> big deal to write cursive clearly

The fact that cursive in US is considered some kind of special writing and is uncommon was one ot the biggest "This year I learned". This topic pops up on reddit from time to time, and usually there is a comment from non-US "we just call it writing". AFAIR I learned to write cursive from the very beginning. The first letters we wrote might have been capital ones, but I am pretty sure first words were in cursive.