Reading cursive, of course, remains important – and this is much easier and quicker to master than writing cursive. Reading cursive can be mastered in just 30 to 60 minutes, even by kids who print.

RASCOE: Ms. Brooks has a cursive alphabet up on the wall and says her students are excited to learn it. And the most frequent question she gets at the beginning of each school year is this.

Finland is scrapping cursive writing lessons in schools from next year and will instead teach children how to type, raising questions for the future of handwriting in Australian classrooms.