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[Poll]

Should school teach cursive writing?

Yes

76% (29)

23% (9)

Unsure

0% (0)

Total Votes : 38

(last vote on : 10/8/2012 8:10:40 PM)
(Poll will run till: -- )

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/11/2011 5:47:22 PM

pahunkboy

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I have boxes of letters the kids today can not read. (yes- written in English)

I call that illiterate. It is not fair to THEM.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/11/2011 5:54:09 PM

BonesFromAsh

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quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

I have boxes of letters the kids today can not read. (yes- written in English)

I call that illiterate. It is not fair to THEM.

If you know kids who can't read.....teach them.

Be the change you wish to see.

ETA.....You know what, if it bothers you that kids aren't being taught cursive writing, do something about it. Why not offer to teach an after school class on creative cursive writing. Have you gotten involved with the local schools these "illiterate" children attend and volunteered to help in the classes? If you feel this is such a travesty of writing ...do something about it besides just complaining about the schools.

Just my $0.02...for what it's worth.

< Message edited by BonesFromAsh -- 7/11/2011 6:01:30 PM >

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 3:14:17 AM

VaguelyCurious

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quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

quote:

ORIGINAL: VaguelyCurious

quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

Then your son is not literate. Hard does not cut it.

I don't think you quite understand the meaning of the word 'literate'.

Literate means a person can read and WRITE. Not print- WRITE.

Well in that case I don't think you quite understand the meaning of the word 'write'.

Printed letters are writing. They are clearer and more distinct than cursive writing. There's a reason that so many forms require you to print your answers.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 4:53:12 AM

erieangel

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quote:

ORIGINAL: pogo4pres

FR

I voted NO, because my handwriting sucks and I can print as fast as most people write, and have a more legible result. I think penmanship is over rated. The only reason I need to write in cursive is to sign something.

Scriptedly,
Some Knucklehead in NJ

Kids who don't learn cursive can't sign the name. That is the biggest problem in my book.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 5:17:40 AM

erieangel

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Also: On my job, I have daily paperwork that must be hand printed with my signature along with the client's signature at the bottom of the page. Both my printed, block letter style and my cursive tend to be fairly well legible, until it comes to my signature. My boss has told me that my first name is perfectly fine but my last name tends to be a "D" with a line and has told me that since the insurance reps can't read the signature, they require that I print my name beneath my signature. Some of my clients can not give their signature at all. I thought this "no cursive" thing was just in the messed up Erie school system, not sure I feel about it seemingly being nation wide.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 5:59:58 AM

masternoname

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

My son took the SATs. It starts off with an ethical code that the kids need to copy in cursive and then sign their name to. He said writing in cursive was the hardest part of the test.

When he asked me why this was done, I hazarded a guess that a handwriting expert would more easily compare cursive writing samples had they challenged whether someone really took the exam or had a ringer do it for him.

Except for your signature on a check, it's unnecessary. No office is without a computer. When a bill is suggested for the legislature, it isn't done in cursive. Neither is an order for 500,000 widgets at $2.95 apiece. We don't use cursive on the computer, instead we use a keyboard with an assortments of fonts and font sizes.

This is like debating whether or not kids should still be taught to use Roman numbering.When was the last time you balanced your checkbook in that? It's a dead skill with no call for it.

Well computers have spell check and do math so why bother teaching them to spell or add

then we can teach them important things like how to smile graciously when we lose a job to the guy over there who can actually sign his name or how to ask the important questions like "want fries with that" or "does your trashcan need emptying?"

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 6:06:04 AM

pahunkboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BonesFromAsh

quote:

ORIGINAL: pahunkboy

I have boxes of letters the kids today can not read. (yes- written in English)

I call that illiterate. It is not fair to THEM.

If you know kids who can't read.....teach them.

Be the change you wish to see.

ETA.....You know what, if it bothers you that kids aren't being taught cursive writing, do something about it. Why not offer to teach an after school class on creative cursive writing. Have you gotten involved with the local schools these "illiterate" children attend and volunteered to help in the classes? If you feel this is such a travesty of writing ...do something about it besides just complaining about the schools.

Just my $0.02...for what it's worth.

Point taken. You can bet my nephews will know cursive.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 3:15:22 PM

DesFIP

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quote:

ORIGINAL: masternoname

Well computers have spell check and do math so why bother teaching them to spell or add

My stepson just graduated college as a mechanical engineer and his starting salary is $65,000 a year. You know what? He doesn't do math with a pencil and paper. He uses a computer program to try to solve the engineering problems his company is dealing with. His entire team uses computers for this, not a graphing calculator, not a slide rule, and not a pencil and paper.

And no, he doesn't ask if they want fries.

Go call up the nearest math type company in your area and ask the HR person is the actuary in the insurance company figures out the statistics by hand or on a computer. Ask the public accounting firm that same question. Ask a structural engineer if when his firm is working on a new bridge whether they do it by hand or on a computer. I already know the answer, sounds like you don't.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 3:28:13 PM

Palliata

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quote:

ORIGINAL: masternoname

Well computers have spell check and do math so why bother teaching them to spell or add

I agree completely with this. We may as well be teaching every schoolchild to make bricks in the sun or run a cotton gin. As with all advancement, though, there will be adherents to the past which no amount of logic will dissuade. Es la vida.

EDIT: quote got messed up

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 3:31:45 PM

hlen5

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I don't think anyone is complaining things are done by computer. I think the point is that children should learn how to read, write and "cipher" for themselves. I don't care if they get the info from home or school. They should have that info.

