If you're going into third, fourth or fifth grade in Wyckoff, you're going to learn cursive this year. That's the loopy, connected kind of handwriting where the letters in a word hold hands instead of standing apart.
This isn't your teacher's idea. In January, the governor of New Jersey signed a law that says every school district in the state has to teach cursive in grades three through five, and that by the end of fifth grade students should be able to both read cursive and write it neatly.[1] Wyckoff wrote its lessons over the summer, and the district bought new handwriting materials to use.[2]
Here's how it will probably go: on the first day, your teacher spends about 10 minutes showing you the basic strokes — the curves and slants that all the cursive letters are built out of. Then for the next few days, you practice them on your own.[3]
There's one more reason your school is thinking about handwriting right now. The district is also spending this year looking at how much your class uses laptops and tablets, and whether a screen is really the best tool for what you're doing. The assistant superintendent said cursive "goes hand in hand" with that. He wants younger kids to keep building what he called a foundation in "tactile motor" skills — which is a fancy way of saying the things your hands learn by doing.[4]
Grown-ups actually argue about whether that's true. Some studies say writing by hand helps your brain remember things better. Other researchers say printing works just about as well as cursive.[5] Either way, in a few weeks you'll be able to read the cursive on an old letter or a card from a grandparent without having to ask anyone what it says.