So Long Cursive Writing? A Critical Part of America’s Education

Clash Daily ^ | September 23, 2013 | R.G. Yoho

[Clintons-B-Gone]

When it comes to the matter of educating children, the state of Ohio and the federal government are run by a host of blithering idiots.

It was over a year ago that I learned the state of Ohio will no longer be teaching cursive writing in their classrooms.

Upon first learning of the announcement, I foolishly believed that the state’s educators might eventually return to their collective senses and re-institute the teaching of this critical skill.

[Dr. Sivana]

Have you ever witnessed a kid these days trying to tell time on a good old-fashioned clock? It’s painful. If it isn’t digital, they’re lost.

I insisted on having analogue clocks in our home for our children's benefit for that reason. It isn't just for aesthetic reasons, either. An analogue clock demonstrates the continuity of time, rather than treating it as a series of monads. For many children, it is the first chance to really understand fractions. Try describing "Quarter of five" to a child that has only seen digital clocks. If he knows it, it is only because he memorized that :45 equals "quarter of" the next number, no real understanding. Inability to learn the analogue clock has also been linked with early diagnosis of genuine learning disabilities.

[bboop]

My husband is a PhD scientist; he only uses printing, mostly in all caps, except when he is on the computer, which is most of the time. We talk about this a lot, as I tutor Middle School boys. Husband says he HATES cursive, and my male students concur. It is a fine motor skill, difficult for the boys to master. They are forced to write reports in it and across the board they struggle with it.

To me cursive seems anachronistic. I cannot write cursive fast enough to get all my thoughts down, and most of my students cannot either. What do they do? They write less. Their answers are short and sweet when they really have so much more to say. But, when they dictate and I type - and/or, as soon as they learn to type — then they have a lot to say. Why not just learn the keyboard?

When we homeschooled, I saw immediately that our son could not do cursive that year. There were eraser holes in the paper, he couldn’t get letters right, tears and frustration. I decided just to drop it. I thought long and hard about leaving it for another time, and finally figured that the only reason he would need it was for thank you letters to Grandma.

[bboop]

Yes, they definitely should be teaching keyboard skills, and early.

[clee1]

Didn’t say a word about banning...

My point is that beautiful, flowing cursive writing is difficult to achieve, and these days, about as useful as teats on a boar hog.

[antidisestablishment]

Actually, marks of almost any sort are accepted. Xs have sufficed for illiterates historically and are still in regular use on democrat registration forms.

My signature, in perfectly illegible cursive, was questioned when I was in basic training—a young admin troop told me I couldn’t sign a form if it weren’t legible! I had to inform her that a legible signature would not be my own. I have had many folks accuse me of being a Doctor due to my scrawlings. LOL

[dblshot]

Once in a while, I will write a letter in cursive to an old friend for whom I have an e-mail address. It never fails to please.
Writing letters is a lost art. Our parents wrote a letter and if they got a reply in two weeks they were happy. E-mail we expect a reply in a day or so. Twitter - in minutes. It's a nano second world but that requires nano sized thoughts. No more "letters dated 1962, he had underlined in red every I love you". Heck, getting kids to read a book is tough enough. For those who can write a coherent thought the world is waiting.

[jimmyo57]

Sorry - cursive writing is a waste of valuable school time.

Do you print when endorsing checks or mortgage documents?

[July4]

“For 99% of English speakers, Shakespeare, Chaucer and Milton are effectively written in a foreign language - whether presented in cursive or Times New Roman.”

Expose your children to the joy of Chaucer and Shakespeare
and Milton! Don't let their heritage slip away into the cesspool of hip-hop and multiculturalism. I read my kids the original versions of works by these people. At first, they were pretty much “lullabies,” but gradually they realized what a treasure was available to them.

For Pete's sake, cursive writing is not that hard, and it would make my poor ancestors weep to know that I purposefully gave it up. Some of them couldn't write; their only signatures were X's.

[Vinnie]

My 10 y.o. granddaughter asked me last weekend to teach her cursive.
I said I’d love to, then started thinking how some of my letters are not the true cursive character. My capital T, F, G, S, in particular.

Gonna have to brush up on the king’s cursive.

[Recompennation]

I surmise herein that the preponderance of opinion regarding cursive writing schooling is that such it will be limited to that required to properly form an X. President Camacho will be so proud yes he will.

[Recompennation]

I surmise herein that the preponderance of opinion regarding cursive writing schooling is that such it will be limited to that required to properly form an X. President Camacho will be so proud yes he will.

[kelly4c]

Cursive is pleasing to the eye, uniquely individual, much faster than printing and is important to basic education. I can’t fathom why they’d do away with it really.

[clee1]

Sorry.... but a signature is not truly cursive writing. It is often so highly stylized as to be completely undecipherable.

Trust me... I’m a nurse and I could give you 100 examples of a MD’s signature that there is NO WAY IN HELL you’d ever decipher without the PRINTED info on the top of the form.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

How well do you think that will work when writing something like a 10 page paper?

She writes papers all the time. And of course, she texts all the time. I can't understand it, but people do things in different ways. Sometimes there's more than one correct answer.

[Cementjungle]

With the advent of TV, talking cell phones, books-on-tape and things like that... I think we no longer need to teach kids to even read.

[discostu]

One of the fastest typist I ever knew was 2 finger. Really there’s nothing that magical about “proper” typing, most of what you really learn with that is muscle memory of where the keys are. Any method that allows you to not have think about where the keys are will get you through just fine. I learned “proper” typing in jr high but I don’t truly use it anymore, years and years at the keyboard has give my fingers a chance to figure out their own way which hardly used my pinkies or ring fingers at all, I have evolved into a four finger typist.

[BfloGuy]

And thank the Lord for spell check. I never was good at spelling.

Between you and the guy who can't read his own writing, I've rarely heard such pride at a lack of very basic education. If you can't spell, then learn.

[BfloGuy]

Why teach anything?

Computers can tell you everything you need to know. Don't even know how to read -- computers can talk now. Of course, the people who program the computers will still need a proper education and will rule the earth.

[bgill]

I am guessing kids in school today can type a lot faster than kids 30 years ago

Of course they do but it's not because they do it more regularly. It's because they're not typing on a manual typewriter which takes lots of effort, finger strength and the hammers will tangle if you do type too quickly.

I used to be able to write cursive fairly well but I probably haven’t used it (outside signing something) in 20 years.

I always use cursive. Just today, I wrote down parts numbers/descriptions in cursive, a few addresses in cursive, a recipe and a reminder of what's in the fridge for supper tonight. What's wrong with cursive? Nothing. It's much quicker than printing. I will admit mine went to pot in college when I had to take class notes so quickly and then later when I didn't have to improve it again because I had a secretary. Whew, that woman could type like lightening. Inch long real finger nails and on an electric typewriter (the ball type). 90-something wpm! She'd have a letter finished before I'd get back to my desk for my cursive signature. Who knows how fast she'd be on today's touch pad.

[trisham]

I began printing when I was in high school. I have never regretted it, and have become a fairly decent typist since I began posting online. To me, cursive writing is an art form, and I appreciate it, but it isn’t for me.