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Common Core State Standards put cursive handwriting on the back burner, with about half of states teaching it.

Handwriting in general stimulates more diverse brain regions when compared with using a keyboard.

Cursive handwriting triggers an even broader and more integrated network of brain regions than does print.

Handwriting—especially cursive—requires more intense focus that improves cognitive processing skills.

I remember the first time my second-grade teacher permitted me to use cursive writing on my assignments. At the time, I viewed it as an accomplishment: I could now use cursive for all my assignments! Moreover, the teachers promoted cursive writing as more refined than print and linked to a sense of formality and elegance.

I also remember the day in seventh grade when I stopped using cursive and switched back to print handwriting. A teacher had each student in my class grade another student’s quiz—an obvious timesaver. The girl who graded my assignment couldn’t make out my cursive script, and I lost points because of it. In that moment, I resolved never to write in cursive again and to write only in print.

Cursive handwriting is a lost art, and like so many others, I lost touch with it. Apparently, I also lost the cognitive benefits of using cursive.

It’s no secret that instruction on handwriting in elementary schools is on the decline. Nowadays, everyone is using keyboards in lieu of print and cursive. The Common Core State Standards introduced in 2010........

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