Craig Case, the elementary and middle school principal at the Webster Area School, believes students should be given an option. Students are introduced to cursive at the end of the second grade, they are taught more in the third grade and are given a refresher in the sixth grade.
"With the Common Core standards, we always continue to question where handwriting instruction will go," he said. "We want to utilize our time within the school day to teach those Common Core standards, so we have to consider if we want to take half an hour out of each day to teach penmanship."
At the Aberdeen Christian School, cursive instruction begins in the first grade. There is formal instruction through the fourth grade.
Printing is taught in preschool and kindergarten. Vanessa Grehl, a fourth-grade teacher, carves out a 10-minute time block to practice penmanship. The book she uses also combines creative writing with handwriting practice.
Students are taught cursive writing in the third grade at Aberdeen Roncalli Elementary School. The practice continues through the end of fourth grade. Fifth-graders are required to use cursive on assignments, but there is no individual instruction during that year, said school administrator Todd Neuendorf said.
"As our students continue through the elementary, we do ask them to do assignments in cursive," Neuendorf said. "Once they reach the sixth grade, we require them to do assignments in cursive until the midpoint of the school year."
One example of everyday usage of cursive is the signing of a name, he said.
"Many people are moving away from cursive writing," he said. "We believe, as educators here at Roncalli, that the students need to know how to write and read cursive writing."
At the Faulkton Area School, first-grade teacher Melissa Hayes places a strong emphasis on penmanship. She said she can spot the handwriting of students who transfer into the district.
"We've noticed when kids come into our district that their handwriting seems a lot messier," Hayes said. "Whenever we get new students, it's a surprise because it's something we really focus on here."
In Faulkton, D'Nealian handwriting is taught, which is a printing style that includes extra tails on letters. Hayes said the style looks fancier and more like script. It also allows for students to more easily transition into cursive writing.
The style of handwriting can be distinguished from traditional block letters with stick-straight lines, which are usually taught using the Zaner-Bloser script method. There hasn't been a discussion about phasing out cursive instruction at the Faulkton Area School, Hayes said.
"It's one of those things where we've always done it, so we'll just continue it," she said of the plan for now. "We just feel like it's important for them to learn (handwriting) when they're young and learning their letters and letter sounds."
Students are learning early on to transfer their thoughts through typing now. Children are using computers in school as early as the preschool and kindergarten years.
"With technology advancing, we're questioning if we really need to teach cursive," Case said. "That's been the big question mark."
For Neuendorf and the teachers at Aberdeen Roncalli Elementary School, there is still a place for cursive.
"Technology is the future, but there are certain things that should be written," Neuendorf said. "A handwritten letter is far more personal than an email."
Hayes and Case both have children in elementary school. They both notice their children gravitating toward one style of writing more than the other.
"I don't think my son will write in cursive," said Hayes of her son Hayden, a fourth-grader.