Addressing your invites

phira

mysticl said:

phira said:

mysticl said:

phira said:

Honestly, given that the majority of people I know do NOT write in cursive, I'm not sure why dropping it is such a big deal. I'm all for penmanship; barring disability, people should learn how to write legibly. And I'm definitely NOT in favor of teaching towards standardized tests (which is something that's been dragging the MA system down--fucking MCAS!). But I really don't get why cursive is so important.

For one thing they don't know how to sign their names.  Even with all of our technology there are still things that require a signature.  

http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/curriculum-instruction/5-reasons-cursive-writing-should-be-taught-in-school/

http://www.newamericancursive.com/learncursive

I'm really not sure that signatures necessitate years of learning cursive, especially since my signature is illegible and I know people who don't sign their names in cursive.

What years?  I'm pretty sure we only had cursive lessons for one year maybe two but then I spent the rest of academic career as well as part of my professional career using it.  

Also, a printed signature is easier to forge.  

We had to learn cursive in the 3rd grade and review it in the 4th grade. As soon as it wasn't required, almost every single one of my classmates, myself included, stopped writing in cursive.

As an instructor, I find that when students write in cursive (which the majority of them do not), it's cramped and unbelievably impossible to read. And I can read some pretty illegible handwriting.

My point about signatures is that you can learn to sign your name without spending a lot of time in school learning to write in cursive, and signatures alone aren't a compelling enough reason (to me) to spend a lot of time in school learning cursive. I really don't get why so many people in this thread are so upset at the lack of cursive writing ability of most people.

jdluvr06

phira said:

mysticl said:

phira said:

mysticl said:

phira said:

Honestly, given that the majority of people I know do NOT write in cursive, I'm not sure why dropping it is such a big deal. I'm all for penmanship; barring disability, people should learn how to write legibly. And I'm definitely NOT in favor of teaching towards standardized tests (which is something that's been dragging the MA system down--fucking MCAS!). But I really don't get why cursive is so important.

For one thing they don't know how to sign their names.  Even with all of our technology there are still things that require a signature.  

http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/curriculum-instruction/5-reasons-cursive-writing-should-be-taught-in-school/

http://www.newamericancursive.com/learncursive

I'm really not sure that signatures necessitate years of learning cursive, especially since my signature is illegible and I know people who don't sign their names in cursive.

What years?  I'm pretty sure we only had cursive lessons for one year maybe two but then I spent the rest of academic career as well as part of my professional career using it.  

Also, a printed signature is easier to forge.  

We had to learn cursive in the 3rd grade and review it in the 4th grade. As soon as it wasn't required, almost every single one of my classmates, myself included, stopped writing in cursive.

As an instructor, I find that when students write in cursive (which the majority of them do not), it's cramped and unbelievably impossible to read. And I can read some pretty illegible handwriting.

My point about signatures is that you can learn to sign your name without spending a lot of time in school learning to write in cursive, and signatures alone aren't a compelling enough reason (to me) to spend a lot of time in school learning cursive. I really don't get why so many people in this thread are so upset at the lack of cursive writing ability of most people.

Because it is sad when any art form is lost and that is the way cursive writing is headed.

Funny story or sad depending on how you see it. My little cousin was "playing Santa" at Christmas. He had to have to someone else do it for him because almost everyone wrote the names on the tags in cursive. Little cousin asked if everyone could start writing in print so that he could read it. My uncle told him no way he had to learn to read the cursive.

HisGirlFriday13

As a history major, I lament all the documents that will be lost to future generations if cursive writing is no longer taught.

theartistformerlyknownas

If nobody learns it, cursive can be our secret code.

I'm totally old school. I learned Morse code as a teenager. No lost arts here!

CMGragain

I had to write on the board in printing during my last five years of teaching..I learned that I couldn't assume my student could read cursive.  I did notice that most of the college bound students could read it, though.  Is this going to become a new class distinction?

carliealissa

I find the thought of future generations having no idea how to read or write cursive really devastating!  And the whole class dropping cursive in 4th grade after they learned it seems strange to me.  I've used it my whole life.  Also, it's a heck of a lot easier and faster than printing.

sarahufl

Here is my question about cursive- it isn't THAT hard to read, is it? I still think it should be taught, but I don't find it that much more difficult to read than traditional printing.

Cookie Pusher

I remember our English teacher in 8th grade had very specific criteria for her class. One of them was that all assignments had to be either typed or written in cursive, in blue or black ink. So many people complained about it at the start of the year, but all of our penmanship was beautiful by the time June rolled around. I don't have to hand-write much anymore, but I typically use cursive unless I'm addressing envelopes for work (I print those because you can tell when I have to pause to figure out spelling and stuff). I'm very sad that future generations may not be able to read it.