Cursive writing is literally a "running hand," but ... two kinds of cursive handwriting – looped cursive and cursive italic. Looped cursive has been taught in U.S. schools since the early ...

Just as Italic (a slightly sloped cursive ... though we spent years in childhood painstakingly tracing the cursive alphabet on dotted thirds. Even if your penmanship is more chicken scratch ...

Unlike Palmer-style cursive, in which every letter is joined to another in a series of endless curves and loops, italic joins only some. That makes it a far more natural way of writing.

Just how long have humans been using cursive writing? Scholars credit Niccolo ... it became known as “italic.” Niccoli’s cursive was simple, sans curly-cues, and not every letter was connected.

But when the invention of the printing press threatened to make hand-written texts obsolete, Italians revolted by creating "Italic cursive." And for centuries on, elegant writing proved to be a ...

Cursive writing evolved from the Italic calligraphy hand. • Few early Americans could write, but those who did used Roundhand, also known as Copperplate because it was used in engraving.

Jan. 24, 2011 -- The handwriting may be on the wall for cursive. At least that's what ... a publisher of education writing materials. "It's just not being assessed. That's the biggie," she says.