The basics: Proper handwriting skills. Why have they disappeared?
Give a kid a crayon or other writing instrument and they will start to scribble on the nearest surface much to the chagrin of their parents.
One of the things that fell victim to the Secular Humanist & Marxist pedagogy ( John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky), the Gnostic pedagogy of (Maria Montessori & Jean Piaget), and the self-esteem movement was handwriting.
Modern teaching theory is “student centered,” meaning that the child chooses their own learning and the timing of that learning. Teachers do not correct mistakes but encourage children to search out the consensus of the rest of the group which becomes the truth for that individual and collective. Teachers are no longer purveyors of knowledge but facilitators of experiences that were to lead students to their own unique understanding of knowledge. The “research” came out of a belief system that “we can only come to divine truth through our experiences.” (Gnosticism). Therefore, the phrase “What is true for you might not be true for me.” is the way we have chosen to conduct our lives. Not knowing what someone else’s true is and not wanting to offend others we censor ourselves from politically incorrect speech (Marxism). And according to Vygotsky “all science needs to conform to Marxism.”[1]
To conform is not to stand out. The hard work involved in becoming a skilled artist of manuscript and cursive handwriting is avoided. Handwriting is a fine motor skill; this skill develops at different speeds for every individual. The hard frustrating work to develop legible handwriting starts when people are in kindergarten. What kindergarten is going to take on the challenge of learning to write correctly. Also, some people are perfectionists and if they are not able to do something right the first time they succumb to their frustration and quit. Less often others see it as a challenge and pursue the challenge until they have mastered it. But with what resources and with what help if not from a person skilled in handwriting?
[1] Vygotsky Lev Semenovich et al. The Essential Vygotsky. p342. Kluwer 2004.