Upvoted, because I think it's unknown, so unpopular. Though it sound like a good idea to me.

I'm curious to hear any drawbacks others find.

The argument that I’ve heard put forward about learning cursive is that it improves fine motor control and writing across the board; I’m not sure that the resulting messy combination of two glyph styles is “improved”. Why not teach calligraphy then? Shorthand is at least practical.

This makes sense, but I don’t know shorthand at all. Is it as legible as printing if you know it?

Hell yeah! Let's take one unreadable form of handwriting and replace it with another even more unreadable form!!

Shorthand makes sense, since a lot of public schooling is about teaching you how to pass tests. I don't mean to sound so cynical; they're trying to teach you the critical thinking necessary to beat the tests. That's how it works. They know you'll never use most of that crap, but it's also basis for other things, so it's somewhat useful.

Cursive and its more elegant cousin, calligraphy, can be important, but are mostly useless. A class on both should be an elective at best. They're nice to know and could be useful in some situations, but there are more jobs where shorthand would be an advantage, and it would be an advantage in note taking as well.

What is short hand?

Forget cursive, just teach block letters.

There are studies that show benefits to learning cursive beyond knowinv cursive.

I actually agree.

I've always thought both should've been taught, first cursive, then by grade 6 start shorthand.

Totally agree. I started learning shorthand a while back but never finished the self study. Eventually I forgot everything but later in life though how awesome it would have been to literally write down everything said in some of my meetings at work or my classes in college.

That said, I think we don't have to decide between them. Teach both.

Gregg or Teeline?

ill upvote.

How old are you that you know what cursive and shorthand are and think that children are using either? I'm 40 and the only person I know that uses cursive and I learned it from my grandmother when I was homeschooled.

we learned something called personal shorthand in school (1980s). it was a unit in a required class in high school. i wish they would've done it in junior high instead, though. no glyphs, just regular letters. i still use bits and pieces of it decades later.

I think shorthand typing would be pretty awesome but I don't even know any public schools that teach proper typing anymore.