Posted on 08/20/2006 3:45:13 PM PDT by AVNevis
That's kind of what I'm afraid of. :-\ I know the world is more convenient now, and I wouldn't give up my computer and I like my mass-produced books...but there's still something about hand-written letters and notes, and journals and all. I'd hate to see those disappear entirely.
Maybe the teachers should instead emphasize speling... (j/k ;)
Long ago I used to write a full check in cursive -- then a very large check was misinterpreted by the bank almost a thousand dollars not in our favor, which was a pain to resolve. Now it's the signature in cursive, everything else with printing.
I have a neat, very legible and fast handwriting. Very useful for taking notes in classes where the Profs thought every word they spoke was a pearl of wisdom.
Slackers frequently requested copies of my notes.
Haven't used the skill in 25 years, but it was handy then.
So it isn't the best for large mass-produced print items. That doesn't make it a useless skill.
Perhaps, but I think we will still be writing our personal notes by hand, for the same reason that photography hasn't completely replaced drawing and painting. Most people prefer a masterful painting over a photograph.
:-)
Oh, to be able to do calligraphy like that!
It might be noted that Stephen King writes his frequent and largish novels longhand with a fountain pen.
Why should kids practice typing, since it will probably be replaced by voice recognition technology?
It's not a useless skill at all. I love cursive and taught my granddaughter. She adopted a wonderful signature and she can read my letters.
Echo that. When the heavens past out the 'penmanship' genes to me my pen was inkless.
There is cursive, and then there is beautiful cursive. There is beauty in it, artful. Leaves me in awe of that gift.
People that can produce artful cursive will always appear to me as more intelligent.
The Declaration of Independence is one such example.
JK Rowling writes all her first drafts longhand, too.
However, personally, I'm a good example of the fact that writing by hand doesn't necessarily make your stories at all good... ;-)
Hand/eye coordination and fine motor skills.
No, but some people can compose better with a pencil and paper than with a keyboard, some prefer keyboard, some dictate while pacing the room. Whichever lets the creative juices flow, to coin a phrase. :)
I write my name in an unintelligible group of lines. I tend to print everything else.
That's what video games are for...
I learned cursive in the first grade... 4th is much too late..
I think we're the big people and should decide for them what will be best. Going with what you already know and ignoring new techniques is always "easiest" in the short run. Guess what an eight-year-old will choose?
Same applies to math. Although you can add 9+9+9+9+9+9+9+9=72, just knowing by rote that 9x8=72 is much better.
Cursive is great, can be beautiful, and is faster than printing. That said, I have terrible, illegible handwriting - and I'm not a guy - and have never been able to improve it. It was bad in 2nd grade and it's even worse decades later.
I think perhaps it's taught badly, because in theory it's a great system, but many, many people have awful handwriting and are told to take up block letters and never write cursive again. There's something wrong!
Doesn't work. I'm proof. I spent a large amount of time and quarters playing, and my penmanship/fine motor skills still suck.
My kids WILL learn to handwrite well.
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