Schools and Cursive Writing. Conspiracy? Or just a sign of the times?

reply to post by fixer1967


That's disturbing man.

reply to post by davidgrouchy


That is an extremely good point. Block print is the required writing for all computer read paperwork from the government on down.

By removing cursive writing, and individuality from the board, it would thereby cast most writing into the category of being scanned into, read and processed by a computer, thereby completely eliminating the need for human involvement.

Program the computer with the answers, specifications or relevant text for search and away it goes, doing in seconds what would take people many times longer.

Although this could speed up some lengthy processes, the abuse scenarios going thru my head at the moment are not pretty.

How strange- I was thinking about this the other day. Print is useful for learning letters and all that, but it also tends to cramp the hand, which is why cursive is so useful (and elegant, of course). For those in college, it goes without saying that the strength of one's essay or exam is determined by the content, yet some nice penmanship never ceases to impress a Professor!
xox

Originally posted by Klassified
reply to post by NonKonphormist

 

I believe people in the UK sometimes refer to it as joined writing. But yes, it's handwriting.

Is it still taught in the UK where you live?

Ah, thanks for that, yeah, we just call it "joined-up writing", cursive sounds much more academic.

Yes, I know for a fact that our schools are still teaching it here, my eldest has been taught it, and my second eldest is being taught it now.
But it's no where near as good as it used to be, my parents handwriting was much better than I was taught and my Grandparents was beautiful, like caligraphy.
I do expect it to be phazed out, along with thinking for yourself, they've just about achieved the latter.

I think cursive writing is very important. It reflects on the persons character and mind frame of the time. Like someone said, penmanship is like an art. Everyone has different "curves" in their cursive's.

In my experience, I learned cursive before printing, and if I did not learn cursive, I don't think I would of have been able to learn to print.

That being said, growing up through out my school years, the students, teachers and professors would always ask for my notes to keep or copy (at the end of the year).
I remember for my thesis we were supposed to have it computer printed, but I decided to hand write it. I got perfect on it, and I only think it's because I actually took the time to write it out neatly. The professor even left a comment saying how much he loved reading it, and my penmanship was very impressive (sorry if I sound like i'm tooting my own horn, but I never realized how important that comment was until now).

This is deplorable. Though, I have been thinking this for awhile now. Especially having gone back to school. It was amusing last semester in my marketing class. 80% of our grade was based on a group project. My team mates were all 19-21 year old girls, and I am in my mid 40's. One day I was telling them how very easy they have it these days. When I described how we used to have to handwrite 50 page essay papers in high school, at first they simply didn't want to believe it, and insisted I was pulling their legs.

Yes, kids! Some of us did, indeed, walk to school barefoot in the snow to school. Uphill! Both ways!

Beyond the lack of cursive handwriting. Word has really negated the need for kids today to really learn how to spell and use proper grammar. It scares the bejeebers out of me :/

reply to post by InnerTruths

You have excellent hand-eye coordination. And learning cursive properly, most likely contributed to that.

reply to post by ProvehitoInAltum

I have not forgotten writers cramp from my high school days. After several pages my hand just wanted to quit. But then, I have a tendency to grip a pen or pencil tighter than I should.

Pretty soon they will be teaching l33t speak as standard English.

jezebel.com...

Save all your books now, one day they will be ancient artifacts. Libraries will become museums! THE FUTURE!

Cursive can be much harder to read. When we all write on the computer it is almost never cursive. Cursive is a skill that can be easily learned if the need to handwrite became prevelant again. I don't mind that they don't teach it in some places.

BTW my daughter is in grade 2 and is being taught cursive in her public school.


Edit: Cannot get it to display in script. ATS makes the point for the schools.

reply to post by angrymomma

Interesting article. And some amusing comments too. If libraries become museums, then books will become artifacts. And probably illegal to own.

HANDWRITING: that action of emotion, of thought, and of decision that has recorded the history of mankind, revealed the genius of invention, and disclosed the inmost depths of the soulful heart. It gives ideas tangible form through written letters, pictographs, symbols, and signs. Handwriting forms a bond across millennia and generations that not only ties us to the thoughts and deeds of our forebears, but also serves as an irrevocable link to our humanity. Neither machines nor technology can replace the contribution or continuing importance of this inexpensive portable skill. Necessary in every age, handwriting remains just as vital to the enduring saga of civilization as our next breath.

-Michael R. Sull-

Source: World Handwriting Contest

I love the above words. They are the piece of writing that you have to submit if you want to enter the World Handwriting Contest held every year.

What i love even more is that anyone can enter. The people who enter are of all ages, and of all writing abilities. What they have in common is that they love the art of writing.

Handwriting is so important to me, and has been a major part of my life and career choices. I learnt cursive at the age of 5, then went on to learn more artistic styles during the next few years. Although i am not consistant with cursive, i just enjoy writing.

This, i pass on to my kids.

