Campaign for Cursive Gathers Momentum with National Handwriting Day
The organization continues their push for cursive instruction in schools encouraged by recent neuroscience research, legislative efforts and worldwide events.
WINDSOR, Calif., Jan. 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Campaign for Cursive, a worldwide movement promoting the instruction of cursive writing in public schools and sponsored by the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation, has seen its membership and corporate partnerships increase substantially in the past year as more research points to the benefits of keeping cursive in public schools.
National (and now International) Handwriting Day is celebrated all over the world on Jan. 23, the date associated with the birth of John Hancock. Known for his large and showy signature on the U.S. Declaration of Independence, Hancock was said to have purposely enlarged his signature so "King George can see it without his spectacles."
Respected neuroscientist Dr. William Klemm stated that, "learning cursive is developmentally beneficial for a young developing brain. Learning cursive provides crucial benefit to children at an age when they need it most: a sense of involvement and ownership, hand-eye coordination, patience, and self-control."
Encouraged by recent research at Princeton University and UCLA by researchers Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer, students are discovering that while laptop users tend to take lecture notes verbatim, students who take notes by hand are summarizing the information as they go and process the meaning more thoroughly.
Common Core Standards removed the requirement for cursive instruction in schools, yet persuaded by research, several states are adding cursive back into the public school curriculum: North Carolina in 2013, and Florida and Tennessee in 2014. Other states are currently reviewing possible legislation.
Events promoting cursive handwriting are taking place in at least 16 states and 5 foreign countries affiliated with the Campaign for Cursive, and a PDF with the list is part of this document. In schools, public libraries, historical societies, radio and TV stations across the world, everyone will be encouraged to pick up a pen and write. London-based Inkly cards has teamed up with Campaign for Cursive to "encourage people to send a handwritten card," and a Starbucks in Tucson, AZ will encourage their staff to write in cursive on their main blackboard and write the orders on the paper cups in cursive. More information is available at campaignforcursive.com.
SOURCE American Handwriting Analysis Foundation
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