Penmanship: A Dying Art?

CBS News ^ | August 12, 2005 | Rachel Konrad

[YaYa123]

You didn't do anything wrong, the url gives a currrent date. Looks to me as if CBS is pulling up out-dated trivia to post.

[RosieCotton]

OK...I'm new to posting articles, so I'm terrified of doing something wrong!

I really don't wanna get zotted, even temporarily. ;-)

[msnimje]

Not in this Homeschool it isn't.
This week my son is copying the Declaration of Independence and Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address in both printing and cursive.
He is very proud of being able to write nicely but a little upset he cannot write exactly like John Hancock.

[YaYa123]

Im glad you're overcoming your fear to post articles for the rest of us to read. I'd be embarrassed to tell you how many goofs I've made.

[zook]

I don't disagree with any of that. I also believe that writing things out on paper forces one to think through their ideas in a way much different from when one uses word processing.

Before I "met" the pc, I used to write my papers on a pad. I'd write out lengthy sections, then go back later to revise using separate pages. Eventually I'd type the whole thing up. Nowadays, however, because I'm able to instantly edit using word processing, I'm constantly second guessing every sentence, every paragraph, every page. Word processing, far from improving my creative "flow," has actually impeded it!

[CatoRenasci]

I, too, learned cursive in the 1950s, but my penmanship was never beyond acceptable. My class was the first to use ballpoint pens rather than ink pens and ink wells -- remember how all the 1950s desks had holes in the upper right hand corner for an ink bottle! Our teachers rather disapproved and made us use the dip pens and ink part of the time anyway.

My father, who learned cursive in high school in the 1920s, wrote with a lovely hand. My grandfather, educated in Europe before the turn of the 20th century, wrote in what's called an "Italian chancery" hand -- beautiful, but it took real getting used to. I still have a dip pen, with a mother of pearl stem (I guess you can't call it a barrel if it's not a fountain pen) which my grandmother on my mother's side used; I recall her writing with it as late as 1960.

[Steve0113]

He is very proud of being able to write nicely but a little upset he cannot write exactly like John Hancock.

Not to nitpick, but didn't Thomas Jefferson write it? I thought Hancock was merely(!!) the first to sign it.

[SuziQ]

Clare and Joseph HATE writing cursive, and their penmanship has suffered since they left school. I've just ordered some 'Italic' handwriting books to see if they'd be easier and make more sense to them.

[JenB]

It's hopeless... I did those Italic books, but it's too slow for taking notes in class and everything else I type. I just don't write by hand, so my handwriting won't improve.

It's legible, though, which my dad's isn't. Mom has nice cursive, the rest of us are hopeless. Homeschoolers are usually bad at it, yes, but public schools seem to be realizing how little it matters too.

[SuziQ]

*snicker* The only "D" I ever got in my life was in Penmanship, in Catholic School, where it was really important. My Daddy laughed his head off because his handwriting was awful! Mama got mad at him because she wanted to stress how bad it was that I got such a grade, and her writing was lovely! I did get better, though, when I write fast, it's terrible!

[kalee]

Penmenship was only taught through 3rd grade at my son's public school in GA. When we began to homeschool in 5th grade it was reintroduced. ;)

[SuziQ]

the Sisters of the Holy Chalkboard Pointer at Our Lady of Pain,

ROTFL!

[RosieCotton]

This is the revised version of the one I've used. It's geared towards adults, and the example words and paragraphs are mostly about the history of writing - actually interesting!

Admittedly the cover of the book is pretty ugly. I guess pretty handwriting only gets you so far...

[Polyxene]

I lived in a small town, so our school district always had us pick up our workbooks and other stuff at the high school a couple of weeks before school started. I always thought it was really neat to go to the high school when I was in elementary school. They had all of supplies laid out by grade. I can't remember if my parents had to pay a fee or not. I just remember the look, smell and feel of brand new Crayola crayons and that neat blue pen! And who can forget the yellow, lined paper with wood chips imbedded in it!! LOL!!

[Teacher317]

I'd add to that list: it increases others' opinons of you, especially those with whom you share written communication.

[SuziQ]

I just ordered a book about Italic handwriting for my kids!

[SuziQ]

Hah! That's the one I'd had ordered!! I also got the Level F books for Clare and Joseph. My friend in Japan had it for her kids, and it looked pretty good!

[RosieCotton]

Oh, cool! Hope you enjoy it! I liked it...but then I was self-motivated.

I didn't realize just how much it had changed my handwriting until recently I went back and was looking through some of my old journals and could barely read my own writing. It was atrocious! It still ain't perfect, but it's legible, which is the most important thing.

[adx]

But, I studied engineering in college, which forced me to adapt my handwriting...nowadays it's mostly a variation of All Caps, in different sizes, according to whether the letter is supposed to be upper- or lower-case.

Same here (EE). I hate cursive to the MAX. Takes too long, gives me writer's cramp, and at the end of it I'll still have to type it anyway. I do all caps, except for case-sensitive stuff like email addresses.

Curse cursive. It's probably a commie plot anyway (/sarcasm).

[Question_Assumptions]

The same thing is happening in Japan. I was told by Japanese co-workers when I was in Tokyo that they would forget how to draw certain characters (the way they are drawn is important -- there is a particular stroke order to each character) because they are used to just typing them on the computer.

Me? I generally print all caps. My handwriting has always been awful and my signature isn't comprehensible.