Commentary
During the school year, first- and second-grade students at Hume Elementary in Nelson, British Columbia, learned how to handwrite. Some became so good at it they won awards in national handwriting contests.
However, Hume Elementary is the exception rather than the rule in B.C. While cursive writing used to be mandatory in B.C. schools, it has now been downgraded to an optional novelty. Few schools expect teachers to teach students how to handwrite, and fewer still make it a central focus like Hume Elementary. That’s unfortunate. Students who never learn how to handwrite are missing out on important learning opportunities….