To encourage them, i bought them thier own writing box, full of nice writing paper and envelopes, plus thier choice of pen. We sit down regularly and write to friends and family. At Christmas and birthdays, they write thank you letters. Write them, not text it.

A few years ago i went to a parents workshop at my kids primary school, whilst there the headteacher said that in a few years they would probably be phasing out handwriting altogether. Instead they would focus on keyboard and IT skills.

That was one of the saddest things i had heard for many years, and i vowed it would not happen to my kids, at least not whilst i could continue to encourage them to write.

In my forces career i had to write every statement by hand when i interviewed someone. In the police station incident log book, you had to be exemplory with your handwriting. When i cared for kids in a later career, all the observation notes were handwritten, and needed to be legible.

All of my resumes have needed to have a handwritten covering letter.

Not everyone has great handwriting, mine could be better, but everyone should be taught how to write.

I love listening to this Commencement Address from Steve Jobs. At 3.20 in the video he tells the story of how he dropped out of his college course and took calligraphy, and because of that he included it into the first computer he built. That is why you get lovely fonts to choose from, or at least thats why he had them on the first computers...



I hear so many people say that they don't write because they do not have good handwriting, or thier grammar and spelling are bad. Welcome to the club. I'm surprised my edit button hasn't worn out by now! To someone recieving a handwritten letter from you through the door instead of the usual bills, that will not matter.

To get a handwritten letter is one of the best things in the world. Whether it's ten pages or ten words, try it, i bet you get a positive response. Don't worry how you write.....just write!

I know i've rambled on, but it's something i'm passionate about. The art of writing should not be allowed to die out in any way shape or form. To not continue to pass this skill onto our children would be a tragedy.

So i'll leave you with a couple of words, by a man i know.



CX.

reply to post by CX

I wish I could give you more than one little star for that post. Eloquently written and expressed! And most certainly appreciated.

Originally posted by Klassified
reply to post by CX

 

I wish I could give you more than one little star for that post. Eloquently written and expressed! And most certainly appreciated.

Thank you for such a great and thought provoking thread.

CX.

WOW CX, very impressive calligraphy! Major props for that.

I decided to start showing my kid how to write cursive lower case today.

She is actually doing the first few letters correctly (after some practice).

And she can read a little bit of it too, but still got a long way to go.

She's only 6 btw, so it's still a work in progress.

I don't understand why anyone would want to write in print script. I remember learning cursive in third grade and after we learned Z, we never had to use it again. I was pretty happy about that but I quickly noticed that writing in Print all the time stunk. So, my writing quickly evolved into a sort of cursive script, that I still write with today. (I say a "sort of cursive" because the ways that we were taught to make some of the letters I found stupid and didn't feel like making; capital Q and Z for example.) I always this was just the case for everyone!

Originally posted by muzzleflash
WOW CX, very impressive calligraphy! Major props for that.

Thanks, it's not proper calligraphpy, more a thrown together very simple italic example. To be honest, anyone who can write basic print letters, could do what i did there after a bit of practise with a calligraphy pen. There are so many easy books to learn from, and much free stuff on the net.

A gift of a calligraphy pen set with a few diferent width nibs can make all the difference to a kids writing. Sets are only a few dollars. The main skill is in holding the nib at the right angle throughout the letter. The rest is very easily learnt.

I decided to start showing my kid how to write cursive lower case today.

She is actually doing the first few letters correctly (after some practice).

And she can read a little bit of it too, but still got a long way to go.

She's only 6 btw, so it's still a work in progress.

That is so cool.

A little story for your daughter if she's interested. I was also 6 years old when i started in a new class at primary school. I had heard that the teacher was not a nice one. However although she was strict, she actualy turned out to be the best teacher i have ever had.

I noticed a letter on her desk one day which was beautifuly written, it looked like it had been written hundreds of years ago. It was calligraphy, handwritten by my teacher. She offered to teach me calligraphy, and for two years she taught me everything from basic italics to illuminated lettering with techniques like gold leaf and other things.

She also gave me a calligrapghy pen, my first. Thats what i learnt with. I used that pen all through my primary school days, my highschool days, my time in the army and all through the rest of my adult life.

I have many pens now, as will your daughter one day, but if someone had to ask what my favourite pen is, it would have to be the one i learnt to write nice with at the age of 6.



Bruised and battered, bent and beyond a makeover, but it reminds me where i started.

CX.

reply to post by octotom


Many people don't do one or the other. I know i don't.

If you saw my ordinary every day writing, you'd see i join some letters and not others. Apparently it's still called cursive if you join 50% or more of your letters.

The way they teach cursive did change between my leaving school and my kids going to school though. It was quite confusing for the parents lol.

CX.

This is sad really. Could it be that the teachers are too busy preparing for tests than actually educating the children? No child left behind!

reply to post by DonnaLynn

One of the articles I read said exactly that(among other things). But it seems to have become a trend starting in the mid 2000's.