VIDEO: How Important Is Cursive?

PICKENS COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- Many believe cursive writing is becoming a thing of the past.

In many schools across the country it is not part of the common core curriculum.

That’s not the case in Alabama- it’s state law to teach that style of writing.

In Alabama, it’s called “Lexi’s Law”- and it requires school districts to teach cursive writing by third grade.

In Mississippi, there’s a bill awaiting approval by the House of Representatives to require the same thing.

“Children need to learn how to do cursive writing. You may not use it much but you know you write papers in colleges and things of that nature… you sign your name,” says Associate Superintendent of Pickens County School’s Vanessa Anthony

Anthony says her family knows the troubles of taking cursive writing out of the classroom.

At one point, Alabama taught cursive in the third grade, then switched to second grade- and then back to third.

Anthony’s daughter got caught in the off year.

“My daughter was actually in that period where she missed the teaching of cursive writing. She went from 2nd grade to 3rd grade and that was the year that they switched it back into 2nd grade. And so she missed the cursive writing, and I personally have been having to teach her cursive,” says Anthony.

Superintendent Jamie Chapman feels teaching cursive was overlooked by educators.

“People lost interest in teaching it because it just wasn’t being used and emphasized as it used to be when we went to school,” says Chapman.

Anthony says educators must see the value of a signature.

“Teachers need to know how to teach cursive writing because we all write our names and sign our names everyday but there’s a process for teaching cursive. And so the key to me is to find a program or a strategy that teachers can use to teach students to form their letters,” says Anthony.

3rd grade teacher at Gordo Elementary Savannah Parker is making cursive a part of her creative lesson plan.

“We do the interactive board so that they can get in up and out of their seats to try to learn it. We’ve talked about different reasons why they would need it when they’re older such as signatures and reading important documents. So it’s something that they need to learn. They love it, they feel like they’re learning a new language is what they told me,” says Parker.

Lexi’s Law was enacted in January of last year.

Mississippi’s cursive writing bill was passed by the state Senate.

The House of Representatives has not brought up the legislation.