It's not just the "really pretty" script that draws McKinley Elementary School third-grader Alexia Holcomb to cursive writing.
"It makes you strong in your hands," the 9-year-old said as she clutches her pencil tightly and practices writing words in her workbook in the Davenport classroom.
Her classmate, Xavier Overton, also 9, was not as enthusiastic.
"It's hard," he said.
Their teacher, Karen Tallman, works with the kids for about 20 to 30 minutes a day on their cursive writing skills.
“It’s something that they look forward to, and it’s something that’s a challenge,” Tallman said. “Although it doesn’t have that importance as does reading comprehension and math, it helps with their fine motor skills.”
Cursive writing is a subject that is still taught in many schools around the country, as well as the Quad-Cities.
But someday, cursive writing may be erased completely from U.S. schools.
“Folks are seeing less and less of a real need for it in the real world,” said Jeff Zoul, assistant superintendent of the Rock Island-Milan School District. “We’re talking about college and career readiness all the time as educators. I don’t know that