Students connect with seniors through letters in cursive 04:40. Our ongoing series A More Perfect Union aims to show that what unites us as Americans is far greater than what divides us. In this ...

Writing with a fountain pen demands mindfulness. Each stroke is intentional. They are finicky and need to be handled gently. But their finickiness is what infuses even banal tasks with thoughtfulness.

Replacing cursive writing will be keyboarding, which makes sense given the way most of us communicate this days. Keyboarding is an essential skill in today's world, not just for work either.

Van der Meer added that using a pen in the process of writing or drawing is often slower than typing -- forcing people to process what they're hearing or seeing, compared with passively typing.

Common Core educational standards no longer require students to learn cursive, but supporters of longhand writing refuse to let it die. Eleven states either require or encourage the teaching of ...