Tyara Brooks teaches her fourth-grade students how to write in cursive at Longfellow Elementary School in Pasadena. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) “Messy! Messy!” Nearly 40 years later, the ...

Nearly 40 years later, the admonishments of my second-grade teacher at Thomas Jefferson Elementary in Anaheim still ring in my ears. “Messy! Messy!” I was a precocious 8-year-old, placed in a ...

Fourth-grade student Mandela Jones practices writing in cursive at Longfellow Elementary School in Pasadena. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times) Erica Ingber has something of a dark past when it ...

What do the U.S. Constitution, birthday cards and your signature have in common? They’re (likely) all in cursive. However, becoming fluent in this form of penmanship, once the hallmark of a good ...