I have read that the act of physically writing is beneficial to the learning process itself.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 3:45:11 PM

Slavehandsome

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Before the taxpayers in Europe could read and write, the Vatican told them everything they needed to know. We now refer to that little era as The Dark Ages. The same tyrants who brough you The Dark Ages, War In The Name Of Religion, Feudalism, Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, A Federal Reserve System, and funded Communism as well as Capitalism, are the same tyrants who are reverting to the "no need to read and write" dogma. These are the same people who would be happy putting the VeriChip in every taxpayer, for "monitoring" or "marketing" purposes.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 4:12:44 PM

tiggerspoohbear

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Little paranoid maybe? This isn't P&R after all.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 4:15:59 PM

pahunkboy

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My neighbor who is 77 can add in her head! She does not need a calculator. She can run numbers faster then anyone here.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 4:28:02 PM

tiggerspoohbear

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I can do that too, and it can drive cashiers nuts when they can't figure out why I'm handing them a certain amount of change. If it's not done through the register, they're baffled. I started out in retail on the old cash registers where you had to calculate everything, put the taxable items first, the whole shebang. Sure electronic cash registers are handy, but they sure aren't helpful if they're not used properly.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 5:06:02 PM

rawtape

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP
My stepson just graduated college as a mechanical engineer and his starting salary is $65,000 a year. You know what? He doesn't do math with a pencil and paper. He uses a computer program to try to solve the engineering problems his company is dealing with. His entire team uses computers for this, not a graphing calculator, not a slide rule, and not a pencil and paper.

And no, he doesn't ask if they want fries.

Go call up the nearest math type company in your area and ask the HR person is the actuary in the insurance company figures out the statistics by hand or on a computer. Ask the public accounting firm that same question. Ask a structural engineer if when his firm is working on a new bridge whether they do it by hand or on a computer. I already know the answer, sounds like you don't.

Let me present an analogy.

I have been a practicing molecular biologist/geneticist for over two decades now. There were many techniques which were particularly labour-intensive when I was younger, and which are now easily taken care of by commercially available kits. Now, I frequently get new undergrad and grad students who have only ever used these kits; when something goes wrong, these students are often stymied, with no real idea as to how they should set about troubleshooting the technique, simply because they lack sufficient knowledge of the underlying principles.

And that's largely what I'm arguing in favour of, enough of a grounding in basic skills, such that even if an individual is no longer using those skills on a day-to-day basis, he/she can understand or challenge data/claims/techniques purportedly based on those skills from first principles. Back in 1988, John Paulos wrote a cute little book called Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences in which he both railed against math illiteracy and pointed out how it is taken advantage of to hoodwink the masses. I don't think arming people with digital calculators or computers has changed the situation since then.

As for your stepson, no one is suggesting that he not use a computer for his engineering projects. But I'd be very surprised if he can't solve say, simple stress-load problems, using back-of-the-envelope calculations. Any engineer worth his/her salt can.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/12/2011 5:13:31 PM

masternoname

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Calm down

you are the one who said your kid had trouble signing his own name, not me

quote:

ORIGINAL: DesFIP

quote:

ORIGINAL: masternoname

Well computers have spell check and do math so why bother teaching them to spell or add

My stepson just graduated college as a mechanical engineer and his starting salary is $65,000 a year. You know what? He doesn't do math with a pencil and paper. He uses a computer program to try to solve the engineering problems his company is dealing with. His entire team uses computers for this, not a graphing calculator, not a slide rule, and not a pencil and paper.

And no, he doesn't ask if they want fries.

Go call up the nearest math type company in your area and ask the HR person is the actuary in the insurance company figures out the statistics by hand or on a computer. Ask the public accounting firm that same question. Ask a structural engineer if when his firm is working on a new bridge whether they do it by hand or on a computer. I already know the answer, sounds like you don't.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/13/2011 10:45:58 AM

DesFIP

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I did not state that he has trouble signing his name. If your literacy matched your competence with numbers, you would have seen that what he found the most difficult was copying a half page in cursive. Not signing his name.

And I would be shocked if a structural engineer ran the numbers on an envelope, or in his head, and didn't double check them with a calculator or computer to make assurance doubly sure.

In exactly the same way that this old English major, and 7th grade spelling bee champ, also double checks using spell check. Belts and braces, as the old phrase goes.

Plus of course demanding that hand work be superior to brain work would put you in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are many conditions that cause fine motor skill difficulties. Having cerebral palsy won't affect your ability to think, but it will affect your ability to have clearly legible handwriting. Going by your thoughts, the greatest physicist alive, Hawking, would not have passed third grade.

< Message edited by DesFIP -- 7/13/2011 10:52:24 AM >

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/13/2011 4:12:34 PM

Aylee

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~Fast Reply~

Yes, we should be teaching cursive. It helps to develop fine motor skills in a way that printing or video games cannot. It also teaches spatial skills because we stop one word and then leave a space before going on to the next.

In fact it is easier for children to learn cursive rather than print because you do not have the letter confusion, think 'd' and 'b' for dyslexics. They should be taught print and cursive concurrently or cursive first. Remember, for hundreds of years people wrote in cursive but read in print.

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/13/2011 5:18:04 PM

VaguelyCurious

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Aylee

It helps to develop fine motor skills in a way that printing or video games cannot.

Do you actually have any evidence for that? (About the printing, not about the video games.)

quote:

It also teaches spatial skills because we stop one word and then leave a space before going on to the next.

As opposed to.... stopping one letter and leaving a small space before the next letter, and then stopping a word and leaving a larger space before going on to the next? How does that differ from printed writing? In fact by that logic ought printed writing not to be better for spatial awareness because of the differentiated gaps between letters and words?

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RE: Should school teach cursive writing? - 7/13/2011 5:25:41 PM

pahunkboy

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I am sort of surprised that 9 people here never learned cursive writing. That is amazing.

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