Grammy on the Go
By Karen Shadrach
Handwriting has taken a back seat these days in the education system. Some schools don’t formally teach it but only hand the children a handwriting book and say, “Learn it if you want to in your free time!” Long gone are the hours we spent in classes to perfect the ideal letter forms and slant our teachers required.
Grandparents are in an ideal position to teach cursive, as they’re often the last generation who used it every day, and kids love learning something that feels like a “secret skill.” Here’s a clear, practical way that you can pass it on, without turning it into a boring handwriting boot camp.
Make cursive feel like a shared activity, not a school assignment. Kids learn fastest when it feels personal, creative and connected to someone they love. Start simple: Show them how to sign their names in cursive, since kids love seeing something personal come to life. You can write it first and let them trace it, then try it on their own. Using big paper, markers or even sidewalk chalk helps. Larger movements make cursive feel more natural.
Begin your cursive writing adventure with storytelling. Kids love origin stories. Before you begin, you can show them some of your old letters, recipes, postcards or yearbooks written in cursive. Tell them a short story about how you learned (and slaved in school) cursive and why it mattered. Point out how cursive shows personality, like a “handwriting fingerprint.” All points give kids a reason to care before they ever pick up a pencil.
For your younger grandkids, teach them the “flow” of the letters instead of jumping straight into the alphabet. Practice simple loops, waves and connected curves. You could draw shapes and let them trace them on the table or in the air. This builds muscle memory that makes cursive feel natural. Then, you can slowly introduce letters in small groups, based on their strokes. For example, the “c” family includes the letters c, a, d, g, and q. This makes it much easier than going A-Z.
For grandchildren that are elementary age, you can make cursive games whereupon the grandparents write a short message in cursive. The kids decode it and write back. This can easily be turned into a scavenger or treasure hunt!
Older grandchildren can become your pen pals! Agree to write to each other at least once a month, and all correspondence must be done in cursive. How fun to practice and exchange thoughts and ideas while improving handwriting skills.
An example format would be:
Hi Grandma and Grampa! How are you? This week I’ve been doing… describe three things: one fun thing, one silly thing, one thing I’ve learned. I’d love to hear your three things, too! Love, (Name)
Even more fun is waiting for an envelope to arrive in their mailbox! So rare in these digital message days.
Grandparents bring patience, nostalgia and a sense of tradition. Kids bring curiosity and creativity. Cursive becomes a bridge between generations — a skill that feels special because it’s learned from someone special.
Photos by Karen Sharach
