Cursive writing is a dying art.

I clearly remember seeing something my mom had written down on a notepad, it was so curly and swirly and  I couldn't read it.  When I asked her about it, she said it was cursive...a grown-up way to write.  I asked her why I couldn't write like that and she said I would learn when I was a little older.
It gave me yet another thing to be excited about in school.

I loved the lined paper we used to get in class to practice on.  I really felt that I accomplished something when I could make the letters turn out just like they were supposed to.  It wasn't too long after I learned to connect all those pretty letters that I also learned that while you can connect the letters, you aren't supposed to connect the words!

Learning to put pencil to paper and make all those letters connect together gave me something else, it made me feel artistic...which is a good thing, because although, I love seeing art and always craved the ability to draw something that would go down in history as something great...I lack that particular talent!  

I was in a store a few months ago quickly filling out paperwork and was told that I had REALLY nice handwriting.  The compliment put me off for a  second because I was in a hurry and thought that I was writing rather sloppy.  And them I saw her writing.  It was printing and it was almost illegible.  

The girl was about half of my age and it makes me a little sad that she wouldn't or couldn't express herself in writing.

Writing in cursive takes concentration and fine motor skills.  Writing in cursive engages multiple parts of the brain, and I think that we can all agree that the more our brains are engaged, the better!  Another benefit is that everyone's cursive writing is just a little different, which means that your signature is your own.  Think of how easy it is to copy plain old printing, even easier to copy someone's 'mark'.  

You might think that being unable to read or write is something that is long passed, but there are still people out there who cannot read or write. But I digress, that is a blog for another time.

According to ABC news 41 states do not require cursive writing in their curriculum.  They say it is because it is not an 'assessed subject'.  I hear of more and more schools that are only teaching children what they will be tested on for school funding.  

You might ask yourself if the school is really interested in teaching our future generations, or if they are just in it for the money.

I realize that pretty much everything on the planet is available online in printed form, but what if something happened to that resource?  There are many, many people who do not have access to the internet whether it be due to lack of a computer, money, maybe you live in a third world country, or your government forbids it's citizens access to information either now or in the future.

Many of our historical documents are written in cursive, the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights are penned in some of the most beautiful writing I have ever seen.  

Now, imagine that you cannot read it.