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I have been computer-less at home for five weeks. My brand-new laptop went belly up and had to be sent back. During the frustrating wait (which I suspect will lead to a later column), I have returned to writing with a pen and spiral notebook. It's been a flash to the past, reminding me of my younger days when every assignment, story and poem were handwritten. Are the days of writing by hand on their way out? Having beautiful, cursive handwriting used to be a source of immense pride. Handwriting skills were taught right alongside reading and math. Prizes were...

A single sentence, uttered in the trial of George Zimmerman for the shooting of teenager Trayvon Martin, has catapulted an issue into the national spotlight. When asked if she could read a letter in court, witness Rachel Jeantel, her head bowed, murmured with embarrassment, "I don't read cursive," according to court testimony. Is it any surprise that cursive -- the looped, curvaceous style of handwriting that's been a mainstay of education for generations -- is all but dead? [15 Weird Things We Do Everyday, and Why] "Cursive should be allowed to die. In fact, it's already dying, despite having been...

A teenage friend of Trayvon Martin was forced to admit today in the George Zimmerman murder trial that she did not write a letter that was sent to Martin's mother describing what she allegedly heard on a phone call with Martin moments before he was shot. In a painfully embarassing moment, Rachel Jeantel was asked to read the letter out loud in court. "Are you able to read that at all?" defense attorney Don West asked. Jeantel, head bowed, eyes averted whispered into the court microphone, "Some but not all. I don't read cursive." It sent a hush through the...

The bulletin board at the front of Melissa Balzano’s classroom in West Orange is decorated with hand-written lists her students wrote in September, expressing their "Hopes and Dreams for Third Grade." For at least half the children in Balzano’s class at Mount Pleasant Elementary School, learning cursive topped the list. "It’s fancy writing," said Naomi Toms, 9. Cursive was once a mainstay of elementary schools, where children practiced the "tripod" pencil grip and the looping strokes of the letters. But these days little classroom time is spent teaching cursive writing, crowded out of the curriculum by the demands of an...

...[Indiana] State officials sent school leaders a memo April 25 telling them that instead of cursive writing, students will be expected to become proficient in keyboard use. The Times of Munster reports the memo says schools may continue to teach cursive as a local standard, or they may decide to stop teaching cursive altogether... ...'The skill of handwriting is a dying art,' [East Allen County Schools Superintendent Karyle Green] said. 'Everything isn’t handwritten anymore.'... Winning: The key board wins as students will no longer be assessed on the handwriting style in third and fourth grade From now on, second-graders will...

Cursive Writing Is Fading Skill, But So What? Fewer school emphasize ‘penmanship’ as computer use increases A student practices both printing and cursive handwriting skills at a classroom at the Mountaineer Montessori School in Charleston, W.Va. . Bob Bird / AP [Pic in URL] CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Charleston resident Kelli Davis was in for a surprise when her daughter brought home some routine paperwork at the start of school this fall. Davis signed the form and then handed it to her daughter for the eighth-grader's signature. "I just assumed she knew how to do it, but I have a piece...

When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams for the class of 2006, just 15 percent of the almost 1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive. The rest? They printed. Block letters.

Penmanship: A Dying Art?SAN MATEO, Calif., June 9, 2003 Monique McGowan sharpens a No. 2 pencil, straightens her posture and sharply slants her notebook to prepare for her weekly lesson in cursive. She and other third graders at Horrall Elementary School have perfected ascenders and descenders, and their letters' tails and legs hit the appropriate base lines - even the tricky capitals G, Q and S. But Monique, who plays games on her dad's laptop at home, says she'd rather punch a keyboard than write cursive. "Computers are better," the 9-year-old says, blonde pony tail bobbing behind her. "With...