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I was reading the newspaper and writing cursive before kindergarten.

My eldest daughter was reading on her own by 4. When we took her to the Catholic elementary school that she ended up attending, the woman who was testing the incoming class of 1st graders came running out into the office area and asked me, excitedly, if I knew she was reading already. Yeah, I said, since she was about 3. Single words at 3, sentences by 4. She is a brilliant girl, though.

When she was in 2nd grade, the Catholic school had children beginning to do cursive. I told my brother, a teacher in a public school for all of his life, that Erin was beginning to learn cursive. He snorted and said that her teacher was going to be disappointed, because my daughter was too young to learn cursive. Well, at the end of the 2nd grade, I told my daughter she should write (cursive) a short letter to her Uncle. She did so, I sent it, I never heard a word back from him.

I think that kids are capable of a lot more than we think. I also think that this drive to get rid of cursive writing completely has some connection to the fact that the teacher would have to teach cursive, and it takes a bit of time. Don't bother, just print everything. I am always shocked by the number of people, even on FR, that don't think writing cursive is at all important. I personally think that adults who can only print would be a pretty sad state of affairs. And, I think the adults themselves agree because there are classes for adults now that teach cursive writing.