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At what age should I introduce my child to cursive writing?

According to studies, children should be introduced to cursive writing at age 8. By 4th grade, they should have mastery of cursive.
Do you have any specific suggestions for teaching cursive to beginners?

Start with easy letters such as c, a, and d. Explicitly teach connections between letters while teaching letters. (refer to the "Printables" page with links to free worksheets) Show how letters like b, o, v, and w do not connect to the bottom of the line before connecting to subsequent letter. Spend more time with these harder letters. Ideally, have cursive learner self generate their letters and words. Self generating -- not tracing -- helps with letter recognition. When first learning cursive, speed nor neatness should not be emphasized until the children can form letters legibly and from memory.
How often should I have my child practice cursive?

10-15 minutes daily is optimal. This is generally the length it takes to fill out one set of GoCursive printables.
What if I'm learning cursive as a teen or adult?

I applaud you! I was also a teen when I started teaching myself cursive. First, what is your goal? •Fluency in script? •Put ideas on to paper, effortlessly and fast? Keep them in mind to motivate yourself. While you practice, be kind to yourself! As a later-in-life self taught cursive writer, my manuscript is still faster than my script. In class, I opt to write using a combination of manuscript and cursive as it comes naturally and most quickly. This might be a more realistic goal than having cursive be faster than manuscript. My goal was never perfect penmanship either, so it allowed me to write quicker than if I cared about how my handwriting looked. Whether you "master" cursive or not, it will always have been worth it to try to be multilingual by hand.