Posted on 08/20/2006 3:45:13 PM PDT by AVNevis
My little brother is starting the forth grade. His teacher is making all of the students write in cursive. This is a problem for him since he hasn't recieved much instruction in it so far and even his printing is kind of messy.
But my question is why? Why are we making kids write all of their classwork in cursive? The last time I used that skill was in the fifth grade when I was learning cursive. Except for a few rare occasions, I haven't used it since.
I can understand teaching it a little bit so you can read cursive writing and develop a signature. But make the kids write everything in cursive? Isn't that a little much for a skill they will only rarely use? They may as well learn Old English.
I think I would much rather have them practive typing and printing neatly, which they will use much more.
No one has been able to give me a good reason why cursive should be required. Am I missing something?
Oh, no particular reason. They can always get the computer to do it for them. They can get a calculator to do their math for them. They can buy all their books on audio tapes. Most computers will now read text aloud, so you don't even need to know how to read. We should teach kids how to get something or someone else to do everything for them. I don't know why we should bother teaching them anything else.
My husband's computer writes for him at work, too. And he even uses a calculator. Doesn't keep him from THINKING.
I bet he even knows how to write in cursive. That's fine for the older generations, but younger generations don't need to think. Knowledge has become obsolete. We'll just put them all on welfare, and let foreigners do all the work. Problem solved.
He prints. Caltech thot that would be ok.
Are you telling me he can't write in cursive? How long have we been graduating students without teaching them the basics?
I mostly send electronic checks from my bank. If I write a check, I normally type it, because I have terrible hand writing.
He can write in cursive, of course. Really useful in 3rd grade. He is a quite capable scientist. However, he prints quickly and CHOOSES to do that at his work.
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