It was a faster writing method than the Spencerian, allowing it to compete more effectively with the typewriter—although it would eventually succumb just as Spencerian business writing did. The Palmer Method caught on quickly in primary schools because of both its simpler style and because its writing drills were believed to foster discipline and uniformity—though not necessarily better handwriting. Cursive is the term used in the United States for what some other countries call joined-up or linked writing. These are not the only styles of cursive handwriting taught today or in the past in the US or elsewhere. Others, which offer not only specific methods of teaching handwriting but may incorporate different letterforms as well, include:
D’NealianGetty-DubayHarcourt BraceMcDougal, LittlePeterson DirectedHandwriting Without TearsInfant script, Nelson, Jarman, UK Looped (UK)Victoria, Queensland, and New South Wales Cursive (Australia)
How you write in cursive now is strongly influenced by the method of instruction used when you were first learning to write and by how much you continue to use cursive handwriting. Today, teaching cursive in U.S. schools is on the decline in favor of print and keyboarding skills. Today’s students know QWERTY quite well but many wouldn’t be able to find the Q if it were written in most older cursive styles. If you’re doing genealogy or have a job that involves reading old manuscripts deciphering old handwriting, it is easier if you know cursive.
Formal Cursive Handwriting Fonts
While not necessarily designed for creating materials to teach cursive handwriting (although some might be), these free and commercial fonts provide examples of some of the different formal cursive handwriting styles. See which ones most closely match how you learned to write. Did you know that you can improve your handwriting using these or other fonts already on your computer?
Educational Fontware, Inc. sells fonts designed for teaching many of the styles described above as well as others including Bob Jones University, SSD, and Cursive First.School Script sold at myfonts.com comes in regular, bold, dashed, and lined (like school paper) versions.Handwriting Fonts at Fontspace are free fonts. You can see the Spencerian and Palmer legacy in many of these scripts.Learning Curve 2.0 is a free font from Blue Vinyl that resembles old-style Zaner-Bloser.
