I'm left-handed and learning cursive writing in elementary school was genuinely traumatic. The desks were designed for righties, the teacher couldn't show me how to hold the pen without smudging everything, and my papers always ended up with that gray smear down the side. I remember being forced to use the 'hook' position just to see what I was writing .
Now that cursive is making a comeback in schools, I worry about left-handed kids going through the same struggle. Are teachers trained differently now? Do they know that lefties need different strategies—paper angled differently, pen held farther from the tip, maybe even special pens with quick-dry ink? I've read that cursive actually can be easier for lefties once they get the hang of it because the continuous motion reduces some of the awkward stops and starts of printing .
But only if taught properly. Left-handed folks, what was your experience with cursive? Parents of lefties, how's it going with your kids?
Now that cursive is making a comeback in schools, I worry about left-handed kids going through the same struggle. Are teachers trained differently now? Do they know that lefties need different strategies—paper angled differently, pen held farther from the tip, maybe even special pens with quick-dry ink? I've read that cursive actually can be easier for lefties once they get the hang of it because the continuous motion reduces some of the awkward stops and starts of printing .
But only if taught properly. Left-handed folks, what was your experience with cursive? Parents of lefties, how's it going with your kids?
