at school as it was part of the Montessori curriculum).
I kind of want to learn to write with fountain pens. 2026 goal . . .
Ohhh! That sounds like a very fun 2026 goal, Sarah. I would love to read all about your experiments with fountain pens.
Fun fact: one of my uncle’s is a pretty famous scientist and he won some big award in Europe and had to sign the same physical book as Isaac Newton signed. USING A QUILL PEN. Anyway, there was a big thing about him practicing first on scratch paper because he only got one shot at signing the original book.
Interesting! Over here, it’s a choice from the school. Our school decided a few years ago to stop writing cursive, so then my daughter complained we write secret messages. I got her the books to learn cursive, and even though she’s not using it actively at least she can read the menu now.
I did do some research into this, due to my oldest’s dyslexia. Cursive letters are more distinctively different, making it easier to read & write them correctly. Also, cursive tends to be faster because you have to move your hand less on and off the paper, as you are moving from one letter to the other.
Err, so I generally write cursive and I tend to write all my to does and notes by hand. If I’m taking notes to share from a meeting I do so digitally, I can’t spare the time to do them a second time.
Secret messages – haha. Love this!
Also, fascinating re. dyslexia. That would never have crossed my mind, but now that you write it out, it makes so much sense.
Because of the rise of AI usage (i.e. cheating), most of my higher ed colleagues have moved back to in-class assessments. Yes, you’re going to write an essay by hand for the final. Yes, the test is by hand. Yes, the in-class quiz is by hand. Students complain that their hands cramp and their handwriting is atrocious. Legible handwriting is an important life skill.
FASCINATING!!!!!!
I do think handwriting and cursive has cognitive benefits; my kid’s 5th grade teacher said she thinks writing in cursive helps with reading because of how it joins the letters together. I’m really sad my kids are not taught handwriting in school any more. I remember growing up, we’d have entire weeks spent learning one letter at a time – okay, maybe not literal weeks, but at least a few days on each letter. And then, I remember figuring out my friends and I would try to make our own distinctive brand of handwriting in Grade 6, 7, 8. Like do you dot is with a circle? Or is a heart to cliche? It’s something that can be unique for everyone, and I thought that was very cool. And yes, I do judge people a little bit on their handwriting. Not in a negative way, but if I see someone with beautiful handwriting, I think that they’ve got things together. I could be wrong, of course.
Anyhow, my Husband thinks that having neat handwriting is over rated. Of course his hand writing is illegible. I always have to fill out forms for us because his is terrible.
Like you, I remember going letter by letter through the alphabet and learning the upper- and lower- cursive letters!
I USED to do a dot with a circle, but don’t anymore. Sometimes if I’m signing a card (especially if it’s using a Sharpie), I will put a little heart as the tittle over the i.
This made me laugh out loud: I do judge people a little bit on their handwriting. Not in a negative way, but if I see someone with beautiful handwriting, I think that they’ve got things together. I could be wrong, of course.
As did the comment about your husband. Haha.
Somehow in the past month my 5-year-old daughter’s handwriting has become neater than her 8-year-old brother’s. This is the latest in a long list of differences between them that I wish were not so obviously attributable to gender.
My handwriting is good but not beautiful. I’ve always considered cursive ugly and slow, and the last time I used it was grade school. Meanwhile, my son (of the terrible handwriting) actually likes cursive and possibly writes more neatly in it.
Which skills are essential is very much a matter of perspective. My children, having lived their whole lives in Manhattan, don’t entirely believe I know how to drive a car.
I suspect you are right that a big factor is gender; patience, attention span, and…I would think…expectations of teachers/parents/society.
This made me chuckle: “My children, having lived their whole lives in Manhattan, don’t entirely believe I know how to drive a car.”
I would hate to see the arts of handwriting and cursive fall by the wayside. It’s so nice to get a little handwritten note or thank you card every now and then. I actually still do a lot of my story writing with pen and paper. My notes for myself aren’t always decipherable to others, but when I write something at work, or a note to someone else, I do a pretty fair job 🙂
I’m not sure how much hand writing matters today.
Both my husband & my son (a millennial) carry little pocket notebooks & pens to write in for their jobs. My husband uses his for personal use as well. They’re both very much into using technology as well but they say it’s easier on the job to have a place to write notes. My husband is a training & development specialist, my son is in management. They both have terrible handwriting & always have. They also mainly print.
I write cursive every day. I keep multiple journals & love working on my handwriting. I work on print as well. But I seem to be writing print more as I age. One reason is that I don’t know if my son or grandson will be able to read my cursive journals. I also have penpals & send a lot of snail mail.
My grandson, in 2nd grade, is learning cursive this year. His handwriting is better than his dad’s was. And he actually has a few journals that he chooses to write in fairly often as well….copying us all I expect.
Awww. Love the idea of a boy in Grade 2 keeping journals in 2025. Delightful.
I think it’s still a necessity. I am a middle school teacher in Southern California. I have students who cannot sign their names. I have students that would love to learn cursive. I was told our state is bringing cursive back as a requirement.
On the other hand, we have brilliant 8th graders that cannot read our analog classroom clocks. When I taught elementary, I included it in my lessons. It is so frustrating!
I feel like things like this cycle as we realize what we’ve lost and then slowly add things back into curriculum.
I am very glad it was part of my schooling!
You have impeccable handwriting!
I have a mix of cursive with print. As much as I would try to keep it at one or the other, my subconscious takes over, and it’s again a mixture. I had to write more (with an actual pen) last week than I’ve done in ages, and I admit, it was tiring. Frustrating that I can’t write neatly AND fast as I’d like.
We should NEVER get rid of handwriting, and cursive should still be taught in school; I will die on this hill.