Cursive writing could be making a comeback in classrooms around the state.

A bill introduced this session would require cursive writing be taught in elementary schools.

So why emphasize pen to paper when most students are doing their homework on laptops and tablets?

An occupational therapist who uses cursive in her work with students says connecting letters helps students make other connections to learning.

Well, actually got pushed out when Common Core came about.

It was because Common Core was really looking at reading and math, you know, and having that commonality throughout the states.

So it it was one that kind of got pushed to the side.

Handwriting did.

And.

And so it wasn't in a lot of the state standards across the United States.

And so that's why we started to see this decline in handwriting.

Because of that, we want children to be able to type on a laptop.

We know that's not going away.

You know, technology is here to stay.

But we also know of the benefits of cursive handwriting.

Currently, there's 23 states in the United States that are now mandating handwriting in their state standards.

And so I think that's really because of the research.

They're seeing it in their classrooms.

You know, if they're using handwriting, we have a lot of pilot studies that are out there that some classes will use a handwriting program and some will not.

And they can look at the differences at the end of the year when we look at the benefits of cursive.

There there's neural activity in the brain that's happening.

And so both sides of the hemispheres of the brain are being activated when we're handwriting, when that paper, when that pencil is going to paper.

I see cursive beneficial for all students.

I see it beneficial for students that have dyslexia or just scrappier.

This it's really when we think about cursive, it's all about the connections connecting those letters within the words.

So that child is picking up their pencil after the word.

They're not picking up their pencil after every letter.

Then when students are writing and they become more proficient and they have that automaticity of writing, then they all they're thinking about is the content of what they want to write.

They don't have to think about the mechanics in forming those connections.

And then when students are writing and they become more proficient and they have that automaticity of writing, then they all they're thinking about is the content of what they want to write.

They don't have to think about the mechanics in forming those connections.

I think as as we get older and grandparents are sending children letters and they say, Well, I can't read this.

And and then it starts to like, well, why can't they read that?

Oh, they weren't taught cursive.

And so the conversation starts to begin kind of in that way.

And then, you know, we make it into high school.

Well, how many students in the high school classrooms are using cursive?

And it may be one or two.

So I think that way we start to have those conversations of, well, why aren't they teaching cursive anymore?

And then looking at the benefits of it and thinking, okay, this this needs to change because there are so many benefits with cursive.

Senate Bill 167 has passed the Senate, but the House has yet to vote on it.

We'll provide an update tomorrow night on Kentucky Edition.

If it does pass.