Cursive Writing

They write in print? Or, how about they walk/ride their bike/etc to friends house and talk? Is cursive the only option if you take away texting?

BTW, my kids don't have cell phones.

 

It's not the only option, but why shouldn't it be an option? This is precisely the problem with our society today. If something is too hard, you just quit.

We're becoming more and more crude by the day.

 

It has nothing to do with whether it is "too hard" or not. It has to do with its usefulness. What usefulness does it provide?

 

It's a way that grownups write personal messages to one another, and a way of communicating with other grownups.

 

Would you say that a person that doesn't use cursive writing to communicate with others is not a grownup? If so, then I don't know a single grownup. Should one continue to use a form of communication simply because it makes them a "grownup"? Are you still using the pony express?

 

No, I would say what I said, which is that it is a way that grownups communicate with one another.

The Pony Express wasn't a form of communication.

The bottom line is this: if you want to teach your children to Twitter and say things like "c u l8r", go ahead. We're going to teach our children how to write in cursive and speak English.

 

About 30 years ago, I did my first degree work in mechanical engineering and design. I was heavily influenced by the practice in non-cursive printing for drafting use and basically gave up my efforts to use cursive from then on. Wish I could say that my printing mirrors my earlier ability in drafting, but alas, stiff work-hardened fingers make most writing tasks difficult at best (I wear a size 14 wedding band!).

I thank and praise God constantly for keyboards! Especially since I write 50+ pages a week in any average week, and more when I'm in book or paper mode. Even my keyboarding skills are lacking compared to many people I see, but I can write fast enough to keep up and I can fill a page, so it will suffice.

 

Hate to break it to you, but most "grownups" write hand-written messages to each other sparingly these days.

If parents want their child learning cursive, which I certainly would if I had children, they can teach them that at home, but it doesn't warrant taking time at school. It doesn't instill an important skill. It doesn't contribute to higher-level thinking.

 

You'd certainly never know that from my family and friends and colleagues.

 

I had to look up "cursive" writing. I didn't have a clue what everyone was talking about.

I print everything if I have to handwrite because I wouldn't want to try reading my handwriting. I've used a typewriter since I was about 5 or 6!

If everyone simply means writing responsibly in true English, then I agree that "cursive" writing should be taught in school.

By the way, the dictionary definition of cursive is: "done with joined characters..."

Cheers,

Jim

 

Maybe not, but that's not reflective of the rest of society. Certainly kids should be able to write legibly, but there's little point in teaching cursive anymore. I do it because it's faster for me.

I imagine when the pen was invented, there were a bunch of people bemoaning the loss of face-to-face communication.

 

Much as I dislike the "c u l8r" way of writing, surely in speaking,"c u l8r" is pronounced in exactly the same way as "See you later." Years ago, my mum was a shorthand typist. If she read aloud something ishe had written in shorthand, it would sound just the same as if she had written the same thing in ordinary writing.

 

One thing that this thread has proven. We on this board can fight about anything!

 

Then don't teach your children how to write.

Hopefully, they knew that the purpose of writing was not to replace face to face communication, but to communicate over distance, over time, and to keep records.

Unfortunately, some people today don't know much of anything.

 

Oh, come on.

Cursive is not the only way to write. Print is effective, efficient, and clear. Instead of teaching a skill that 95% of the students will not use on any kind of regular basis and that does not contribute to higher-level thinking, schools should focus more on math, science, language arts, and social studies.

 

What? When did I suggest that? When I said that children should be taught to write legibly? (I assume you're talking about the children I teach, as I don't yet have my own.) I want them to write, I just don't want schools to waste time teaching an antiquated activity.

Odd.

Stefan M.'s last post was dead on.

 

I didn't realize children were so stupid that you couldn't teach them math, science, language, social studies, and how to communicate through writing.

I find more reasons to be glad about homeschooling every day.

 

Writing is an antiquated activity??? Everybody I know writes every day.

Yes, that is an odd thing to say.

 

JohnDeereFan, I think you should stop being concerned about cursive writing and be more concerned about truthfulness in your posting. You are very deliberately putting forth false accusations and attempting to make it seem that others have said children shouldn't be taught the skill of writing. You know full well that the posters have been talking about cursive writing in particular, and not all writing. Is there a reason you are being so deceptive?