Colouring NestCursive vs print: when kids learn cursive, and how to start
Almost every child learns to print first and joins letters later, if at all. In Australia the national curriculum introduces joined letters in Year 3 (about age 8). In New Zealand cursive is optional: the Ministry of Education's guidance suggests considering it from Year 5, and only for children who already print with ease. In the US it varies by state, usually around grade 2 or 3. Research doesn't show that one style suits every child; what matters most is handwriting that is legible and fast enough that a child can think about ideas instead of letters.
What is the difference between print and cursive?
- Print (also called manuscript or basic script) has separate letters made from simple strokes. It looks like the letters in books, which helps children who are learning to read.
- Pre-cursive is print with small exit strokes on many letters. The exits make joining easier later. Several Australian state styles teach pre-cursive letters from the start.
- Cursive (joined writing) links the letters inside a word with joining strokes so the pencil lifts less often. New Zealand's guidance describes it as a progression from basic script that can increase fluency and speed.
When do kids learn cursive?
New Zealand. The Ministry of Education's Teaching Handwriting guidance (updated October 2025) says basic script should be taught to all learners from Years 0 to 8, that cursive is not a requirement of the English learning area, and that teaching cursive to learners who can write with ease and automaticity is an option to consider from Year 5. Some children start joining on their own, and the guidance accepts personal variation as long as letters keep their essential form.
Australia. Under version 9 of the Australian Curriculum, Year 2 students write words using consistently legible unjoined letters, and Year 3 students write words using joined letters that are clearly formed and consistent in size. States set their own handwriting style. The New South Wales Stage 2 handwriting sequence, for example, introduces all the joins in NSW Foundation Style during Year 3.
United States. There's no national rule. The Iowa Reading Research Center at the University of Iowa notes that Iowa students begin cursive in second grade with the main focus in third grade, while Oklahoma begins in third grade.
Is cursive better than print? What the research says
The honest answer is that the evidence is thin on cursive versus print, and strong on handwriting itself.
- Handwriting helps reading. In a brain-imaging study at Indiana University, James and Engelhardt (2012) had five-year-olds print, type or trace letters. Only free-form printing later recruited the brain network used in reading when the children looked at letters. Note that this compared printing with typing and tracing, not print with cursive.
- Teaching handwriting works. A large meta-analysis by Santangelo and Graham (2016) found that explicit handwriting instruction improved legibility and fluency and led to better writing.
- Cursive research is limited. The Iowa Reading Research Center points out that far more research exists on print than on cursive, and that there isn't robust evidence comparing the two across countries and languages.
New Zealand's guidance says joined writing is associated with better outcomes for spelling and can feel more grown-up to older learners. Both are good reasons to offer it, but neither means a child who prints well is behind.
Signs a child is ready to join letters
- They form every lowercase letter correctly, starting in the right place and moving in the right direction.
- Letters sit on the line and are a consistent size.
- They hold the pencil comfortably and can write for several minutes without their hand getting sore.
- They write familiar words without stopping to think about how each letter goes.
If a child still reverses letters or starts them in odd places, joining will make those habits harder to fix. Spend a few more weeks on formation first.
How to start teaching cursive
- Check the print. Ask for the alphabet in lowercase and watch, not just the result. Fix any letter formed from the wrong starting point first.
- Add exit strokes. Practise letters such as a, d, h, i, m, n, t and u with a small flick at the end. This is the pre-cursive stage.
- Teach one kind of join at a time. New Zealand's guidance begins with letters that are joined to and join on diagonally (such as in, an, um), then moves on. Horizontal joins come off the tops of o, r, v and w, and letters with tails come later.
- Practise in short, daily sessions. New Zealand's Teaching Handwriting page says just 10 to 15 minutes of focused teaching each day can make a significant difference.
- Move from joins to words to sentences. Common pairs (th, an, ing) first, then short words, then a sentence the child chooses.
- Accept a personal style. Many adults join some letters and not others. Legible and fluent is the goal, not a perfect copy of a model.
Which cursive style should we use?
Use whatever your child's school uses, so home practice matches class. New Zealand schools use the Ministry's basic script and cursive, and the Ministry has released free Playwrite NZ fonts on Google Fonts to support teaching. Australian states each have their own model, such as NSW Foundation Style or Victorian Modern Cursive. Our cursive sheets use a traditional US-style cursive font; our handwriting style charts cover print, pre-cursive and the NZ and Australian state styles, drawn with the free Playwrite fonts. They are practice sheets, not official school documents, so check the model with your school if it matters.
